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Outside of Ikegami Baien, a guy was selling samurai wear from the Edo Period. The prices weren’t cheap, but you can only find reproductions for reasonable prices. This stuff was the real deal including helmets, swords, and the crests of various clans formed into metal sword guards. The latter is the most reasonably priced, and I saw them on several occasions in Japan. I may pick one up someday if I can find one for the Takeda Shingen clan.
A different angle on the grounds of Ikegami Baien (池上梅園) than I previously posted a photo for here. This neighborhood in Tokyo is a blast to the past.
Speaking of tennis courts, today’s photo is from our apartment building in Tokyo, コート西早稲田. The land was formerly occupied by a bunch of Waseda University tennis courts. Long before that (early 17th Century), Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu built a horse racing track here. Waseda University still owns part, or maybe all, of the place. Notice the double-decker (triple-decker, actually) parking spots. There are cars under these cars.
I think I took this photo because the sky was particularly blue on this fall morning. Perhaps there was a rain storm the night before. Tokyo doesn’t usually feature skies this blue. If you want to see a blue sky in Tokyo, your odds are much improved in the fall and winter months.
In our neighborhood in Tokyo there were two tennis courts in constant use. In fact, I never once thought about using the tennis courts because there was ALWAYS someone on them. It didn’t matter if it was hot, cold, or about to storm, every time I walked by them they were being used.
So when we headed out to Hakuba in October and found loads of tennis courts sitting empty it was a surprise. Not only were they not being used, but it seemed it had been months or years since anyone had set foot on them. There is quite a contrast between the urban and rural areas of Japan.
Today’s photo was taken during the annual Shingen Festival (信玄公祭り) at Takeda Jinja in Kofu in 2010.
Barrels of sake are quite common at shrines and temples in Japan. At Toshogu in Nikko I was a bit surprised to see barrels of whisky lined up. The kegs were staying dryer than I was in the snow storm.