Monday, July 18th. Marine Day in Japan, a public holiday. That is to say that schools are closed, but the rest does not seem too affected. The weather is nice and warm, we leave for a day with as first objective a shrine that is said not to be missed: Senso-ji, in the Asakusa district. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo. It is the temple of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Sho Kanzeon Bosatsu) who embodies the mercy of all Buddhas. After a short walk in the Asakusa district, we arrive at a large and beautiful gate which houses a large red lantern. Behind it, there is a double alley of small stores selling souvenirs and food. There are quite a lot of people, we can feel the holiday. Especially that all the small stores have a Japanese flag!
We walk around the place, looking for souvenirs and gifts. After a while, we arrive at a second gate with a big lantern. Behind is the main temple, a multi-story pagoda, as well as a number of shrines, temples, and statues. To the sides are less imposing gates and alleys, some covered, filled with small souvenir stores and the like. After a good time of visit, while it is almost 3:30 pm, we decide to go to eat. The good corner sushi is in standing mode. As we are tired, we go instead to eat from a place where you have to cook your breaded pork on a hot stone.
After the meal, we go to see the Sumida river, but decide not to wait for the boat and to go down by subway instead. The objective is to spend time at the waterfront, to honor Marine Day. We took the subway to Shiodome. We found the Myazaki clock sculpture (from Ghibli Studios) near the NTV tower. Near the clock, a crowd. A kind of giant multicolored bird is being interviewed. We decide to place ourselves ideally for a nice picture, but a security guard arrives to ask us to stop: either we are in the camera’s shot, or he thinks we are taking a picture of the strange bird. The interview stops, the world applauds, we continue our walk to join the Hinode Pier. From there we can admire the Rainbow bridge, the bay, many boats. We decided to stay to see the bridge illuminated. On the pier, we can admire a newly married couple in kimono, then we find them getting on a cruise ship. Most of the invited ladies are dressed in beautiful kimonos. When we turn our back to the Rainbow Bridge, we can admire the Skytree, the Tsukiji Bridge, and, in another direction, the Tokyo Tower. On the island in front of us, a Ferris wheel is illuminated. And we observe that the lights are constantly changing. After an impatient wait, the bridge lights up: we are not in December, the illumination is more discreet. It has nothing of a rainbow, for that, we will have to come back in December, but it is very beautiful. On the other side, the Tsukiji takes a beautiful blue color.
We return home, not without passing by a shrine and collecting some more Eki stamps.
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