Tsukijishijo and Asakusa Shrine
Tsukijishijo (Tsukiji Market) is the largest seafood market in the world. And it was pretty damn impressive. We met up with Masai-san who is a regular at Tsukiji, and she showed us around the area. We saw a bunch of fish and other things, most of which were fresh and still kicking, moving, and squirting water. It was actually kinda amusing.
Masai-san actually got us into one of the shops where she knew the people there, and we got to try some fresh tuna. There's a big auction every morning at Tsukiji at 3AM, so since we were there about 9, we're talking really fresh fish. It was pretty good, actually. A little odd, but not bad.
We then wandered around some more, and we ended up at a nearby shrine. We did some stuff there for a short moment... I walked through this hoop thing, then messed it up on the third time through by stepping through with my right foot, whoops. And then Sally and I did the hand purification thing, though we didn't actually go pray. But it was fun.
We walked over to the shopping area and looked around at stuff, tried samples of a ton of different things, and then headed to a place where they put sushi on this revolving thing and you just pick up what you want and pay by the types of plates. It was really neat and pretty cheap too. And the had honey melon~~~~ Awesomeness.
After that we headed to the nearby park. (I seriously have forgotten what all these things are called... they're all in the pictures on Facebook.) We rushed through the park to catch the boat that was leaving that would take us through Tokyo over to Asakusa, where we were going to the main temple there. The boat ride was very nice, and we saw a lot of cool things, including a couple of things that I recognized from multiple seasons of Digimon, as well as other anime.
There's this office building with a giant ball in it, a huge Ferris Wheel, and then Rainbow Bridge, all there next to each other. I think I got them all in one shot at one point - it was pretty awesome. And I nerded out over all of them. >_> Especially Rainbow Bridge.
After going under a bunch of bridges and taking a lot of pictures, we made it to Asakusa. A couple members of our party had to get out money, so we found a bank and a post office, though it required some splitting up. Me and most of the group went with Masai-san to the bank and then the temple, while Watanabe-sensei took Amil to a post office to get out some money, and then they met up with us at Asakusa Temple.
We went inside and I was surprised to see all of the shops and stands between the front gate (Kaminari Gate) and the actual main temple building. We went to the temple first and got fortunes (I got a bad one :( and yes, I left it there), purified ourselves (I was walked through it by a nice Japanese lady), and then headed into the temple where we made wishes.
We also did the thing where you breathe in the breath of god, which was neat. And that incense was really strong, but cool too. We then disbanded and shopped around a bit before heading back. I learned a lot today and got even more confidence points when I was talking with Masai-san. She taught me some new words: "chouchin" = paper lantern, "jinrikisha" = rickshaw, and we talked about things at the temple, like the statues of Raijin and Fuujin.
I think Masai-san was surprised at how much I knew, and we talked about some things and joked around some. It was really fun, and I don't feel like I don't know what I'm doing anymore. My Japanese isn't the best, but it seems to work well enough. =D
Alright, it's about 9:30 here, so I'm gonna shower, do my paper, and crash, and then check up on information early tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is Shibuya day! =DDDDDDD
To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine the true light of redemption, that this place may become as paradise...
Masai-san actually got us into one of the shops where she knew the people there, and we got to try some fresh tuna. There's a big auction every morning at Tsukiji at 3AM, so since we were there about 9, we're talking really fresh fish. It was pretty good, actually. A little odd, but not bad.
We then wandered around some more, and we ended up at a nearby shrine. We did some stuff there for a short moment... I walked through this hoop thing, then messed it up on the third time through by stepping through with my right foot, whoops. And then Sally and I did the hand purification thing, though we didn't actually go pray. But it was fun.
We walked over to the shopping area and looked around at stuff, tried samples of a ton of different things, and then headed to a place where they put sushi on this revolving thing and you just pick up what you want and pay by the types of plates. It was really neat and pretty cheap too. And the had honey melon~~~~ Awesomeness.
After that we headed to the nearby park. (I seriously have forgotten what all these things are called... they're all in the pictures on Facebook.) We rushed through the park to catch the boat that was leaving that would take us through Tokyo over to Asakusa, where we were going to the main temple there. The boat ride was very nice, and we saw a lot of cool things, including a couple of things that I recognized from multiple seasons of Digimon, as well as other anime.
There's this office building with a giant ball in it, a huge Ferris Wheel, and then Rainbow Bridge, all there next to each other. I think I got them all in one shot at one point - it was pretty awesome. And I nerded out over all of them. >_> Especially Rainbow Bridge.
After going under a bunch of bridges and taking a lot of pictures, we made it to Asakusa. A couple members of our party had to get out money, so we found a bank and a post office, though it required some splitting up. Me and most of the group went with Masai-san to the bank and then the temple, while Watanabe-sensei took Amil to a post office to get out some money, and then they met up with us at Asakusa Temple.
We went inside and I was surprised to see all of the shops and stands between the front gate (Kaminari Gate) and the actual main temple building. We went to the temple first and got fortunes (I got a bad one :( and yes, I left it there), purified ourselves (I was walked through it by a nice Japanese lady), and then headed into the temple where we made wishes.
We also did the thing where you breathe in the breath of god, which was neat. And that incense was really strong, but cool too. We then disbanded and shopped around a bit before heading back. I learned a lot today and got even more confidence points when I was talking with Masai-san. She taught me some new words: "chouchin" = paper lantern, "jinrikisha" = rickshaw, and we talked about things at the temple, like the statues of Raijin and Fuujin.
I think Masai-san was surprised at how much I knew, and we talked about some things and joked around some. It was really fun, and I don't feel like I don't know what I'm doing anymore. My Japanese isn't the best, but it seems to work well enough. =D
Alright, it's about 9:30 here, so I'm gonna shower, do my paper, and crash, and then check up on information early tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is Shibuya day! =DDDDDDD
To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine the true light of redemption, that this place may become as paradise...