Zoo and Aquarium in 12 Pictures

Ueno Zoo - The joy of seeing zoo animals having enough space to actually play and, generally, do what animals do (except the hunting part I suppose). Panda bears napping. Polar bear diving and swimming. Sun bears lounging. Tarsiers with their enormous eyes. Overall a very nice day.

(J in the act of photo bombing Timon)

Shinagawa Aquarium -  Satisfying J's fascination with fishes, we headed to Shinagawa, one of Tokyo's aquarium (perhaps the most expensive as well). I got to show off some of the things I had seen scuba diving in Borneo, like the green turtle, the moray eel, the stone fish and the frog fish. Maybe now he will finally get his scuba diving certification! J really loved the otters, he thought they were so funny, as well as the dolphins and sea lions show. A real kid I tell you!

This was time well spent. My favorite part was definitely seeing his excitement, it made my day just as much as the actual attractions did. This would be a must for family vacations I would think and a nice way to kindle kid’s interest for the animal world.

The Parks and Gardens of Tokyo

Tokyo is often pictured as this high tech city with towering buildings and fast paced life supported by robots and other technologies. In light of this vision it would be easy to forget the many parks and gardens that seem to adorn every neighborhood of this metropolis. Each of these green spaces are unique in their very own way and have very distinct characters.

To have the privilege to relax in these city oasis, you do have to pay an entrance fee. However, it does seem this fee is waived on weekends – at least we didn’t have to pay to get in Yoyogi Park on the Sunday we went for a stroll. Also, in every park and garden we visited you couldn’t get in past 16:00 and had to be out by 16:30. Moreover, they were closed on Mondays. This being said, it would be hard for me to guarantee that these facts apply to every single one of them.

Yogogi Park

I had heard that Yoyogi Park was the place to be on a Sunday morning. Let me tell you that we were not disappointed.

Playing kids and dogs, picnicking families, crowds of cool kids lounging around or playing ball, street performers, jugglers, clowns and kid acts, a string quartet rehearsing and a martial arts mime act – that’s the sight that greeted us on this sunny morning.

This is not the most peaceful park and it doesn’t have nearly as much cherry trees as other park, but  considering all the life happening here, I would say this was my favorite.

Yoyogi Park is located adjacent to the Meiji Shrine and the Harajuku Station. You can get there by getting off at Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line.

Ueno Park

You won’t see the gardens of Shinjuku or the performers of Yoyogi Park in Ueno Park. This does not mean it isn’t worth your time. There are plenty of other things to see (like a temple, some museums, a pagoda, a zoo and some cafés). As a park, it is mainly characterized by trees and wooded areas. With the number of trees there, you can imagine this is the place to be to enjoy the blossom season.

While you're there, you can pay a visit to the animals in the zoo if this is something of interest to you.

You can get there by getting off at Ueno Station on the Yamanote Line.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, as the name suggests, contains some pretty amazing gardens. It houses the largest traditional Japanese garden of Tokyo, as well as a Taiwanese Pavilion, a green house, a French garden and some rivers, ponds and footpath bridges. The French garden contains both roses and poplar trees. 

The greenhouse contains native and endangered plants, but sadly for me I couldn’t see them as the greenhouse was closed at the time of my visit.

Also, I wouldn’t call the English garden an English garden, it is more of a well-tended big lawn – which happens to be perfect for picnics. When we went there, the trees were flowering. We spent a good part of the day reading and napping there on an improvised blanket (i.e. the sarong I had bought in Bali earlier).

This is really a four seasons park. Spring is perfect to witness the cherry and apricot blooms with 65 variety of cherry blossoms and about 1300 blossoming trees. Summer is for the roses, tulips, singing cicadas and flying dragonflies. Autumn for the leaves that change colors. Finally, winter is supposed to be a great time for bird watching and for seeing the orchid collection in the greenhouse.

You can get there by getting off at Shinjuku Gyoenmae Station on the Marunouchi Subway Line.

It seems we didn’t walk along the right part of the neighborhood since, much to our disappointment, J and I did not see any of the much talked about Harajuku girls. We did try. Having failed this objective of our “mission”, we proceeded to shop for some clothes that J could take back with him as souvenirs. We did succeed at this objective and J now has three Japanese shirts to adorn his closet at home.

It is also in the Shinjuku neighborhood that you can find a free alternative to the Tokyo Skytree:the Tokyo Metropolitant Government Office (address: 2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo Prefecture 160-0023, Japan).

Meiji Jingu and a Short Lesson in History

The Shrine

Meiji Jingu (also known as the Meiji Shrine) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deifed spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken. The shrine was built in 1920 by over 100,000 volunteers. It was first dedicated on November 1, 1920, but the imperial spirits had to be moved to new installations on October 31st, 1958, since the original building burned down in 1945 during the WII's air raids. The rebuilding of the shrine was made possible by public donations.


The Installations

 

The site consists of a main shrine, an inner shrine, a outer shrine, a treasure house, a consecrated kitchen (for the preparation of food offerings) as well as some office buildings and these buildings are mostly build out of Japanese cypresses with copper plates roofs.

The shrine is accessible via one of the two Toriis (shrine gates). Do pay attention to the gates and, as you gaze up at the largest one, know that it was made from cypresses imported from Taiwan that are more than 1,7000 years-old. Passing through those gates is meant to purify you for subsequent praying. 

The Imperial Couple

Emperor Meiji was the 122nd emperor of Japan (you can see portraits of all the emperors in the museum). He ascended on the Chrysanthemum Throne in 1868 at the age of 14 and, from then on, ruled for almost half a century. His reign was marked by an opening toward foreign countries and a development of culture.

The Meiji Era is considered one of the most glorious and prosperous periods in the history of this country, which was founded as the Empire of Japan in 660 BC by the mythical Emperor Jimmu. During Emperor Meiji's reign, Tokyo replaced Kyoto as the capital of the country. The emperor, supported by his wife, worked tirelessly to bring Japan into modernity. He brought about the Meiji Restauration and put an end to the Tokugawa government.

At the time of the birth of the emperor in 1852, Japan was an isolated, pre-industrial and feudal country dominated by the Tokugawa Shogunate (the feudal Japanese military government which existed bewteen 1603 and 1868) and the daimyos, who ruled over the country's more than 250 decentralized domains. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle and those years became known as the Edo period (the pre-modern period). At the time of his death in 1912, Japan had undergone radical political, social and industrial transformations which allowed it to emerge as one of the great powers of the world.

Emperess Shoken was a prodigy of her time. However, being older than the emperor caused problem when it came to marriage - a problem easily solved by changing her date of birth. She assisted the emperor behind the scene and became a model for the modern Japanese women.

Emperess Shoken was well known for her support of charity work and women's education. She also contributed to the establishment of the Japanese Red Cross Society. She created a fund fot the Internaitonal Red Cross, which was later named the Empress Shoken Fund.

The emperor died on July 30, 1912 and the empress followed on April 11, 1914.


Our Visit

On the day of our visit, J and I were fortunate enough to witness a wedding procession going through the courtyard. The bride wore a white kimono and the groom a black traditional outfit. As they walked behind the priests, they were shielded from the sun under a bright red parasol. A fairly large procession trailed behind.

 The combination of the austere setting with its natural surrounding made for a very peaceful visit, even despite the amount of tourists walking the grounds. 

Meiji Jingu is accessible with the JR Yamanote line to Harajuku Station. The shrine is adjacent to Yoyogi Park, so grouping the two could be a good idea.

All About Samurai Swords

If there is one thing Japan is known for where I come from, apart from sushi, it is the swords. 

Beautiful and deadly masterpieces, the samurai swords are real treasures. In Tokyo, there is this small museum dedicated to them. On the first floor you get a display showing the sword making process complete with raw materials. The second floor, which you can access for a small fee, contains many swords on display with indications as to when and where they originated. The displays also point out the different signatures and the period each style is linked too.

The collection was extensive with many swords of different lengths and use as well as hand guards. We left the museum with a leaflet explaining the sword terminology as well as instructions on how to properly care for them, if we ever found ourselves with such treasures in our hands.  Which, let's be honest, is very unlikely.

I know a few friends back home who would have loved this visit!

The Sword Museum of Tokyo is located at Japan, 〒151-0053 Tokyo, Shibuya, Yoyogi, 4−25−10. Be warned, it is not easy to find and you might very well be thankful to have Google Map turned on while you are looking for it. This is the only place I probably wouldn't have been able to find without the help of Google...

Sakuras, for the Romantic in All of Us

I had timed my visit to Japan with the Sakura’s Festival, where cherry trees all over Japan are in bloom. It is quite a magical sight and the Japanese enjoy this period of the year tremendously and you can see them having picnics under the trees everywhere the sakuras bloom. The best spots are reserved quite early in the morning by pre-installing a tarp on the ground at the beginning of the day. In Japan, there is such a thing as the bloom forecast and you can easily figure out the best place to witness the phenomenon at the time of your visit.

You might wonder why it is such a big deal, as it might be difficult to imagine why flowers would have such an appeal. I will admit that I could hardly imagine myself just how enchanting and peaceful it would all be. First, we're not talking about solitary trees, but actually large grouping of them.

They are simply beautiful, with soft rays of light cascading down branches heavy with blossoms. Nothing more and nothing less. It has a way of lifting your spirit by reminding you of the beauty in the world and the wonder of life. There is something quite zen about it, quite different from the breathtaking mountains or mesmerizing underwater landscapes I have been privy to, but in so many ways so fitting for Japan.

I imagine many poems were written under such trees. While the J and I haven’t written odes to spring during our stay, we did spend a lot of time appreciating the sheer beauty of our surroundings. The national gardens became a favorite napping and reading place.

My favorite spots, when we went in mid-April, were along the river in Asakusa District and in Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.