Yanesen, a stroll through retro Japan

We decided to explore Yanesen to get a look of Japan's not so distant past. YaNeSen is a collective name of the three neighborhoods Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi. All three have had a charmed life for much of the structures and houses escaped the devastation of 20th century war bombings and earthquakes. Such as it is, these neighborhoods still had a lot of homes and shops that date back to the Meiji-Showa period (1912-1989). 

 

A few steps from the Nippori Station is the huge Yanaka Reien (Cemetery).  It is known for its beautiful cherry blossoms that would carpet this road in spring time. Aside from that, a lot of famous people are interred here including the last shogun, Yoshinobu Tokugawa.  

 

 
I love how this cemetery is hardly spooky at all.

Actually most Japanese cemeteries are not spooky. They all have a peaceful beauty about them... makes you want to hang out there, sip your tea and practice writing your haiku.

There are about 7,000 graves in this cemetery.

Since most of Yanesen can be travelled on foot, we figured that we could get a walking map from the Tourist Information Center which was located in the Yanaka Ginza, a shopping strip.

...only to find out they were closed on Saturdays.

So after much huffing and puffing, dejected, I accepted the fact that we had no choice but to explore it blindly much to Thad's delight and my chagrin. 

We went to look for the famous mud wall of Kannon-Ji Temple...but not having a map, we walked all over the place, serependitiously finding temples and shrines along the way...


Zensho-an Temple was built in 1883 by katana and Zen master Yamaoka Tesshu dedicated to the fallen of the Meiji Restoration.  Interred in the temple complex is Sanyutei Encho, a rakugo (which literally means fallen words) performer. Rakugo is a form of verbal entertainment by which a lone person begins telling a story using only a paper fan and a small cloth (tenugui) without standing up from his sitting position.     

 Climbing up the slope...

Zensho-an Temple has an unusual gallery of Yurie-ga, a collection of silk scrolls with ghoulish images. They range from bereft to frightening. The gallery can be viewed annually in August which is the month of the Obon Festival when the Japanese welcome back the spirits of the dead .  

Who you gonna call?

Daenji is both a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine in Sendagi. It is dedicated to one of Edo's (old  name for Tokyo) famous ukiyo-e (wood block) artists, Suzuki Harunobu. A pioneer, he was the first to produce full color wood block prints called nishiki-e. He produced a considerable amount of shunga (erotic) prints. His work and style were subsequently copied by other artists.

The temple/shrine is also dedicated to O-sen Kasamori, a local beauty at that time who was a waitress in many tea houses. She is depicted in many of Harunobu's wood block prints.

You could say she is Japan's first "aiduro" a Japanized word for "idol".

   

I'm not quite sure what the name is of this temple is, my knowledge of kanji and kana is probably that of a 2 year old Japanese child so I'm not going to attempt to translate it for fear of translating it into something like "Praying Place Apple Monkey Carburetor" but this was one of the temples we passed by while exploring/getting lost. 

Jizo or Ojizo-sama is a bodhisattva or saint. He is the patron saint of expectant mothers, children, pilgrims, travelers and even firemen. He has many appearances but in contemporary Japan, like the ones shown here, he has a child-like face. Below are the Six Jizo or Roku Jizo. They are associated with the 6 states of desire and karmic rebirth in which a person is trapped before being brought to Amida's western paradise.

 

   

And this temple or it could be a shrine, with its fresh bright vermillion paint doesn't look too dated. 

I'm not sure what it's called.

After trekking the labyrinthine streets, we finally found the mud wall of Kannon-Ji.  The  “Tsuji-bei” wall was built in the Edo Era (1603 – 1868). It is constructed unusually where mud and tiles were placed alternately on top of the other.

  

The mud wall was once a part of the Kannon-ji Temple.

Kannon-ji, a nondescript temple holds a lot of rich history about a tragic heroic tale. The stone pagoda on the right just by the entrance is dedicated to the 47 ronin (masterless samurai) who avenged the death of their master Asano Naganori.  Naganori was forced to commit sepukku (ritual suicide) for assaulting an official by the name of Lord Kira Yoshinaka. Kira was a corrupt douchebag and a spineless rat. The only reason he held a high position in court was he was born into it.

After plotting for two years, the 47 ronin eventually got their revenge. Even knowing that their punishment when caught will also be seppuku,  the plan commenced and Kira was beheaded by the ronin leader, Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshio. Two of the 47 ronin were the brothers, Chikamatsu Kanroku Yukishige and Okuda Sadaemon who were also brothers of Bunryo, a monk who was studying and living at the temple where they had held their secret meetings. 

Another tale of tragic loss is that of the Five Storied Pagoda that used to be a part of the Tenno-ji Temple Complex and was a symbol of the Yanaka Reien (Cemetery)

Thad  is standing by the enclosed base of where the pagoda used to stand

The original pagoda was built in 1644. It burned down in 1771 and was rebuilt 19 years later. In 1957 two lovers, a young seamstress and a middle aged laundry man decided to atone for their adulterous relationship by burning the pagoda with them in it. Which doesn't make sense because the pagoda had nothing to do with their clandestine affair. I am mad at them. A rather selfish way to atone for a selfish act, for Yanaka lost one of its treasures.

It was never rebuilt and all that remains now are the five foundation stones.

There was a little playground right by where the foundation stones were and I couldn't resist sitting on the swing...

On the way out of the cemetery, Thad found a gravesite enclosed with trees and shrubberies.
It looked very warm, enclosing and comforting, much like Neil Gaiman's take on Death as an old friend who comes to meet you in the end.

By this time we were all templed out and getting hungry plus we wanted to go eat at Hantei restaurant
in Nezu so we proceeded to look for it.

Along the way we saw some old shops...

Sidetrack, on the newer side of Nezu, we saw these little kids trick or treating. Halloween is actually a very new concept inculcated into Japan's culture by none other than Tokyo Disneyland when they held a Halloween event a few years ago.
 

This place was some sort of cafe. It looked closed but there were people inside sipping their kohi (coffee) ...or it could a workshop of some sort. I won't know until someone corrects me or when I learn how to read kanji and kana.

We found Hantei Restaurant! This restaurant is known for their kushi-age, deep fried skewered food. We had been so dependent on ordering food by pointing at realistic plastic versions on window displays that I got intimidated and worried about how to order...so I told Thad we should just go back to Yanaka Ginza and eat at the Sushi restaurant we saw a few hours earlier.  Because of this, Thad came up with the term Xiokyo, a new diet fad in which one looks for a certain restaurant for four hours and then decide against eating there. He thinks he's funny :-P

This old kimono shop was right across the street from Hantei

It was dark by the time we got to Yanaka Ginza and missed the sunset which we would've had a nice view of the skyline from this vantage called the  Yuuyake Dandan (Sunset Stairs) 

If you're a stray cat, you would want to live in Yanaka Ginza. This shopping street is stray cat friendly. They are not shooed or chased away by shop owners and customers. They are in fact, fed, talked to, groomed and fed again. This guy was sitting by the entrance to the ginza as if guarding it.

 

This is a souvenir shop selling all sorts of cat related items. Only one cat is real in this photo.

There was this little bookstore that had these children's books that caught my eye on the carousel display shelf on the right of this picture. On closer inspection, they were these series of fairytale books that I had once seen on a Japanese magazine when I was a kid. I wanted ALL of them.

 Several years later and with serendepitous luck, I now have them all!

We kept looking for that sushi place that we saw earlier but we couldn't find it. Damn Twilight Zone Sushi Restaurant...

And then there's this shop that sold skewered fish ( I think, not sure) and they posted photos of celebrities who have eaten there. It must be good to have that kind of patronage but I honestly couldn't tell what they were selling.  

Right next to it is this closed shop with a very lively mural that reminded me of Mary Blair's It's A Small World art. It's actually a sign saying the Iranian Restaurant Zakuro is just 650 meters in the direction the curvy arrow is pointing. I had stupidly thought I had taken a very nice shot of it judging from what I saw from the digicam screen on playback. So I only took one photo. Now I'm realizing too late how crappy it is but it's the only one I've got. Booo.

Thad sat down for a bit to have some Sapporo beer.

I bought a tenugui from this shop to give to my friends Drew and Paula. The shopkeepers looked very well dressed and professional in their three piece business suits.

We found this shop that predominantly sold clay tea cups but they also sold other omiyage (souvenir) type items like netsuke figurines, tengui, keychains, etc. They also sold some high-end tea which they give a sample to people who enter the shop.  The tea is served in an exquisitely sakura shaped cup.

I've always wanted a clay tea cup and found the perfect pair from there...These are a bit pricey anywhere that is why I never got to buy one but from this shop, they were a steal.

We could've had our kushi-age experience at Hantei but I succumbed to my anxiety so we ended up eating at, where else? McDonalds.

Which was mighty damn fine to me because they had the McEbi burger. Ebi means shrimp!
and everyone who knows me know I love shrimp. This McEbi was actually delicious and not greasy or over fried. Look how tiny it is though. But it filled me up. Thad had the $7.00 cheeseburger which costs only $.99 in the US but you have to understand that McDonald's in Japan is pricey because it is somewhat "imported" while better quality local foods like a soba set (which for example, includes rice, pork cutlets, egg, soba, miso soup and pickled vegetable) will only cost you about $5.00
I also don't understand why people were saying eating in Japan is expensive, we never found that to be true...well unless you go to McDonald's. Oh the paradox.

Back to Nippori Station waiting for the train to take us back to our hotel... I've seen this scene so many times before I came here but it is mostly in animation... It feels surreal to be part of it.

...and that's how the YaNeSen frolic ended...

Next up, Harajuku!