This shrine at Ueno Park is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who used his position in the government to make Edo (now present day Tokyo) the most important city in Japan. It was built in 1651. I think it survived the bombings of World War II, even though not many historical buildings in Tokyo did. Many of the sites were rebuilt between 1950 and 1970. The earthquake in 1923 that destroyed the city is another reason for many replicas.
At this shrine, you can't take photos of the inside, which is why I don't have any. The grounds are very detailed and pleasant. I visited a peony garden there and was the only person American in the garden. The rest of the visitors appeared to be German, according to my judgment of their accents and frequent picture taking of the flowers in bloom.
The pathway to the shrine features 50 copper lanterns and 50 stone lanterns. This is because this shrine is dedicated to "light" for the Eastern side of Japan.
Ueno Park is huge and similar to Central Park in New York City. The zoo is located there, along with five national museums. I visited the Tokyo National Museum and looked at clay pots that were made around 10,000 B.C. Going to this museum fueled my desire to learn as much as I can about the history, people and culture of Japan. I hope to read a lot in the next year to aid in my understanding of my new home.
I met Benny in Roppangi for dinner. We first were turned away from a sushi restaurant after the hostess explained that the minimum price was 150,000 yen per person. Translation: $150 per person. Roppangi is a high end area known for good food and all night clubs. We didn't hit the clubs, but we did get our groove on at a great coffee shop. We had a strawberry dessert while overlooking the Roppangi crossroads block.
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