Advisors 1, Butlers 0
But Butlers actually won out because it was packed with Japanese people all doing what we were doing and so it was great fun.
This is Tokyo's most visited temple, and is approached by way of a narrow street full of shops selling religious items, incense, souvenirs, as well as the usual tat and food stalls we are now seeing as common. It is not unusual to see a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine sharing space, and this compound has both.
The shrine was established in the 7th century, but the current building was built in 1958. Japan does a lot of this rebuilding and replicating, due to a history of fires, earthquakes and war. There is a five storey pagoda, another restoration, this one dating from all the way back to 1973. The temple is older, 1649, and an air of permanence emanates from it. There are hawkers dotted all around. Families and couples and friends and single old people are here, and many of the women are dressed in traditional kimono. Apparently this is common during cherry blossom time. Locals were asking to take their photos, and it was clear that many of the Japanese people were here on holiday, taking in the spring.
When we left the compound we walked toward the Sumida river, where there are more blossoms, attracting more people. One charming custom is to bring a tarp and lay it down on the street under the trees with a picnic. this is done day and night, as many of the blossoming avenues are illuminated at night.
We went from old(ish) to brand new, taking in the sky tree tower, the largest free standing tower in the world (as of 2013 anyway). It is yet another example of building up when there is no room to build out, and there are 8 storeys of shops, restaurants, amusements, an aquarium and more before one even gets to go up the 634 metres of tower. It's hideously expensive, especially if you want to avoid the queue, which is promoted for "international visitors" who seem to have less patience than the locals. At the top is an incredible view. On clear days one can see Mount Fuji from here, but there is just enough haze to render the fabled mountain obscure today. However we did see the enormous amount of reclaimed land Tokyo has built and developed over the last few decades. There is an old screen indicating what the view would have been like a couple of centuries ago, and it is hard to relegate the two images. At night it must be fantastic.
Our path led us on to another new site, a museum built only last year to display and honour the art of Hokusai. Oh come on, you know, Hokusai! Sure you know him! Have you ever seen a image of a large wave with a .... yeah that one. that was Hokusai, one of the Edo period's greatest artists, who specialized in woodblocks and painting, and who advanced the image of Japan, particularly of Japanese women and their lives and fashions. This man lived for 90 years, living through the American and French and Industrial Revolutions. He was alive for both Napoleon and Darwin. It would be hard to imagine a lifetime that spanned so many world-changing events. He himself was one of the most influential artists of his country, and his art is still magical and lovely, and feeds much of what we consider classical Japan.
Enough now. We need to go home, take a warm bath, do some stretching and then go out to some little local joint for Japanese whiskey and meat fried on a brazier.
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