Day 27

A quiet day with some work at home then at Waseda. At the end of the day, we decided to go explore a neighborhood not too far from Waseda. We start going east towards the Nazakatocho area. After a more residential passage, we discover another vibrant and living neighborhood with a lot of passage. Shops and restaurants are everywhere once more. The area is clearly a bit more upscale than Okubo. We eventually reach the Kanda river and the Iidibashi JR station (extra stamp :). The remains of Ushigome gate are exposed. It used to be the north gate of the Edo palace. The Kanda river expands in what used to be part of the moats. From there, it is just a short walk to what was the official objective of the walk: the Tokyo Daijingu. The shrine was created after the Meiji Restoration to allow people in Tokyo to worship the deities enshrined in the Grand Shrine of Ise from afar, and save them the pilgrimage. It is considered one of the five major shrines in Tokyo. It was moved to its current site after the great earthquake. It is a picturesque shrine, with nice lights and lanterns. It is a shrine where people like to come for everlasting love, and even on a weekday, albeit at the end of the day, you can see couples jointly praying…

Next we aim to go grab another stamp at Suidobashi station, a 10 minutes walk to the north-east. This allows us to discover this part of town called Iidibashi. An added bonus is that the way home takes us through a new (for us) JR line, and we arrive at Okubo station, which means an additional stamp. We do some shopping, and rest. 

There are really shrines everywhere you go. This one was on the way, we didn’t go closer.