17/11 Asakusa

Monday's highlight was going to Asakusa with the free conversation people after a day of classes. Asakusa is mainly famous for the Kaminarimon entrance to the Sensouji temple, where there's this huge red paper lantern (it feels like I'm downgrading the importance of it...) hanging down. It's certainly one of the hottest tourist spots in Tokyo. I'll try to keep this entry short as there's a lot of things to catch up with and I won't have much time left to blog the last couple of weeks here in Japan.

1. We arrived in Asakusa riding on a tacky-looking tourist boat.
2. The Tsukiji fish market grounds! They only hold it early in the morning, hence the emptiness.
3. We passed at least ten or fifteen bridges on our 35-minute ride here. Is there really a need for this many? Most of them looked pretty boring but this was pretty coold.
4. The Yellow Turd. Nah, just kidding. Asahi is a bevereages manufacturer and the turd-looking thing i's supposed to be a drop of delicious golden beer. But it still looks like a turd to me. Oh, and the building to the left is designed to look like a pint of beer, though you can't see it very well in this picture since the top part with the foam is cut off...

1. At the Sensouji! Group picture outside the Kaminarimon. As you can see, doing the V-sign is so common that even a sensei would do it, when they would normally want to assume a more authoritative position and distance themselves from the students in gestures and such in other countries. Or am I reading too much into this?
2. Closeup of the huge red paper lantern. Har har har.
3.The sight you are welcomed with once you go through the gates. Souvenir shops galore!
4. Looking back.

1. All light up and pretty.
2. Edo-style resting places with a modern twist in the form of red plastic tarps.
3. Nightmare-inducing dolls. So eerie...

We walked to a nearby shrine afterwards, but it must've been our lucky (or unlucky) day cause the places was packed! Worse than a rush hour train! I think walking from the entrance to the main part of the shrine (where you throw a coin into a box and ring a bell to pray) would normally take less then five minutes, but we must've been lining up for at least twenty minutes until we finally got to do it. They had guards standing on these huge stands leveled above our heads to constantly remind us to think about the safety and be careful. They took turns in repeating the same message over and over again and I just felt kind of sorry for them.

1. Crowdiness level: Tunas in a can.
2. There were stands all throughout the shrine selling kumade. A kumade is an ornament which is supposed to attract good business, much like the maneki neko. Those faces are kind of creepy though, you'd think they'd scare people from coming into your shop rather than the opposite...
3. The side streets were packed too.
4. Soon there! Just right ahead.

Taken just right before it was my turn! Mission successful!

Because we had gotten out so late, by the time we were finished by this it was already past normal dinner time. Sensei headed home and the rest of us decided to grab something to eat, so we went to this family restaurant called Danny's. Judging by the reactions from the volunteers, it apparently is kind of lame (or more like töntigt, but I can't recall a good English word for it) but cute at the same time. Hm, dunno how that works but everyone had a good time so it didn't matter. :D