Tokyo Dome Ciry (2): March 21, 2010

I visited Tokyo Dome City for the second time in three weeks. It was rainy three weeks ago, but it was fine today.

People enjoyed the roller coaster. The coaster moved up and down through modern buildings. People's screams were heard. The sky was blue.

A pre-season baseball game was held in Tokyo Dome, which locates in the center of the City. Thousands of people came out from the dome when I passed through it.

The Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame is in the Dome. It was crowed with baseball-freak boys and girls. The baseball shop was also full with boys and girls.

There were many girls enjoying cosplay, or dressing-up performances, outside the Dome. They wore eye-catching costumes (most of them were designed copying the clothes of comic heroines) and put bright color wigs (pink, gold, silver, green ...). Tourists were taking photos.

The Tokyo Dome City locates in the north of the Imperial Palace.

Koishikawa Korakuen Garden: March 21, 2010

It’s the beginning of cherry blossom season. I visited Koishikawa Korakuen Garden.

The garden was originally a private house of Mito Tokugawa family, one of most powerful Tokugawa families in the Edo period. Mitsukuni Tokugawa, or Mito Komon, famous white hats in the Edo era and a hero in today’s samurai TV programs, once lived here.

A cherry tree was in the center of the garden. The branches as well as the flowers hanged loosely.

There are ponds, small hills, flower beds and plant fields. Some gardens were covered with mosses. They also have bridges, small temples and monuments.

There stands Tokyo Dome baseball stadium behind the garden.

The cheering of the supporters were heard from the dome.

The walls of the garden are also historical. The wall stones were carried from the Edo Castle.

Rapeseed @ Hamarikyu Gardens: March 20, 2010

I visited Hamarikyu Gardens to enjoy rapeseed flower blossom.

There were about 300 thousands rapeseed flowers in a 3000-square-meter field. The yellow ground was so beautiful. There are tall buildings behind the field. The contrast between them was impressive.

Nanohana ya

Tsuki wa Higashi ni

Hi wa Nishi ni.

This is a famous Haiku poem by Yosa Buson, a famous Haiku poet in the Edo period. The meaning of it is:

Beautiful rapeseed flowers

The moon is coming up in the east

The sun is going down in the west.

The sun was in the west when I visited the gardens. The scene reminded me of Buson's Haiku.

Hamarikyu Gardens were made in the early Edo period by one of Tokugawa families. It has become open to the public after the World War 2.

The gardens are designed in Japanese style. They introduce the sea water into the ponds. (Unique!)

There is a tearoom on a small island in the pond. I found a tourist group from Russia enjoying a tea ceremony. They served a cup of tea and a Japanese sweet. The sweet was made in cherry-flower design today.

Hamarikyu Gardens locates about three kilometers south from Tokyo Station and faces Tokyo Bay.

Shoin Shrine & Setagaya Castle: March 14, 2010

Japanese Shinto, the country’s natural spirituality, has long history. However, the shrines are not always old. Some famous shrines were built after the Meiji era. Such examples include Meiji Shrine, which honors the Meiji Emperor, and Shoin Jinja (Shrine).

Shoin Shrine is in Setagaya-ward, western Tokyo. The shrine honors Yoshida Shoin, a spiritual leader of the Meiji Revolution. He was born in Choshu, Yamaguchi Prefecture and became a teacher when the country was in turmoil at the end of the Tokugawa era.

He was executed by the Tokugawa Government just before the Meiji Revolution. But his students carried out the Revolution and became the leaders of the Meiji Government. They included Ito Hirobumi, Japan’s first prime minister, Yamagata Aritomo, powerful conservative politician who served several times as premier, and Takasugi Shinsaku, military leader of anti-Tokugawa Choshu local government.

Shoin is still respected by many people. I found a visitor who prayed at Shoin and his students’ tombs in very serious manner.

The copy of his school building “Shokason Juku” is in the shrine. The original is in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

I also visited the ruin of Setagaya Castle. The castle was built in the 15th century. Now the place is a park. There remain moats and mounds.

Spring flowers @Setagaya: March 14, 2010

It is getting warmer and the sunshine is becoming brighter. It is spring. I walked along walk paths in Setagaya Ward, western Tokyo.

Flowers have started to bloom. Here are pictures of them.

Some cherry trees started to open their flowers. A young cherry tree opened its faint pink flowers.

There are various kinds of cherries in Japan. Scarlet cherry cold has pink-red flowers.

Pansy and other flowers were in a flower bed.

The primrose opened its purple flowers.

Rapeseed (yellow flower)

Daffodil

Magnolia liliiflora





Saxifraga stolonifera (It is called snow flower in Japanese)

Tokyo Dome City: March 6, 2009

There is a complex of amusement facilities surrounded by many office buildings in central Tokyo. It is Tokyo Dome City.

It includes a baseball stadium “Tokyo Dome”, an amusement park, entertainment halls, a hotel, restaurants and many other facilities. The city is crowded with fans in the baseball season.

It was rainy when I visited there. I found some queues. People were making a line to buy the baseball tickets (for the new season which begins late March). They made another line to buy baseball-related goods.

There is an off-site betting office of horse races in the city. Hundreds of people gathered.

The combination of a baseball dome and a roller coaster or a ferris wheel gave me surrealistic images.

Hanami@Umegaoka: Feb 21, 2010

It’s season to enjoy Hanami, Japanese traditional practice to enjoy flower blossoms. We usually enjoy Ume blossoms (Japanese apricot) in February and Cherry blossoms in March and April.

I went to Hanegi Park in Umegaoka to enjoy Hanami. Umegaoka means “the hill of Ume”. There are about 650 Ume trees in the park.

There were so many people in the park. Some were enjoying their lunch boxes. Others were taking pictures. It was a beautiful day. Spring is at the corner.

Statues in Tokyo

There are many statues to remember in Tokyo. I took some pictures of them during my Tokyo Walk.

The statue of Saigo Takamori in the Ueno Park and of Chuken Hachiko in front of Shibuya Station are probably the most famous statues in Tokyo. I am sure that most Japanese know them.

Others include:

>>The Heroes:

Oyama Iwao: an army general in the Meiji era. The statue is in Kitanomaru, north of the Imperial Palace.

Wake no Kiyomaro: a politician who showed his royalty to the Emperor in the Nara era (8th century). The statue stands in the north-eastern corner of the Imperial Palace.

>>Japanese culture’s big characters:

Godzilla: a monster (and hero). The statue is in Hibiya. The shape is different from that designed in the Hollywood cinema.

>>Popular figures among prople:

Moai: in fromt of Shibuya Station.

Shibuya: Feb 7, 2010

Shibuya is popular among young people. There are many youth brand shops. Many high school boys and girls get together in this area after the school hours in the weekdays and at weekend.

Many people meet in front of Chuken Hachiko’s statue. The dog lived around 80 years ago. It came to the station every day for years to greet its owner even after the owner’s death. People made the dog’s statue to praise its royalty. The station also has a Moai statue outside the building. It is a copy of the statues in the Easter Island.

The shops in the town has been changing rapidly in the past years. There stood a huge building of Tsutaya, a rental video shop, in front of Shibuya station. H&M and other new stores attract young shoppers (probably) from traditional department stores. I also saw many customers in a new electronic goods store LABI.

Opera City: Feb 6, 2010

I went to a concert held in a hall in the Tokyo Opera City. It is about 20-minute walk from Shinjuku Station.

The building is 54-story high. It has a few concert halls, galleries and other cultural facilities. The New National Theater is next to the City.

The main hall has around 1800 seats. The ceiling is high and it has good acoustics.

Other concert halls I often visit include: the Suntory Hall, the NHK Hall etc.