Day 13 – Temple Education and Busy Streets

18,995 steps taken

Our last days here are going to be very quiet, as most of us are feeling the fact that we haven’t really had a break in 3 weeks. We were supposed to go to Nikko today, which is this gorgeous little town with lots of greenery and beauty to enjoy, but we will just have to come back to visit that gem. Instead today, we planned on heading out to a few temples and shrines to try and fill this temple stamp book that we have!

After a little bit of a sleep in, we headed towards Shitenoji Temple, which is situated only a short walk away from the hotel at the end of a busy market street. Last time we visited this particular temple, it was utter madness since our visit landed on a public holiday. This time felt like an entirely different experience. There are plenty of stalls filled with weird little knick-knacks and souvenirs, and so many different food options, with the odd animal café and owl zoo tucked in there too. Despite being immensely more quiet than it was last time, this is still the busiest temple I think we’ve seen this trip. This place is known for it’s large red lantern you pass under hanging in the center of the gate, with black and gold lanterns hanging either side. We were able to watch a smoke ceremony that worshipers were a part of while we were here, which is always interesting. I’m enjoying being a witness to the cultural and religious ceremonies that occur at both the Buddhist and Shinto temples and shrines. We didn’t spend a long time here as everything is out in the elements, and it was getting quite warm in the mid day sun, so we went and received our goshu-in (temple stamp) and headed on to the next destination. This is where we made friends with a lovely Japanese man who took a liking to us when he saw us taking part in the goshu-in activity. He spent a little while explaining the difference between Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, as well as making it clear he was very happy to see that we had been doing this in the other cities as well. Amy’s book is from Kyoto and mine from Nara, and we have stamps from a very cities in between – he was very impressed. He also went on to chatting about the Rugby world cup; I think he was just excited to chat to people! After enjoying the temple grounds, we were keen to get some food! The group came across a little melon bread stand selling the largest buns I think I’ve seen! It was delicious! We hid in the shade of the stalls for a little while, and then went off to begin our journey to the next temple!

Zozoji was a temple that Amy and Anthony were quite excited to get back to. They had previously visited this temple 10 years ago, where they were able to participate in a floating lantern ceremony, where a large number of lanterns were released into the skies at night. I’ve seen photos, and this looked absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately they don’t do this at this temple anymore, but it was nice to get the tour from someone excited about everything.

Next up was Meiji Temple, which is home to large Buddha statues and a whole bunch of greenery which I was able to appreciate. When you first spot signs of the place, it seems a little dark and eerie (although it might have just been the time of day we came, it was later in the afternoon so we were a little rushed to see everything before closing). There was a tori gate standing tall in front of a long dark passage way of trees, which although was a little creepy, was utterly stunning to look at. The pathway stretched on for probably 200 meters or more, with thick trees standing tall on either side, gently leaning towards each other, and making an arch at the top. Looking through the trees you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the middle of Kyoto forests, but if you were standing at the start of the pathway and turned around, you would see the stretching expanse of Tokyo city – absolutely awesome. The temple itself was pretty plain to look at in the scheme of things, with its dark brown woods and no large red gates. It was nice to sit and spot the little details though, like the gold trimmed lanterns, or gold plated door handles. My favourite detail would have had to be the big old tree in the courtyard, standing tall with thick green foliage. I’ve always known that I’ve enjoyed nature, but it has become very apparent how much of a recharge it is for me on this trip. Walking through scenes reminiscent of Studio Ghibli artworks brings me so much joy and calm.

The calm walk through the trees is a direct polar opposite to the last activity of the day. The famous Shibuya Crossing. We headed back into Tokyo city and did the walk across the crossing with the throngs of people and made it to an upstairs Starbucks café for an iced chocolate and a view. There is something entirely fascinating about watching the crowds build at the edges of the roads, watching the little red man on the cross walk light counting down to when the crowd would be released. And then seeing the hundreds of people disperse in all directions the second the green man appears. Utter madness but entirely controlled. We watched this strange routine for a little while and then slowly made our way home, sluggish as tomorrow is our last day here, and I think most of us are devastated by that. I was so exhausted that I skipped a proper meal and headed to bed with a 7-11 pork bun in my belly.