Shrines and Temples
"Tsurugi, where are you, Tsurugi!"
Day three of the Japan trip.
We were staying near Senso-ji but didn’t visit until day three—morning crowd discipline, I suppose. I drew an omikuji slip: Daikichi—the best fortune. The temple itself is magnificent in that particular way of ancient spaces that have been polished by ten million hands.
From Senso-ji we walked to Tokyo Skytree. “Walked” is not quite right—it was more of an endurance exercise. The view from the base is of an extraordinary density: low wooden houses extending to the horizon, punctuated by high-rises in no discernible pattern.
Lunch at the mall under Skytree: tonkotsu ramen, extremely comforting. Then in the afternoon: Kanda Myojin Shrine. I had come specifically looking for a particular sword called Tsurugi, from an anime set in this shrine. The shrine itself is lively and not particularly old-feeling—it was rebuilt in ferro-concrete in 1934 after the earthquake. But the presence of old ritual in a new building is its own kind of interesting.
Adjacent to Kanda Myojin is Yushima Seido, a Confucian shrine—one of the few surviving in Japan. The main hall houses a massive statue of Confucius and smells of aged wood. A very quiet place; almost no tourists.
Evening: long train ride to the Fuji area. The hotel was called the “International Tourist Hotel” but the front desk could not speak English. A Chinese woman guest stepped in to translate. We were grateful.
