Subway Squabbles (5/02/17)
We got off the train at Shiba and rejoiced when we saw a pair of Shiba Inu in the park on our way to the shrine. One had a blue neck scarf and one had a red one, and they're the most adorable freaking things.
Approaching the shrine I couldn't quite shake the feeling that everything was...meh. Granted we haven't seen many for comparison yet but while Sensoji was big and vibrant and bustling, and Meiji jingu was natural and serene, Zozoji looked as though it was 90% concrete. It didn't help that we were near a main road and there was a car park just to the side of the steps. Of course it was the morning and it was February, but that hadn't stopped the previous two being awe inspiring. The inside however was amazing, and as we were browsing there were morning prayers taking place in which a monk would sing and another banged drums. We understood nothing but it was cool to see, even if it did feel like we were choking on incense. We got our Goshuins signed and picked up a few charms; a Tokugawa Shogun sigil for Ollie and Dom, a safe delivery of a baby charm for Kim (the charm has now become a family joke as delivery of Matilda was anything but easy. We tried to clarify that it ensured a safe delivery not an easy one but it didn't help) and a happy relationship one for Ollie and I. Ollie asked if there was a reason I picked out the happy couple charm to which I didn't answer.
On our way out we spotted some tourists doing some calligraphy in the corner which is something we both wanted to try. We sat down and picked up the template (god knows what our attempts would have looked like without one) and started painting. You know how in primary school when you're allowed to progress from pencil to fine liner, and the way the pen glides over the paper with such finesse and precision you vow never to return to the savage ways of graphite? Well this brush felt a million times better than that. The brush is so smooth that you can do gloriously long strokes, twisting it and manipulating the ink until your work looks almost professional...if you squint your eyes a little bit. We signed our names and the date and took them up to the counter so that they could be presented for worship the next day. Hopefully the deities that be aren't offended by shoddy brushwork.
After this we went into the adjacent treasure house which contained scrolls pained by famous
After this we went into the treasure house which contained beautiful scrolls painted by artists of the Edo period. More strikingly however there was a scale model of the temple as it had looked over 100 years ago before it was firebombed during World War Two. It was presented to the British Royal family at the time, and has remained part of the collection (out of sight in storage) until 2015 where it was presented back to Japan on long term lone. The model might be one of the most astounding creations I've ever seen. It was created using the exact same techniques and materials as the temple itself, right down to the miniature roof tiles and tatami flooring. The main hall has painting of birds of paradise and dragons surrounded by brilliant gold, and the roof lining has dragons and tigers carved into it. If I could have taken pictures I would have taken a hundred. The model also explained why the modern temple looked so different. During the rebuilding of Tokyo and Japan post war, they wanted to promote progressive ideas under a 'new' Japan, and so it was built using a mixture of modern and traditional designs. While I understand the reasoning behind it I think it's a shame that it's lost some of its grandeur especially when the original was the very essence of ornate craftsmanship. Out of every other feeling what I mostly felt was sadness that so much of Tokyo had to be rebuilt after the war. Of course there were the innumerable human deaths which can hardly compare, but to lose so much of your cultural heritage so quickly is just heartbreaking.
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| After much trawling this is the only picture I can find. |
We came out of the treasure room and went to see the mausoleums of the last shogun family of Japan, the Tokugawa's which houses six of the 15 Tokugawa shoguns alongside their wives and children. After exploring the mausoleum we went across the courtyard and found the second reason that the temple is so famous; Sentai Kosodate Jizo, which translates as the Unborn Children Garden.
The garden is filled with stone statues representing unborn children including those lost through miscarriages, abortions and stillbirths.
Its as sad as you could expect and seeing the clothes, toys and decorations left at each statue was enough to lodge a lump in my throat. However I can only imagine that having somewhere sacred to openly mourn your child must be of some comfort, and the garden does have a unique quiet beauty about it alongside the feeling of loss.
Out of the hundreds of statues there, there wasn't one which contained dead flowers or wasn't clothed in some way. What could be a depressingly bleak and cold place was filled with colour and remembrance, and I find it so respectful and wholesome that no matter how old the statue is the child is not forgotten.
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| We found a Setsuban box. |
Feeling decidedly sober but glad to have seen it, we left Zozoji and realised we hadn't eaten since dinner. Five minutes down the road we found a subway (don't judge) and went to town on a Teriyaki chicken sub. I wanted to look at the couple charm while we were there, so went into my bag to get it out and...they weren't there. After a small bicker I realised I hadn't put them away when we purchased them and must have put them down when we sat down to do the calligraphy. No matter, we thought, we're only a few minutes away. Hopefully someone nice has handed them in. Nope. We looked and even got one of the monks involved but he said no one had been by to hand anything in. It was noticeably busier when we came in and it was obvious someone had taken them. I briefly wondered if they had been sneakily placed back on the shelf after the monks realised we had left them but given that we were in a temple I felt a little bad accusing the monk. More likely it was one of the many tourists who were now here and swiped it from the calligraphy table.
Stupid as it was I was feeling petty, so went up to the shrine and prayed that the piece of garbage that stole our charms would get crappy karma, and that the charms were cursed with bad luck because they were stolen from a holy place. I hoped they would get a popcorn kernel stuck in their teeth forever more and that their favourite TV show got cancelled. Though they were a little expensive we bought the charms again (maybe that's why Kim's baby charm sucked, because it was a replacement) and left again.
On our way back to the station we stopped at Toshogu shrine which enshrines the first Tokugawa Shogun; Tokugawa Ieyasu, who died in 1616.
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| These women were super excited to read the fortunes they had just received. |
It was smaller but much more intricate, and we spent some time admiring the craftsmanship and looking at the giant Ginko tree next to it, which is believed to have been planted by the third Tokugawa. Then we took the train to the Edo-Tokyo museum which was basically a history of Tokyo from the 1600's until the modern day. It was super touristy but we figured we had enough time to see everything so we could happily spend an afternoon there.
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| The train stickers were amazing. |
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| Don't hold up the queue! |
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| My favourite part is the gold mantis on the helmet. |
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| How to block print a picture. |
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| Political pictures were still beautiful! |
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| Shibe stole a cookie. |
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| The dioramas were incredibly detailed. You could stare for hours and not see anything. |
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