YOU CAN GET ANYWHERE IN TOKYO ON THE METRO for only a couple hundred yen. It’s certainly faster and it may be cooler than walking but you miss so much on the train. Take today, for instance. We decided to walk in the opposite direction we usually take on Hongo-dori to visit Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan,. Within a few hundred meters we passed Goshuden-Mon, a red-lacquered gate into Tokyo University. It was built in the Edo Period when what is now the now University was the mansion that housed the Maeda clan lord of the Kaga Domain — a truly important dude in the day. Right in our front yard!
Goshuden-Mon, Red-Lacquered Edo Gate
When we got there the Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan was closed for Oban. Disappointing, yes, but we learned that for 500 years Obon (or Bon) has been the Buddhist/Confucian holiday honoring the ancestral spirits. It always falls in mid-August and has become a time of family reunions.
Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan — Closed for Oban
Onward, ever onward! After a wrong turn I spied with my little eye a gate leading to a temple. As it happens, Kandi Myojin is Shinto dating from the Edo Period. Shinto, in case you’ve forgotten, is the indigenous religion of Japan whose gods, kami, are sacred spirits of things such as wind, rain, mountains, trees and rivers. Kandi Myojin isn’t the original structure nor is it in the original location but Tokyoites still flock to Kandi to pray for success in business, good health and a happy marriage. Not too much to ask!
I Spy a Shinto Shrine
Kandi Myojin
Answer my Prayers
Trying to get back on course, Connie stopped to confer with a uniformed guard on the corner. He didn’t laugh but he jokingly asked if she was staying in the guesthouse. It turns out we were in front of the Tokyo State Guesthouse on the Akasaka Imperial Estate. Built in 1909 as a residence for the Crown Prince, it now accommodates diplomats and world leaders. A recent visitor was some guy named Trump.
No laughing matter Tokyo State Guesthouse
We walked about seven miles all together. Or we could have taken the Metro.
