Ramen Heresy

Japanese/American Cultural Collision

Thursday, March 30, 2006

A Matter of Perspective: Wilderness in Tokyo

Here we are on the grounds of Jojoji Temple. This particular area is on the edge of the grounds and it is possible to visit the temple and never see this place at all. I presume this is a shrine to those who died as children. The pinwheels are available for sale in the shrine area. If you've ever seen the anime 'Otogi Zoshi' then you may recognize this place. From this perspective (and the one given in the anime) it's somewhat difficult to believe it's only a couple of blocks from Tokyo Tower.

But as you can see it's really only a few feet from the street. Not nearly as isolated as it seems from a different angle. Incidentally, the other side of the street is the grounds of a hotel.
I went looking for this place because I had seen it in the anime and I wanted to see if it really existed. I was pleased to find it.
My fiance's friends were somewhat amazed that a foreign tourist could manage to navigate his way around Tokyo on his own, but riding the trains in Tokyo is really easy. Buying the tickets is a hard, but I had a JR pass so I didn't need to worry about it.
I got directions here from http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ the website of the Japanese National Tourist Organization.

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