Tokyo Tour with the Family

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we did a MWR tour from the base that was a Tokyo Highlights tour. It was the BEST way to see all the sights we wanted to see in 1 day... probably why they call it a "highlights" tour! First stop was the Meiji Shrine in the Harajuku area of Tokyo. This is one of my favorite shrines so I didn't mind going again... I think this was my 5th time here! It's just as beautiful every time. I like the torii gates the best. These are made from Cypress and are truly magnificent! Marge and I were catching up on some long overdue quality time! We got to watch parts of 2 wedding processions at this shrine as we walked around and explored!

As you can see both were very different looking brides/grooms. It is all very serious too. It was silent as they walked through the shrine. On top of the wedding processions, there were lots of people dressed in kimono which is always so beautiful and the little kiddos in their brightly colored kimonos throwing up the peace signs for pictures is just too much! Now, back to wedding traditions in Japan... these are obviously traditional Shinto ceremonies at a shrine, but more weddings are becoming more popular in the Japanese culture as well. All brides wear all white to "declare their maiden status to the gods." Makes sense, right? The next thing you might notice in these 2 pictures is that the 2 brides have very different headgear on (Thanks Mom for the pictures). The one on the right is just the simple white hood, the one on the left (known as tsunokakushi) serves to hide the brides "horns of jealousy." This one also symbolizes that the brides intention to be a gentle and obedient wife... It's pretty but I'm not digging the "obedience" claus attached to it! There are a ton more wedding traditions here but that's for another day.

Our next stop was Tokyo Tower where we went to the top to see the views and then enjoyed lunch off the beaten path to a noodle place Damian and I had been one time before. It's one of the places where you order from a vending machine and put the money in. Then you bring the ticket to the chef and in about 5 minutes they call you (no idea what they say, but usually I just wait for them to look at me) and then you go pick up your tray! Easy! Marge and I got oishii udon noodles with tofu skins in a miso base! Perfect for a cool day in Tokyo.

The next stop was Asakusa which is a giant shrine in northern Tokyo and lots of little markets. As you can see in the background of this picture, the new Tokyo SkyTree which we have yet to go up in, but is now the tallest structure in Japan. It's pretty neat looking and you can see it from all over Tokyo now! Asakusa was extremely crowded, maybe because it was a Saturday, or maybe because it's Japan and it is always crowded everywhere. They were also promoting on this day that Tokyo is a "candidate city" for the 2020 Olympic Games. They were having all sorts of activities in this area which probably brought more people out! It was a long day and a lot of walking around, but it was a great "highlight" of Tokyo!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Gunshu (goon-shoe): Crowd