CategorySociety

Yushima Tenmangu Shrine

This weekend we visited a Shinto shrine, Yushima Tenmagu, not far from the house, over near Ueno park. It was cold and rainy, but the plum blossom festival went on nonetheless. I had not thought about what sort of temple it was, but once I saw all the food and trinket vendors it could not be Buddhist (shochu sales and … belly dancing?????). It was nice to see something so local that we had passed over through the years.
Valentines day was uneventful. We watched some episodes of Glee. I was surprised to see the mention of Singapore (“tidy streets and the cane … that’s what we need here!” hahahah) when the coach did a segment on the local news. That and some pad thai, and the day was over. Valentines day in Japan is different than elsewhere. Here it’s for the girls to give all the males in their life gifts, while on White day the roles are reversed.

Hanegi Park

We went over to Hanegi Park in Setagaya this weekend. It was a refreshingly local experience without all the tourist junk going on. This is probably one of my favorite parks in Tokyo. Lots of flowers, food, and even some traditional dance and weapons performances! With the addition of this cat that couldn’t manage to roll off of his back (but kept trying and trying) it was a prefect day. At the station on the way there we had a nice chocolate treat from a place called Mr. Bean, which is apparently some chain from Singapore. I would have never known it if not told, as the cake things they sell look and taste exactly like standard Japanese fare (except for the replacement of chocolate, coconut cream, etc., instead of red bean paste).