We met Saori from the Tokyo Volunteer Guide Service at Suitengae station and decided to visit Ueno, Nezu shrine and Asakura.
At Ueno we saw a beautiful autumn tree. Saori told us the Japanese word for wood is - Ki and this is a traditional Japanese Ginko tree which is called icho.
We traveled by bus from Ueno to visit a shrine on a cute 14 seat bus.
We soon learnt why it was so small, the streets are very narrow.
We walked along a snake (windy) street until we arrived at Nezu Shrine (Nezu in Japanese means ginger, shrine means God’s house). We washed our hands and lips with a cup of water to cleanse ourselves before we visited the shrine.
We found a lovely peaceful spot beside a pond with some coy fish and had morning tea. Saori taught us how to make some origami.
We went into the shrine and put some yen into the offer box to pray for good things. The shrine houses the spirit of the Gods. Japanese people pay great respect to their Gods.
We walked towards the markets but decided to have lunch first at an Onigiri restaurant. We had a set menu with 5 dishes - pork in bean milk, vegetables, tofu, egg and we all chose salmon rice balls. We finished with miso soup. Everything was delicious, oishii!
We walked to the Yanaka markets and saw produce and homemade wares for sale. We climbed the stairs at the top and looked down over the markets.
There were two cats lying on the ledge in the sun and a Japanese lady explained that the ginger cat has featured in a movie and gave us a brochure about it.
We caught the cute Eigo bus again to Asakusa via Ueno. First of all we went up to the top of the Tourist Information Centre to view the Shrine.
Outside we were approached by a television crew to sample some snacks and provide feedback. They were quite tasty.
At this shrine we waved smoke from a special fireplace over us before entering the shrine. This is symbolic to cleanse ourselves. We walked into the shrine and saw Budda, the offer box and fortune envelopes.
From outside the shrine we could see the Tokyo Sky Tree which was impressively lit up in lights.
Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Saori. We had such a wonderful day with you and saw/learnt so much. Thank you for taking time to show us around Tokyo. We appreciate the effort you went to teach us about your beautiful city. We truly appreciate your kindness and valued your friendship. Until we meet again…..