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Sensoji's five-story pagoda
One strange thing about the Japanese language is that characters (kanji) usually have multiple readings. Take the kanji for Senso-Ji for example. This famous temple is located in Asakusa (浅草) so when you see the kanji 浅草寺 you think this place must be called Asakusa Tera or Asakusa Dera (tera, 寺, means temple). Actually, it is read Sensoji so not a single character retains its “normal” reading.
While the colors change in my neck of the woods in October. They don’t change in Tokyo until later. Today’s pic is an example of the pagoda at Chinzanso in October. Here it is in December.
Should you want to stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo (which is at this location), TravelZoo has a deal right now where you get round trip plane tickets from Los Angeles, four nights at the Four Seasons Hotel, Tokyo city tour, transfers to your hotel, and a bunch of other perks for just $1,399 a person. I think the regular price to just stay at this hotel is more than that. I wouldn’t know as I haven’t stayed here. We walked through the grounds on a regular basis when we lived a few blocks away for a year.
The Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple was one of the highlights of my recent trip to China. One of the people I walked through the pagodas with said it felt like a similar atmosphere to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
Everything looks better, fresher with a coating of new snow. This includes the Toshogu Pagoda in Nikko and the stone lantern in front of it.
Or even just the stores in front of the Tobu Nikko train station.
On our first day in Nikko the snow became even fresher as it began to fall from the sky while we were at Futarasan Shrine (二荒山神社).
When I last showed you the grounds of the Four Seasons Hotel (Chinzan-So), it was summer. Now, the fall foliage is making a statement.
While on a walk, just to the northeast of our apartment along the Kanda River (神田川), we came upon an open gate with nice looking grounds inside. We went in and strolled around, only later finding out that this property is part of the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo.
The above photo is of part of the pagoda on the grounds. There are only three pagodas in Tokyo. This one survived World War II, unlike most others in Tokyo. It was moved to this location in the early part of the 20th Century. On the pagoda itself it says the age is unknown but is thought to be about 500 years old.
Closer to the Four Seasons Hotel is this picturesque bridge. I need to head back to this spot when the leaves change colors soon.