Wednesday, November 1, 2017

One night in Tokyo!


In August, on our way home to the US we had a 34 hour layover in Tokyo. We decided to grab the opportunity and do a little exploring. I booked us into a Ryokan (a traditional Japanese Inn) in the Asakusa area of Tokyo.

Getting into Tokyo from the airport was a breeze. We dropped our bags at the luggage check, signed up for a 1 day portable wifi rental, and we were on the Skyliner train to Tokyo no more than an hour after we landed.

 The outside of our Ryokan

 Our room! It had tatami mat floors, a table, cushions to sit on, and a warm pot of tea awaiting our arrival. 

We were walking distance from the Senso-ji Temple. It is Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple with the initial buildings founded in 645AD. We visited in the daytime and came back at night for some pictures. It was a beautiful place. 






Spread around the temple grounds were these fortune boxes. For 1 yen you shake a stick out of a silver box. The stick has a symbol on it, find that symbol and pull out your fortune.


 Earlier in the afternoon I didn't have a yen so I put in a quarter, and Piper promptly got a bad fortune. That evening I put in a yen and Piper got a great fortune! Lesson to self: Don't try to cheat the fortune gods. 



The Asakusa area of Tokyo was very pedestrian friendly. We walked everywhere. It was a very colorful part of town!




 Our Ryokan provided bathing kimonos, one even in Piper's size. Piper and I enjoyed both the wooden and stone baths. In the evening they pulled out the sleeping mats. They were extremely comfortable! I had an amazing night sleep!


 Senso-ji purification fountain - Piper washing her hands





All over, especially in the neighborhood of the temple, Japanese ladies were dressed in traditional kimono's. We did see a couple places where we could have rented a kimono for the day...maybe next time!






Stopping over in Tokyo on the way home was a great start to our home leave vacation! I've flown through Tokyo so many times over the past 15 years, it's about time I got to actually see some of the city! Can't wait to go back and explore more of Japan!


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