From America’s Dairyland to The Land of the Rising Sun! A group of Wisconsin Holstein enthusiasts headed by inveterate travellers Marlowe & Barb Nelson arrived in Japan on Monday, September 22nd for a week of touring that will culminate in attending the All-Hokkaido Holstein Show. Marlowe is held in great esteem by the Japanese dairy industry and Japanese Holstein breeders - more about that in subsequent posts.
We left Minneapolis at 3:00pm on Sunday the 21st and arrived in Tokyo at 5:00pm on Monday the 22nd. The flight was 12 hours, but we lost a day due to crossing the International Date Line. After a night’s sleep, the group was up and ready to go see some of the sights of Tokyo on Tuesday.
Group participants include: Marlowe & Barbara Nelson; Roger & Peggy Borgwardt; Keith & Dawn Stump; Jill Cornman; Bill & Jean Ehrke; Jon & Sandra Peterson; Gerald & Maxine Glasshof; Rob, Kathleen & Sean O’Keefe; Bill & Saloah Hageman; David Logghe; Don & Beverly Meyer; Mike Snyder & Janell Miller; and Dean Solie.
Our first stop was the Tokyo Tower. Built 50 years ago, the tower is 1093 feet tall (about 30 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower) and operates as a transmission tower for most of Tokyo’s broadcast stations. We went up to the main observation deck which provided a 360 degree view of the Tokyo area.
The metro area of Tokyo is vast - covering the Kanto Plain to Tokyo Bay. It originally started as Edo, a tiny fishing village on Tokyo Bay. About 30 million people live here, almost a quarter of the total population of Japan - 125 million.
It really is city as far as you can see. The construction cranes in this photo show that, like every world-class metropolis, Tokyo is constantly undergoing change and renewal.
The Meiji Jingu Shrine was only a short drive from Tokyo Tower but a great distance as far as peacefulness and tranquility! Meiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine. Shinto is Japan’s ancient original religion although many Japanese today also practice Buddhism or Chistianity. The shrine was built in memory of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, under whose rule Japan ended its long isolation from the outside world at the end of the 1800s. The original shrine was finished in 1920, but like much else in Tokyo, it was destroyed in WWII bombing. The fully authentic reconstruction was finished in 1958.
The Torii Gate which indicates your entrance into the grounds.
The shrine is a holy area and our tour guide, Meumi, demonstrates how to purify yourself before entering the inner courtyard of the shrine. The purification consists of rinsing off both hands and also rinsing out your mouth using the ladles provided at the font.
Gate to the inner courtyard.
Inside the main shrine building - this is as close as the public can get to the altar. People there wishing to pray toss a coin into the Offering Box, clap their hands, bow twice, and say short prayer from here.
Side aisle of the main shrine. The woodwork throughout the site was quite beautiful.
We were quite fortunate to see a wedding in progress at the shrine. Our guide said that this was a very traditional Shinto wedding. Many of the men in the wedding party wore elegant morning suits, but the bride, groom and the women in the party were in traditional dress.
The Shinto priests and assistants speaking to the bride and groom.
Ema - votive tablets for special prayers - were offered for sale. Wishes and prayers are written on the tablets and then hung on a hook in this enclosure surrounding a sacred tree.
Thousands of ema with the widest variety of languages were hung around the structure.
Commemorative sake (rice wine) barrels are displayed along the walk to the main shrine. used in Shinto rites and festivals. Sipping a cup is still a prayerful act of symbolic unification with the gods.
Shinto shrines and sake manufacturers maintain a relationship, in which the shrines conduct rites to ask the gods for the prosperity of the brewers, and — this is where the barrels come in — the brewers donate the sake that shrines need for ceremonies and festivals.
After lunch at the Palace Hotel, we crossed the street to visit the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. Located in the heart of Tokyo, the Imperial Palace occupies the site of the Edo-jo Castle. Edo-Jo was once the largest castle in the world from which the shoguns ruled Japan for many centuries. Little remains of the castle today apart from the moat (shown above) and the massive walls surrounding the palace grounds. You can also see the Tokyo Tower in the photo.
The Ote-Mon gate is the main entrance into the East Garden and was once the principal gate of Edo-jo.
The tea pavilion. The garden is located at what once was the heart of the old castle.
The gardens are beautifully landscaped and quite serene.
The Imperial palace is the home of Japan’s royal family, but the actual palace is only open to the public two days a year. The gardens, however, are open daily and are a very popular spot for Japanese wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.
The Hyakunin-bansho guardhouse - the largest of the guardhouses surrounding this entrace to the garden - what once would have been the entrance to the castle. The skyline behind shows the reach of modern Tokyo that is always present even when you are looking at historical buildings and strolling the grounds.
Tokyo street scene - close to Ginza Street - one of the world’s best shopping boulevards.
Kabukiza Theatre - a stage for Kabuki, Japan’s original theatrical art.
Tuesday was a national holiday - Shubun-no-hi (the Autumnal Equinox) - so many people had the day off and were out enjoying the warm, sunny weather.
Next stop - the northern island of Hokkaido!
