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This little, moss-covered, hand-washing station, complete with jizo, can be found on the back, water side of the Benzaiten Shrine in Inokashira Park. I wonder if it was hidden behind the main shrine almost 200 years before when Hiroshige drew the same spot from a bit more distant vantage point?
I hadn’t really seen Daiba Park (第三台場) before on prior trips to Odaiba. From the north walking path on the Rainbow Bridge (レインボーブリッジ) you don’t see it. From Odaiba itself you see it, but don’t really realize what it is. Only from the air or from the south walking side (サウス側レインボープロムナード) do you really get a good idea as to its size and layout. The above photo is from the bridge. Fuji Television Studios, designed by Kenzo Tange, can be seen in the background.
The last time I took a picture like this, it was a cold weekday. Today’s photo was on a warm weekend so there were loads of lantern-adorned boats (yakatabune or 屋形船) filling the Odaiba Harbor in Tokyo Bay. The Tokyo Tower changed its lighting scheme a little later in the evening. None of those pics came out very good though as the Rainbow Bridge we were walking over was shaking too much for decent night photography.
This picture was taken with my TZ10. It came out better than anything my TZ7 could produce at night but falls a bit short of my LX3 for night photography.
A couple of Sundays ago we headed off to the Oedo Antique Market (大江戸骨董市) at the Tokyo International Forum near Yurakucho Station. We were a bit worried that we would have similar luck as when we tried to go to the flea market in Harajuku which was no more. I was expecting something like the flea market in Shinagawa, but this was totally different. Instead of mostly junk and cheap prices, this place had really cool, real antiques, with prices to match.
If you are interested, you can get there easily from a number of stations, including Tokyo Station, Hibiya Station, and Ginza Station. We exited at the Hibiya Station and hung out in Hibiya Park, listening to music and enjoying the fine weather. Things begin at 9 a.m. on the first and third Sundays each month. Some stalls were closing up at around 3 even though it is supposed to last until 4 p.m.
While walking through Koganei Park (小金井公園) on Walk #8, I happened upon hundreds of small children and their moms having a massive picnic. Mom bikes went on forever under the wisteria (fuji or 藤) that was a bit past its prime.
I could find no evidence of Shoshika (Japan’s society with few kids) in this scene. Japan’s fertility rate is actually quite a bit lower than China’s, with its supposed one child per female rule. I saw a lot of people in China with more than one child. It turns out that China’s one-child policy isn’t very effective as it is based on where you live. Have one child and live in a big city but get pregnant? No problem. Just move out of the city for a year.
Focus, focus…
Here we go. It was a warm and sunny day so many of the iris (hanashobu or ハナショウブ or 花菖蒲) looked a little wilted, but this one wasn’t too bad.
The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum (江戸東京たてもの園) is in this same park.
Near Waseda University you can find a mini Don Quijote (ドン キホーテ) store (no relation to this Don Quixote) called Picasso (Pikaso or ピカソ西早稲田店). Though not as strange as its larger counterparts, you can find some rather bizarre items at Pikaso as well.
While waiting in the check-out line at Pikaso I snapped today’s photo. With these devices you can supposedly make your cigarette smoke smell like mango, grapefruit, or peppermint. Maybe I should buy some of these and leave them on my next door neighbor’s smoking deck…