A Bit of Tokyo

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've updated. I started teaching swim lessons this past week, and it's been pretty busy. Last Sunday (June 20th) CJ and I went into Tokyo on our day off. There were a lot of things we missed, so I think we'll go back later this summer and walk around a bit. We did find the Imperial Palace and walked around the grounds for a bit (a lot of the buildings were destroyed in WW2).

This was the gate we went through (I think there were 4 total gates)
There were lots of fish statues around. There are a bunch of these on top of the gate.
Here's a guardhouse. I don't know if it's still in use today.

This is the outside of the music hall. It has some really cool tile designs on the outside of it.

My new favorite food, Japanese curry. I got the fried chicken curry, but the stewed chicken is really good too. When you order, you get to pick your spice level (1-10)...I ordered a 1.

Main gate of the Meiji Shrine (called a torii) in Harajuku. CJ and I had no idea the shrine was there, but we were glad to have found it.

I'm pretty sure these are decorated wine barrels (there were more on the other side of the walkway).

Wine barrels

Another torii right outside the main part of the shrine. We stopped here and cleansed ourselves before going in. You pick up a ladle, wash your left hand, then your right, pour some water back in your left hand and suck up the water to cleanse your mouth.

Another pretty cool gate.

Picture outside the shrine (you couldn't take pictures once you got inside that building).

There was a traditional Japanese wedding going on in the plaza just outside the shrine. This was the processional that was going on just as we were leaving.