The Perfect Sunday Outing in Tokyo: Meiji Shrine and A to Z Cafe

 Entering the shrine.

Last week, my dear friend Emily came from the States for a visit. On her first day here, we headed down to the Harajuku-Omotesando area of Tokyo for what may be my perfect Tokyo outing: the Meiji Shrine and A to Z Cafe. We exited Harajuku Station with all the cool kids and hit up the shrine first- perfectly beautiful, verdant, and calm, despite the throngs of Sunday tourists. 

Shrine gate.

The Meiji Shrine is where Emperor Meiji (r. 1868-1912) is enshrined. It is also a huge shrine in the middle of Tokyo, includes two museums dedicated to Emperor Meiji, and is a large green space, making it a popular site with a variety of visitors. As it relates to the Imperial, and is a lovely natural escape from the concrete expanses of Tokyo, it is one of my favorite spots in the city.

 A small waterfall along the path.

 Pals.

 Sake barrels as donated by breweries.

 Little dude exhibiting proper ritual behavior at the shrine.

 Little dude goofing around (e.g., not exhibiting proper ritual behavior).

 The main area of the shrine.

 We saw a wedding!

 Shrine doors.

 On our way out.

After a bit of walking through Harajuku, and a quick lunch stop, we headed over to the Omotesando area, one subway stop away. If it had not been raining, and us not in the company of a tired-of-walking kiddo, the stretch between the shrine and Omotesando is a nice 15-20 minute stroll along streets filled with beautiful high end retail- in some ways a museum of contemporary material culture combined with the adjacent Harajuku fashion (read: youthful hip). Ultimately, our destination in Omotesando was the A to Z Cafe, which is a project of the artist Yoshitomo Nara.

 Seated.

 Sparkling wine and pumpkin coconut cake. Dreamy.

 Artist kid in a cafe created by an artist who addresses kids. Woah.

Yoshitomo Nara, long a favorite of mine, creates work that has a certain child-like quality to it. While many of his artworks are somewhat disturbing, others focus on the emotions of childhood, and the childhood experience. So, it was completely appropriate that little dude went straight for his blank-page book with his crayons. 

 

Lighting by the cafe entrance.

Ume 梅

 

This past weekend little dude and I attended an ume viewing picnic with a big group of friends. The weather was perfect- sunny and cool- and the company fantastic. The ume were in full blossom, complete with their lovely scent, and Umegaoka Park was the perfect location to pass the time.

Reception at the Ambassador's Residence

 Pre-game cocktails with Ti, Mimi, and Talia.

 On Wednesday evening I attended a reception at the Ambassador's Residence to welcome the new heads of JUSEC (the organization that oversees Fulbright) and CULCON. A few friends and I started the evening with cocktails at the Inter-Continental before heading over to the party.

Front door of the Residence.

 The Residence is a beautiful building, built in the early 1930s. It was the location for the famous photograph of the meeting of General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito in the days after WWII.

 The front hall.

 Of course, the food was fantastic too- lobster, crab, duck, polenta, salad, cheeses, and so many delicious things. I may have eaten my tax dollars in lobster.

 Not my photo, but a nice shot of the dessert table.

 Also not my photo, but yum.

There were speeches by the Ambassador, and the new directors being honored.

  Ambassador Kennedy speaking about intercultural exchange.

Of course the highlight of the evening was meeting Ambassador Kennedy, who took the time to greet the Fulbright grantees and to ask about each of our research.

 

Group photo of Fulbrighters and Ambassador Kennedy (not mine). I'm just to the right of the Ambassador.

 Also not my photo, but here is the back of my head as I speak with the Ambassador about my research. Doesn't she look genuinely interested? 

As was to be expected the Ambassador was surrounded by people throughout the two and a half hour reception, and was carefully whisked through the crowds by her two handlers, who were ensuring that she had face time with all of the right people. It was a lovely event though, and a great opportunity to meet Caroline Kennedy and many other people, as well as to see the Residence itself. You can see more photos of the evening here.

Mimi and I as we left the Residence. America!

Kyoto 京都

So excited to ride the Shinkansen!!!

 Over the winter holidays, we took a trip to Kyoto. The primary purpose of the trip was so I could view an exhibition of objects from the collection of the imperial family, but we also took advantage of the opportunity to visit friends and tour around the city, which is always a favorite destination.

 Tokyo-Kyoto train tickets.

 Mt. Fuji as seen from the Shinkansen.

 Treasures of the Imperial Collections at the National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto. Research in action!

 The impressive gate of the Heian Shrine as seen from the National Museum of Modern Art.

 The Heian Shrine, busy during New Years season.

 Random garden along the Philosophers Path.

 Walking the Philosopher's Path. The hiking and nature component of our trip was definitely a highlight for little man.

After viewing the exhibition I needed to see in the morning, we set off walking, hitting up the Heian Shrine and the Philosopher's Path, and then onto a quick late lunch before visiting Ginkakuji in the late afternoon. Ginkakuji was built in the late 15th century (1482) as a shogunal villa, and was later converted to a temple.

 Ginkakuji.

The 15th century Ginkakuji.

Gardens at Ginkakuji.

Little dude dropping in a coin and "making a wish" at a small Shinto shrine at Ginkakuji.

We walked up the hilly path on the temple grounds, looking out over the temple and the city beyond.

Leaving the temple grounds.

A cool bonsai flower arrangement near the exit. 

After Ginkakuji, we walked down the shopping street that is at the gate to the temple and spotted a place for ice cream.

Did we get ice cream? My expression tells all.

Temperatures in the 40s? No problem. I will eat my matcha (green tea) ice cream with gloves. Bonus- it won't melt.

After a long day of travel and walking, little dude passed out on the bus after Ginkakuji and ice cream. We took the opportunity to hop off the bus at the 1,200 year old Yasaka Shrine and do some walking near Gion.

Joe and Yasaka Shrine.

Girly girls out for a New Years shrine visit. 

Kenninji

After walking through Gion, we ended up at Kenninji, a Zen temple dating to 1202.

At the end of the night, back near Kyoto Station, looking up at Kyoto Tower before heading to our hotel.

On our second day in Kyoto, we headed out towards the Arashiyama area, where our first destination was the bamboo forest.

Bamboo!

We made our way to Nonomiya Shrine, which is in the midst of the bamboo.

Nonomiya Shrine- so many foxes!

A magical little village we found beside the walking path.

So much bamboo!

 

The forest was quite large, and the bamboo impressively tall.

 

We found our way back to the river after walking through the forest. It was chilly, but not unpleasant to be outdoors.

The famous Togetsukyo (moon crossing) Bridge of Arashiyama.

Lunch!

Our after-lunch destination was the Monkey Park! Here, one can walk up a steep mountain path and visit the wild macaques that live on the hillisde.

Who is the observed and who is the observer?

After the monkey park we spent the afternoon visiting with friends who live in Kyoto, and enjoying a slow paced dinner of okonomiyaki. The best kind of finish to a great day of travel.

Day three started at Sanjusangendo, where we saw the 1,000 eight-hundred-year-old life-sized Kannon sculptures of the temple.

No photos inside, but the outside is still beautiful!

Our second destination of the day was Kyoto Tower. This was a spot we had passed by but never visited in our many trips to Kyoto, but as little man wanted to go, we went. It was actually pretty cool.

Going up?

The view of the city from the top.

Our final stop of the day was Fushimi Inari Shrine, which we visited with another friend and her mom and baby.

Group photo!

The gates of Fushimi Inari, one of my favorite Kyoto area sites.

At the end of the day, little dude was asleep in his stroller, and we had some time before our evening Shinkansen back to Tokyo. We took a stroll around Kyoto Station, viewing the pagoda of Toji Temple in the evening light.

Shinkansen back to Tokyo!