Tokyo National Museum 2016

Tuesday morning we went to the Tokyo National Museum (東京国立博物館 Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan) which is in Ueno Park. I was so happy we had already explored the park the day before when it wasn't raining! There's so much to see in the park!

Selfie in the rain in front of Tokyo National Museum

Japanese art that's thousands of years old

Andrew and Kevin appreciating the art in the museum

Scroll- read up and down from the top right to the left.

Gusoku Type Armor, Edo period, 16th-17th century- my size!

Kevin in front of a Chinese-style Quatrain in Seven-
character Phrases by Nukina Suo (1778-1863)

General Guan Yu and Landscape by Kano Isen'in (1775-1828)

Kimonos

Sixty-nine Stations of Kiso Kaido Highway: Distant View of Mount Fuji
from Omiya Stations by Keisai Eisen (1791-1848)

Young Women of the Pleasure District in New Year's
Fashion: Shiratama of Tamaya by Iseda Koryusai (1735- ?)

Auspicious Desires on Land and Sea by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

Two Beauties by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864)

Sculptures

"Sending off the Bear's Spirit" Ceremony By Hirasawa Byozan (1822-76) 

Horse by Goto Sadayuki (1850-1903) Wood

After, we had lunch at Kayoiji Ueno Ten, and I tried the Oyakodon that Andrew had been telling me about- mother/child dish because it's chicken and eggs. I've since made it at home!

Kayoiji Ueno Ten

Me and Andrew eating

Kevin at Kayoiji Ueno Ten

Close-up of my oyakodon: chicken and eggs

With random giant panda at train station

Ueno Park,Tokyo 2016

So, I'm still on Monday morning. We walked over to Ueno Park in the Taito Special Ward of Tokyo. There are a lot of things to do in Ueno Park. There are several museums, a zoo, many temples and shrines, and the park itself is beautiful. We planned on going to the National Museum there on Tuesday (because it's not open on Monday) but it worked out that we explored the park Monday because it ended up raining on Tuesday.

Andrew leading us to Ueno Park

Fountains at Ueno Park

There are was a great Buddhas in this area created by a feudal lord but in 1647 an earthquake destroyed the statue. A second great Buddha was built but in 1923, another earthquake destroyed the statue. Only the face of the second Buddha remains at the Kan-eiji Temple.

Ueno Daibutsu (Great Buddha and Pagoda)

Ueno Daibutsu (Great Buddha and Pagoda)

Inari is a deity with shrines and Buddhist temples throughout most of Japan. The entrance to an Inari shrine is usually marked by one or more red torii and some statues of foxes (kitsune), which are often adorned with red bibs (yodarekake) by worshippers out of respect. The main shrine is the Fushimi Inari-taisha in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto (we went there later in the trip).

Hanazono Inari Shrine

Torii tunnel leading to Hanazono Inari Jinja (Hanazono Inari Shrine)

Hanazono Inari Shrine

Kevin and Andrew posing with a fox at the Hanazono Inari Shrine worship hall

The Hanazono Inari Shrine worship hall

The Ana Inari Shrine (Hole Inari) built for a displaced fox

Kevin is a bit tall for this shrine

We wandered around for a while more, seeing more things we couldn't identify at the time, but I googled when we got home.

View down to Shinobazu Pond at Ueno Park

Kiyomizu Kannondo

We went for lunch at the nearby Tsukiji Sushi-gen Honten. Andrew doesn't really like sushi so he made our green tea and then we went to a different neighborhood for one of his favorite meals (next post).

Andrew making our green tea at Tsukiji Sushi-gen Honten

Quick lunch at Tsukiji Sushi-gen Honten

I ate this: salmon, Ikura (salmon eggs) and a mystery fish on rice.

Sensō-ji Temple and Asakusa Shrine, Tokyo 2016

The Sensō-ji Temple is Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple (645 CE), but the temple was rebuilt after it was destroyed by bombing during World War II. It's in the Asakusa neighborhood of Tokyo's special ward of Taito. The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon.

At the entrance to the Temple's street is the Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate." After the Thunder Gate is Nakamise-dori street with about 90 shops.

Kevin and Andrew in front of Sensō-ji's Thunder Gate

Nakamise-dori street with shops

Sensō-ji Temple at the end of Nakamise-dori street

At the end of the row of shops there's the Hōzōmon or "Treasure House Gate" which is the entrance to the temple. Inside the gate is a five-story pagoda and the main hall.

Andrew, me, Kevin in front of the Treasure House Gate

Breathing in incense to clear out the demons.

Praying at the alter.

Temple artwork

Then we did our fortunes. You shake a box and stick comes out. The stick has a Japanese number on it. You match the number to the number on the little drawer and pull out a paper fortune.

 

Kevin shaking the box.

Me with stick and fortune in hand.

My fortune was the "Best Fortune" and said lots of good things.

Kevin's was "Worst Fortune" and said basically the opposite of mine.
"You will have bad thoughts while drinking."

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Kevin in front of Kannon

Pagoda

Kevin and Andrew- now a little worried about Kevin's fortune.
They cleansed some more demons.

Next to the temple is a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine. Asakusa Shrine is one of the most famous Shinto shrines in Tokyo.  The shrine honors the three men who founded the Sensō-ji Temple. The shrine was built in 1649 during the Edo Period. The shrine and its surrounding area and buildings have also been the site of many Shinto and Buddhist festivals for centuriessuch as the Sanja Matsuri, held in late May.

Me and my spirit animal, the Asian dragon.

Asakusa Shrine

This is when Andrew told us that you can tie up your bad fortune and pay for a new one. So Kevin did that.

Tying up his bad fortune

Paying for a new one

This time he got an adequate one. And promised to never get another fortune.

We went to a lot of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines while we were in Japan so it's worth giving a small amount of background upfront. Shinto is Japan's traditional religion, as opposed to foreign religions such as Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism was originally a religion from India but was introduced to Japan from China. It has been practiced in Japan since about 550 CE, and possibly earlier. There are many sects of Buddhism practiced in Japan.

The relationship that developed in Japan between Shinto and Buddhism is complicated. The Cliff Notes are that before the Meiji Restoration it was common for a Shinto Shrine to have a Buddhist Temple inside, or vice versa. Sometimes they were built next to each other. During the Meiji Restoration the new government ordered that the two religions be separated. However, the connection in Japan between the two religions continued in practice and you can still see it today.