Tokyo Tower, Zojo-ji Temple, and Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden

 On Saturday, we decided to take the Stupid Metro to go see Tokyo Tower, Zojo-ji Temple, and the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Gardens.  Before we left, we made a bunch of the Japanese sandwiches--learned that these are called onigiri--to take and eat at some point.  Yeah, we are beginning to figure out this Japanese eating stuff.
As we were walking along, we saw this building with plants growing right on it.  Thought it was cool....

...until the Tokyo Tower came into view.  We live roughly 5-7 miles away from this tower and can see it at night when we are walking along the shops near our home.  But, it was exciting to see it up close and know that we were finally going to be able to go up it!

It was a little expensive to go up to the Main Observatory, but the views made it worth it!

View of Rainbow Bridge.  We'll visit that on another day.

At the bottom of this picture is the Zojo-ji Temple, which we check out later on in the day.

We all freaked out when we saw the best view....

....Mt. Fuji near the Japan Alps.  It was hazy, but we could still see it.

Here is a bird's eye view of a cemetery.

Audra loved being up to look out the window, and didn't want to get down to move to another place.

All of us inside the Tokyo Tower Main Observatory.

We came back down from the tower and began to head over to the Zojo-ji Temple.....

...but we got sidetracked by these beautiful treats!  We had seen these in pictures online before coming over to Japan and they were on our list of things to try out.  We were so excited to find them!

We didn't even know what they were, but they looked wonderful, so we each ordered one to share.  They ended up being a very thin, crispy crepe with different fillings inside.  Caitlin and Audra shared a chocolate ice cream and strawberry one.

Tayla and Logan shared a chocolate ice cream one.....

...and Christopher and Nathan dug into a carmel and vanilla ice cream one.  Ray and I had a strawberry and custard one.  They were amazing, and we decided that it was a good thing these crepes were not sold near our house, or we would be spending a lot of money!

After we cleaned off our faces, we commenced walking a short two blocks away from Tokyo Tower toward Zojo-ji Temple.

Saw bamboo trees growing across the street.  Never seen that before.

The gate to Zojo-ji Temple was massive and beautiful.  This wooden gate, measuring 21 meters in height, 28.7 meters in width and 17.6 meters in depth, was built in 1622, and today remains the only thing associated with this temple that has survived since the Edo Period.  It survived the centuries through earthquakes, fires, and the air raids of WWII.  Pretty awesome. 

The rest of the area received heavy damage during the air raids and had to be reconstructed.  This is the main temple.  There was a very long line leading up to the inside, but it went pretty fast.  A few of us decided to check it out while the others walked around the huge children's cemetery.
The temple is a Buddhist temple, and the first one we have visited on our trip.

To the left of the main temple, there was this fairly large building.  No one was over there, so we didn't go see it.  Chris pointed out that you can see Tokyo Tower's reflection in the building behind it.

We watched to see what we were supposed to do.  It was very close to the same routine as the Shinto shrines.  Throw some coins in the big box, clap your hands, bow and pray.

It was very dark inside and I didn't want to turn on my flash.  I had a hard time getting a picture, but this kind of shows what was inside.  There was a lot of gold and ornate detail everywhere.  Look at those chandeliers!  There was a statue in the very back.  Everything was fenced off so you couldn't go up any closer than the fence, but there were kneeling benches inside of the fenced area.

To the right of the main temple was this smaller building.  There was a lot of activity going on around it.

In front, there was a place to buy a stick of incense and then you would place it in this pot to burn. 

We went inside and there was a lot of people bustling around buying boxes and we could hear a lot of money clinking.  People were talking in normal voices, it reminded me of a busy farmer's market.  We couldn't figure out what was going on, but it was kind of strange because in the main part of the room, these people we kneeling and participating in a ceremony of some kind.  You can see a priest of some kind in a silver headdress kneeling.  He was chanting, and in the back there was another man beating a drum.  Everyone who was kneeling were very solemn, yet in the back of the structure it looked like a stock exchange.

There was another amazing chandelier, too.  Wow!

To the right of the small building with the ceremony going on, there was a gate for the entrance to the children's cemetery.

Just inside the entrance, there was this statue with a trough of water nearby.  I watched a beautiful lady come and pour two ladles of water over the statue, then take some burning incense to a small box nearby and pray. 

This is the Garden of Statues of the Unborn Children.  This garden is filled with fantastic statues. In one particular garden, rows of stone statues stand – these small statues represent the unborn (miscarried, aborted, stillborn) children of Japan.
When a parent loses their child, they can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing and toys. There is a belief that the garden is protected by Jizobosatusu, who guards the souls of stillborn children. He protects the souls of and brings them, hidden from demons, to the afterlife because they have not had the chance to do the good deeds necessary to make it to the afterlife.

 
The statues went on and on, and even went behind the temple.  Some were very well dressed, others wore tatters.  Looking at them all, one couldn't help but feel a tugging on your heart. There was a solemn feeling at this place.  These are some of the pictures that Caitlin took of some of the individual statues.

Next, we walked about six or so blocks to the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Gardens.  There, we found a picnic table to sit at and eat our onigiri and some crackers.  Then, it was time to walk around this garden before it got dark. 
Here is Kirstina while we were eating.  She is so good on our excursions!  She either is sleeping or sitting just like this looking around.  Never complains or whines for attention. 

During the Edo Period, this garden was built on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay, and served as the residence of various feudal lords and government officials. In 1875, after the fall of the feudal government, it was turned into the Shiba Detached Imperial Villa for the Imperial family.  However, all the buildings were destroyed in the Kanto Earthquake in 1923. In 1924, Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden was opened to the public.

We know that we did not see this garden at its best.  I'm sure its breathtaking in the spring or summer!  However, we don't know if we will make it to see it then, so it was now or never.

Caitlin and Audra looking at ducks.  There were ducks everywhere.

It was interesting to see a beautiful, serene landscape with tall buildings and trains surrounding it.

As we walked along the gravel pathways and bridges, we came upon these fish in the pond.

They were huge and were just sitting there at the surface with their mouths open.  The kids got quite the kick out of them!

Just because they were so funny, here is a close up of one of them with its mouth open waiting for something to drop into it.

Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden features the typical elements of a Japanese landscape garden, including a pond and man made hills, symbolizing the ocean, lakes and mountains of the real world.  The pond was once a salt water pond because it had water in it from Tokyo Bay.  However, the landscape has changed since then, and now it is a fresh water pond.

It was beautiful, and had many elements to appreciate...even in the winter.

There were many walking paths that we were unable to explore, simply because it was sunset and the garden was closing.  We really could have spent a lot of time here, though.

The kids on one of the stone bridges.

That same bridge looking back as we walked farther down the path.

It was a pleasant, relaxing place to explore as we took a break from the city and the crowds and enjoyed the sunset.  We left this garden, wishing that we had more time here and that we could see it in all its glory in the summertime.

 Passed Zojo-ji Temple as we walked back toward Tokyo Tower.  I love these Japanese-looking statues and want one in my yard when we return to the states.

By now, it was twilight and we could enjoy a beautiful Tokyo Tower lit up against the dark sky. 

The pictures don't do it justice, it really is so gorgeous!

Another picture, just because we loved it so much!

At the base of the tower, they had many Christmas lights all over, creating a magical atmosphere.

 It was hard to turn our backs to the tower and walk back to the Stupid Metro.  We made it home without getting lost and had a nice dinner of tempera and rice. 

 

Perfect day.

 

Here's the kids' favorite parts of the day:

Caitlin:  My favorite would be a three-way tie between the crepes--which were really good--, the children's cemetery, and the carp at the bridge.  There was a really nice feeling in the children's cemetery, even though the rest of the temple didn't really feel that great.  The koi fish were funny!

Tayla:  My favorite part was the yummy crepes with the ice cream!  I also thought the park was really pretty and Tokyo Tower was really pretty when it was lit up at night.

Christopher:  Lunch.  I also liked the fish. 

Logan:  I enjoyed seeing the lights and I enjoyed the gardens because there was lots of nature and how the Japanese people garden by making it a mini world.

Nathan:  The Tokyo Tower and the garden part.  They are my favorite because in the garden part, I liked when there was a crowd of fish and their mouths were open.  I liked that we ate there and we hiked.  I also liked Tokyo Tower.  I liked it when it was lit up.  I liked it when we were looking down from the windows. 

Audra: Good.  We walk home in the dark.  I like the tower.  I like the ice cream.  I want get another one.  I hungry.