Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Weekend tour

I did a little sightseeing this weekend. Nothing too exciting and actually we were looking for cherry blossoms to view but it is a little too early in my part of Japan.

I went to visit my good friend Kaoru-san, in her new condominium in the city and we decided to check out the city parks to see if the cherry blossoms had bloomed. This is just a pretty shrine right in the middle of the city with tall buildings and busy traffic just a path away. It is always interesting to me to see how Japan combines modern and historic within a short distance from each other.

And at the park we found a relief of a famous sumo wrestler who had once lived nearby. Supposedly this is a life size relief of him.

I thought this was interesting pedestrian sign that had obviously once been centered over the pedestrian walkway. A building was being built or taken down (I don't know which) and the sign had been moved aside in order to make room for the protecting fence. The sign was still doing its job in a lopsided sort of way...

The next day Tetsu and I were still looking for cherry blossoms and as usual got lost in the process (sigh...) We ended up at a parking lot and since parking attendants were directing people up the mountain, up the mountain we went. Another shrine.

In fact, shrines. I thought this was interesting because there was this little building with offering boxes in front of each prayer window and people were throwing coins into each box, saying their prayers, taking a step to the right and doing the same thing over and over. Supposedly if you prayed at each window it was equivalent of visiting each of the major shrines of Japan. A convenient way to do it if you don't have time to go cross country.

Tetsu and I "landed" in a historical town that is supposed to be very interesting to sightseers but since we had stumbled onto the town after getting lost for a couple of hours we never saw the sights, just walked up one side of the street and came down the other. I liked the broom and basket store.

Here is a shot of a bicycle shop we found. Isn't that colorful! But I would want the whole spectrum of colors in my garage to get the full effect, not just one pink bicycle...

That's my tour of the weekend.

10 comments:

KQ Sue said...

I love the bicycles! You are so cute next to the huge sumo!

Allie said...

Look at you - you look like a midget next to that sumo guy! Great pics, I love going sight-seeing with you and Tetsu! How funny to have proxy shrines.

Jan said...

Looks like you had a fun weekend. Thanks for sharing.

I missed your post yesterday, I hope that young woman is doing better. Good that she reached out for some help.

Susan said...

I probably will never have a chance to visit Japan, so I really enjoy visiting your blog.

Sewing is my hobby. I love seeing what you are making.

I hope the young woman you wrote about yesterday is doing better, too. I'm so glad she was together enough to reach out for help and that your church members were there to lend support.

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Great tour! I often think I should take a road and just keep driving down to see what surprises it has in store for me.

ana s. said...

I would love to find a great culinary tour of Japan or a tour of ryokans. Still looking.

AnnieO said...

Fun photos! Thanks for taking us along with you on another Lost adventure. Are you driving your new little car on these trips?

Jan said...

Tanya, I posted a picture of me from my bodybuilding days on my blog. Happy sisterfriend day to you!!

Beertje Zonn said...

Fun photos!
Bear regards,

Beertje Zonn
Bear from the Netherlands

joe tulips said...

I love these everyday things you post about. It is fun seeing all the different sites with you as our tour guide.
Don't stop getting lost with Tetsu!