This would be our penultimate day here in Tokyo. We still have so much to do!
A quiet morning in Korea town. Notice the orange cones lining the road? We didn’t either. They’ll come into play later.
Another day, another piece of heavenly Japanese toast.
Jeff got what was essentially an egg salad sandwich with a pizza on top.
Making our way to the train we came upon this queue.
What could this be?
Some research upon drafting this installment cleared it up. This is a cafe which is based on a fictional Korean TV series called Coffee Prince. The premise of the show was this: A coffee shop owner decides to only have young, handsome men working at the shop, thus luring in eager young women to the store. The show was such a runaway hit that the filming location in Seoul Korea was turned into a real shop. Now there are many stores such as this one in Shin-Okubo that are just as insanely popular, as you can see from the line. Take a second to scroll back and notice that they are all women in the queue. Now you know about Coffee Prince.
A view from the train platform. We’re acing using the trains BTW.
Shin-Okubo Station.
Today we will be heading to Asakusa to visit the Senso-ji Temple. The last temple we visited was built in the twentieth century, this one originated in 645 AD!
The Kaminarimon or “Thunder Gate”
The large lantern called “chochin” is in in the center of the Kaminarimon.
There’s a wooden carving of a dragon on the bottom of the great red lantern on the Kaminarimon.
Nakamise-dori is lined with vendor stalls selling all manner of things. .
Lots of food and gifts to be found.
An adorable Japanese family.
This gentleman is making rice crackers.
Packaged crackers to go.
Or you can get one freshly made! It was salty.
Jeff’s came with seaweed.
Fancy, expensive cookies.
Another wall of lanterns.
Artwork near the temple telling the history of Senso-ji.
This one was just cute as anything.
This five-storied pagoda, Gojunoto, is one of the most famous in Japan.
Buddha’s ashes, officially inherited from the Isurumuniya temple in Sri Lanka, are stored on the top floor.
We made our way up to the temple.
More elaborate lanterns.
Gorgeous paintings graced the ceiling panels.
We didn’t go into the temple as a matter of respect, but we did catch a glimpse of a ceremony taking place. Something we did participate in was receiving a fortune.
Omikuji Paper Fortune At Sensoji
In these drawers there are 7 types of results for omikuji, ranging from the best daikichi (大吉excellent luck), to the worst daikyou (大凶terrible luck).
You put a 100 yen coin (about a buck) in a box. Then you pick up this cylinder and shake it until a chop stick comes out of a small opening.
The chop stick has a number in Japanese characters on it. Now it’s your job to find the corresponding drawer!
You pull out the drawer and there lies your fate!
I got two just in case I had a bad fortune. They were both good ones! I pressed mine in book to be framed later, then forgot which book.
If it’s a bad fortune you fold it up and tie it to this fence and hope for the best!
We walked around the surrounding gardens for a bit. This tree looks ancient.
Signs of spring!
This man was trimming the hedges with a scissor!
He’s using some kind of jig to lean on. That’s dedication.
So guys, it’s hard to see but BOTH these pigeons were missing a leg! What the heck happened? Moving on.
Keeping watch.
There was another area along side the shrine that was separate from Nakamise-dori that had more temporary looking food tents set up. I couldn’t find any info about these. It could have been a festival or something?
More Takiyaki!
Look at the babies!
These were some kind of crab sticks. We took a chance.
They served it up with mayo and seaweed. Pretty good. Weird texture.
Thanks, Mr. Crabby!
Another vendor was making this adorable Kawaii waffles. A couldn’t get a better picture because the guy making these was ironically grumpy.
This vendor was serving straight up potatoes! Potatoes are another result of the Modern Meiji era, if you recall from our last temple visit.
Yet even more Takiyaki. These booths tended to repeat after awhile.
This looks more like your local greasy spoon hash than Japanese food.
More beautiful statuary.
A gorgeous flowering tree. Maybe Camillas?
Another view of the Pagoda.
There were lots of young women dressed in Kimono taking photos. My understanding is that they are not necessarily Geisha, just a little dressing up for pictures.
So many peaceful spaces.
We left the temple area to search out Hoppy Dori. An area known for Izakaya or bars.
We first encountered a covered shopping area.
This was happening.
We wandered down these quaint side streets.
House plants having an outing.
I spot a bar. We didn’t go in. I don’t remember why. Closed?
Come on! So whimsical!
It looked as if venues just dragged out the furniture. It was such a beautiful day!
There was a sketchy looking amusement park through here.
The streets began to widen into a plaza.
Only bicycles allowed.
A sneak peak at cherry blossoms! More to come!
Another bar we didn’t enter. It must have been closed or maybe it seemed too local?
And then we had a face to face with an owl.
I believe we found Hoppy Dori Street, but who’s to say.
I was on a mission to find a street food called Menchi Katsu. I spotted the kiosk and scooted into line.
It was shoulder to shoulder.
Here it is! Its a chopped pork and onion patty coated in panko crumbs and fried to golden perfection!
Wait! You can’t eat that here!!!!
No, sir. You have to move with the herd over to a stall to chew your cud. No eating street food on the street, you silly.
There was actually a uniformed (Officer? ) man hustling you off the street.
We wandered around a bit more, but we really wanted to just sit and have a drink.
We found a cute little lunch place, less like an Izakaya and more like a diner. It seemed friendly enough, so we wandered in and sat up at the counter.
Sake at last. We weren’t hungry at all, but to be polite we really needed to order food.
Now, what to order?
We managed to stumble our way through the menu and ordered a couple dishes. This place was so cute! It was seemingly a mom and pop affair. I got such a hoot out of the wife feverishly bopping around the kitchen, while the husband calmly sliced and diced with precision. Check out her adorable apron.
They put this down when I ordered. Potato? Radish?
Guys, these are fried oysters! They were HUGE and so light and crispy and gorgeously creamy inside. I was not one bit hungry and I ate every morsel.
Jeff got a curry similar to the one from Coco curry. It was delightful.
I think we’ll stop here and digest our lunch. We are making the very most of our last full day in Tokyo! Still to come: More parks, Sakura blossoms, Shrines, Shrine cats, Geisha, a boy band, a Vietnamese dinner, and….the New York lounge. Rest up!