The Unconventional Yamanote Line tour, comprising of Nezu, Yanaka, Akihabara and Zojoji was the plan for the day.
Today was another awesome day in Tokyo, getting away from more well known touristy spots and finding underrated but magnificent places around Tokyo . Having been here once before I realized that even though a mega-city Tokyo is not as intimidating as you think, but unless you have insider knowledge to make the best of your time there you DO need to do some research and planning otherwise you are going to miss a lot of things you didn't know were there. And for those that say you shouldn't over plan I agree, you should always leave time in you schedule to just wander and get lost and you may come across more hidden treasures, but if I hadn't looked things up after our last trip I would not have not known that some of today's stops in Tokyo. I guess most of us go for only a few days and don't get to explore as much as we would like, so thank you to all those vloggers and bloggers who spend more time and find these nuggets for us and pass the information on (and hopefully if someone comes across this blog they will find out about these treasures too)
Anyway enough of my rambling and on to rambling of another kind, today was a day of walking, walking and more walking.
We started our journey on the Yamanote line, changing trains at Nishi-Nippori for the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line and coming out at Sendagi station (you can get out out at either this station or Nezu but if you get out at Sendagi it is right at Exit 1, turn right at 3rd traffic light and then it is on your right.......I guess another travel trip would be that if you are visiting one of the museums in Ueno Park or the park itself maybe head north and take in the beauty of Nezu Shrine)
Anyway we set off reasonably early (after our Lawsons breakfast) to pack in as much as we could today and found the shrine without any issue and it was as amazing as I had imagined. It is in such pretty surroundings with beautiful azalea gardens which in April/ May will be in full bloom (and something to add to my to-do list), there are ponds with koi and terrapins and those amazing red torii gates that are a smaller version of the Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto (which I hope to see later on in this trip).
The red gates of Nezu, Otome Inari Jinja, run in a small path above the shrine and are so pretty. The shrine at this site was established in 1705 by Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (the 5th Shogun of the Tokugawa) although it is rumored that that prior to this the Shrine to Susanoo No Mikoto (the god of sea and storms) had been in Sendagi since the 1st Century.
The temple buildings are beautiful and I enjoyed wandering around them, but I have to say my favorite part of the morning was when a group of pre-schoolers came in to play (they were so cute and we could have watched them play for ages) .
I'm not quite sure why we didn't walk from Nezu to Yanaka cemetery because it probably would have taken about the same amount of time walking as it did on the train, we retraced our steps and got off the Yamanote line at Nippori station and walked following signs to the cemetery from the south exit.
Unfortunately we are a little too early for Hanami (cherry blossom festival) but we have seen a few trees in bloom, but Yanaka cemetery will be exceptional in a couple of weeks as running through it is the Sakura-dori (cherry blossom lane) and we could see the buds beginning to bloom.
The cemetery is beautiful, with amazing views both in and outside the grounds, there are many famous people buried here, the most prominent would be Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun of Japan .
There was once a five storey pagoda here which would have been so impressive but it was burned down in a suicide pact back in 1957.
From the cemetery we just wandered through Yanaka (taking the long way back to the station)
finding temples and shrines, beautiful old houses and stores and you can almost forget that this suburb is in the middle of a skyscraper jungle. Yanaka is one of the few places in Japan that has survived fire, earthquakes (Great Kanto earthquake and fire of 1923)and war (and Allied fire bombings in WW2) and when you wander around the streets you are taken back to a time when life was less frenetic.
I am so glad that this was on my to-do list because I loved walking around here
, finding small alleys, as well as Yanaka Ginza the main shopping street, the serenity of the cemetery and the beautiful old buildings
From here we moved into the frenzy of Akihabara which is THE place to be if you are looking for electronics, manga or anime.
If you can't find it here you won't find it anywhere, we had fun wandering here which was in complete contrast to Yanaka.
There are lots of the maid themed restaurants around here which made me think that why didn't I have that on my to-do list as I have seen some amazing ones on youtube or travel shows so I don't know why I haven't done it. (I probably won't get a chance this time around as we are doing this tour on the cheap and cheap and themed restaurants don't usually go hand in hand so....guess I have to add something to my to-do list) We did eat though, purple sweet potato crepes which were delicious and a tasty snack to fill the spot.
Our final stop on our Unconventional Yamanote Line Tour was about a ten minute walk from teh Hamamatsucho Station (there are closer stops but this is Yamanote line tour) and under the shadow of the Tokyo Tower (I looked back at old photos taken from the top of the tower back in 2013 and found the temple in the photos so that was pretty cool)
This temple is the head temple of the Jodo Sect of Japanese Buddhism and home to the Tokugawa family mausoleum. The main entrance gate, the Sangedatsumon, is one of the few existing buildings dating back to 1622 and is very impressive as are the whole ground and temple and there are some really good photo opportunities with the traditional temple buildings in the foreground and Tokyo Tower in the back.
From here we made our way back to the hotel, via YOSHINOYA which I think could become my favorite fast food restaurant ever and I had a simple beef bowl which was fantastic and filling and only cost me Y550 which is around $6Aus. I have a feeling I will be coming back here on more than one occasion.