A Shrine in Takayama

We learned that Japan has two major religions, Shinto and Buddhism.  Shinto is a native Japanese religion going back so far in history that no one knows when it began.  There is no single god and no single founder credited with beginning it.  It focuses on the veneration of nature spirits and deities.

The religious places where Shinto is practiced are called shrines.  Buddhists worship in temples.

We visited Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine in Takayama, a city in the mountains well west of Tokyo.

The shrine  date from the time of the Emperor Nintoku (413 - 439).

Asian Museum

 A museum exhibiting works from other Asian countries, mainly China, shares the site with the Tokyo National Museum.

This is a sampling of the works that I liked, without much explanation.

There was a whole room of Buddha sculptures with guards on either side.

Tokyo National Museum

 

The objects at the Tokyo National Museum were as dazzling as one would expect.

The decorations on formal kimono for women of the samurai class became standardized in the late 1700s. They consisted of geometric patterns and floral bouquets rendered in embroidery and stencil dyeing. This fabric is silk damask with a subtle pattern woven into the surface.

Screens are so varied and appealing.  One popular subject matter for landscape painting was the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, which is based on a scenic area in China.

Buddhism originated in India. It spread to surrounding regions like China and Korea before its introduction to Japan in the 6th century.  The first sculptures of Buddhist deities were metal.  In the 8th century the technique of making sculptures with lacquer -- like this figure -- was also introduced.

Asakusa Kannon Temple

Buddhist temples in Japan have architecture based on those in China, but the roofs are not curved with the same exaggeration.  This temple holds a small Buddha statue rescued from the sea by two fishermen in 628.  Visitors can't see it because it is hidden from the public. 

 

Donald Trump would approve of the inside of the temple.  It is gleaming with gold.

Tokyo Murals

 The Nakamise shopping arcade is just beyond the Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo.

We walked down a street with stores selling food and souvenirs.  When stores were not yet open, security doors were down.  The doors were usually painted with murals.

Linked to Monday Murals.

Ginza

 We spent some time in Ginza, Tokyo's leading upscale shopping, cafe and entertainment district.

I chose a bento box for lunch.It was delicious.

We ate at the top level of Ginza Six, which had a park-like setting facing the Mikimoto building.

There are many distinctive buildings in Ginza.  Because of the extensive bombing in World War II, many of the buildings are modern.  This is the headquarters of Seiko, the watchmaker.  It looks original, but I don't know.

This is a Nissan building, which also houses SONY.  A very cool building, to my eyes.

My son loved Japanese Manga characters.  He would have liked this truck.

Tokyo Tower

 My hotel is at the edge of Shiba Park in the Minato district of Tokyo.

The hotel shares Shiba Park with Tokyo Tower, a television transmission tower built in 1958.  It was modeled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and it is ten feet taller but substantially lighter.

With Tokyo's fast growth in the past decades, skyscrapers in the city grew taller than Tokyo Tower, so it is no longer the principal communication antenna for the city.  Today it  is more of an entertainment venue.