'Sakura' is the Japanese for Cherry Blossom 🌸 🍒 & this is Shinjuku Park. There were lots of people walking and sitting having picnics on the grass.
There was a greenhouse with tropical plants. Funny, I'd seen these meat eating plants growing wild in Malaysia:
The colour of this plant was so unusual!
Formal gardens
Views from the Kyu-Goryo-Tei (Taiwan Pavillion) a gift from the Japanese people in Taiwan, a region that was then a part of the Japanese empire. The building was given to commemorate the 1924 wedding of Crown Prince Hirohito (1901-1989), who became emperor in 1926. Construction began in 1927.
The Relaxation Room of the Taiwan Pavilion is a large, open space with a panoramic view of the Japanese Garden beyond. Newspapers of the time referred to it as "A relaxing place above a tranquil pond... An ideal location to enjoy the cool breezes of a summer stroll"
Cute lizard:
Somehow, the buildings in Tokyo are a bit like art work
Going a bit out of the city, into the 'suburbs' I visited this tiny cafe which looked more like someones house. I stopped for a Tea and got chatting to the owner, Nico, a lady in her 60's who spoke really good English.
She had a large collection of ceramic pottery - some of which was quite old - displayed all around the cafe and some of it was for sale. She had a section called 'Kintsugi' which is a Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a laquer dusted with gold powder. Despite it being broken, it looks quite beautiful. The philosophy behind it is to treat the breakage and repair as part of the history of the object, and rather than hide the repair, it is highlighted.
She had some pieces dating back to the 17th century and older. This was called the Edo period - around 260 years from 1616 (The year Shakespeare died) and was the time of the Samurai. She knew about the different patterns on the ceramics and their meanings. One thing I thought was charming was, she said rabbits are lucky.
"We think of rabbits making rice cakes on the moon" she laughed, "when we see the shadows we think of the rabbits up there" - this is why you often see paintings and pots decorated with rabbits and the moon together.
She said she thought it was a little strange at first, that people would want pottery that was broken.
In the past, it was for necessity, as people couldn't afford to throw away their pots if they got chipped or broken, so they would store them at the side of the house until the 'glass melting man' or 'repair man' would visit the village and mend everyone's pots.
We chatted for a while about travelling, as her and her husband, Hiro (an architect), travel often and they spent a year in their 30's travelling the world.
The year was 1991-92 which made us laugh as I travelled in my 20's in 1993 (My 'gap year').
Her husband came home and they asked me if I wanted to go to a noodle bar with them, down the street, so of course I said yes!
I asked for recommendations on what to order - I wanted to try ordinary Japanese food, that people eat everyday - so Nico ordered a few things to share. We had some Tempura - fried shrimp and a vegetable called Renkon or 'Lotus root' - a picture shown here:
She ordered some Sashimi - tuna and squid sliced thinly and served with wasabi and soy sauce.
We then had Japanese noodles, the thick ones called Udon, in a soup with vegetables and spring onion.
While we ate, we were sat at the bar and I asked about the bottles behind the bar in the cabinet. Hiro said it was Japanese Saki or rice wine, "Do you want to try some?" he said. I couldn't resist, so I had a small glass. Here's the barman pouring it out:
It was a lot more flavourful than the Vietnamese rice wine or 'happy water'. It tasted a bit 'herby' and was only the strength of ordinary white wine, around 13 - 17%
They were such a lovely couple and such good fun. They even insisted on paying for the meal - I tried to argue but she wouldn't have it. "You are a traveller" she said, "and our guest!"
They walked me back to the train station where we said our goodbyes. It was such a nice evening.
I didn't get a photo of them, but this is off Nico's blurry Whats-app picture...
9th April
I had some recommendations of places to visit from Nico. The first was Kyu-Shiba-rikyu Gardens, which was a pretty Japanese garden, surrounded by the Tokyo Skyscrapers
There was another garden close by, parts of which were also designed and built in the Edo period. It was close to the sea wall and had some pretty bridges & Japanese style Tea houses.
The sea wall:
The sluice gate:
This was a duck hunting hide:
Then on to her second recommendation which took me a while to navigate the underground.
I passed here, which I think is a famous square in Tokyo - the Shibuya crossing - 'the world's busiest crosswalk' or the 'Shibuya Scramble'
Back in the suburbs....
...the second place was the Japan Folk Crafts Museum.
It was OK, but all the labels were in Japanese only, and it was just a big collection of ceramics and some paintings. I could see why Nico would love it, being rather obsessed with pottery.
There were, however, some paintings I found interesting. You weren't allowed to take photos but....well....
Kintsugi:
Back near the hostel and I couldn't resist taking photos of these funny little cars that are all over Tokyo. In fact all the vehicles seem very square and different, like something from the future.....oh! And they drive on the left.
The hostel at night.
Kei cars. You see the odd import in the UK.
ReplyDeleteThey are like toy cars 😊
ReplyDelete