On day 2 of our Tokyo-in-the-New-Year weekend, we went to this awesome area called Asakusa. I LOVED this neighborhood! The great Senso-ji temple was the first stop, which is the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan. The Japanese people try to get to a temple as close to the new year as possible to pray and get good luck for the year. This is the Kaminarimon, or Thunder Gate, that you pass through to enter the shrine.
Then you walk down this long aisle of shops (yes, shops!) with booths selling all sorts of things, this shopping street has a history of centuries. Once again, we are moving with the masses!
This shop was selling an array of rice crackers.
You also pass through the Hozomon Gate to get to the temple’s main hall.
Inside the main hall is the 5 story pagoda along with the main shrine.
What?! I guess I didn’t take a picture of the main shrine! Haha! Oh well, next time. Then we hit the surrounding food stalls for lunch. The girls loved their yakisoba.
I had the beef on a stick. Wonderful flavor, however, the cut had so much fat (which is typical here) and the rest was so tough, I had to start over or I would still be chewing!
So, next we decided to follow the crowd and get a fish-on-a-stick. I didn’t enjoy eating the skin/bones/tail, like most people, but opening up the fish and eating the meat out was wonderful.
This is one of the Buddha statues, Tokyo Skytree is in the distance.
Next, we took a cruise through Tokyo on the Sumida River. We passed under thirteen different bridges en route. This was our boat.
All aboard!
This is the famous Rainbow Bridge, that crosses Tokyo Bay.
I really liked this red bridge. Eva is practicing her Japanese sign language!
Some cool architecture.
After the cruise we wandered Asakusa a bit before heading back. I just loved this area!
We saw lots of ladies in kimono for the new year.
We saw a cute bike passenger patiently waiting for the green light.
We saw lots of rickshaw’s! And, yes, the girls kept asking for a ride!
I hated this day to come to an end, but at least we got to see some cheerful bears in the Tokyo traffic on the ride home!
Even better, a beautiful sunset behind Mt. Fuji! Looking forward to 2014!