Of course I wasn’t paying attention and two stops after I got on, the train reversed course. I got off at the next stop (one away from where I started) and got on the next train going towards Mitaka but that train did the same thing. Fortunately, I was paying attention this time.<\/p>\n
According to Google Maps, Jindaiji Temple is over an hour south of Mitaka station if you’re walking, and I got a late enough start that I took a bus. Buses are harder because there are more stops and the announcements aren’t as clear. I was watching my iPhone and hoping that Google maps wouldn’t die like it usually does when I’m away from a major train station.<\/p>\n
Once I got off the bus I was in the middle of nowhere and it was time to start walking towards the temple.<\/p>\n I figured I was headed the right way, or at least headed towards the countryside, when I saw a nursery.<\/p>\n Then I ran into a line of soba shops. I picked it the Japanese way, by finding the one the most people were going to.<\/p>\n It wasn’t the fanciest looking one, but it certainly had the most people going in.<\/p>\n It also had a window where they make their soba, though no one was making soba when I got there.<\/p>\n I had tenzaru soba which was pretty good. I can’t say it was a lot better than what I had in Ikebukuro, but it was good.<\/p>\n The women next to me were having yōkan for dessert and I had to have some as well. It was soba yōkan!<\/p>\n Jindaiji temple wasn’t very far away.<\/p>\n Here’s the first shrine at the edge of the old street.<\/p>\n And a nice pond near the first shrine.<\/p>\n There was a small temple street in front of Jindaiji Temple.<\/p>\n The gate of Jindaiji Temple.<\/p>\n The temple was much more impressive than the temples in the city.<\/p>\n There was an impressive shrine behind the temple as well.<\/p>\n And a pond on the temple grounds.<\/p>\n There was some sort of tower in the cemetery behind the temple that I can’t explain.<\/p>\n On the way back there’s a botanical garden, but the sign says “Closed Monday.” It’s Tuesday, but I know that some parks are closed on the day after a national holiday.<\/p>\n So it was off on the path through the park.<\/p>\n The path had lots of wood spiders and I even saw a giant Asian hornet.<\/p>\n After the park it was down a bunch of suburban roads.<\/p>\n The map showed a shrine on the way, so of course I took a detour. Even small shrines are impressive after getting out of town.<\/p>\n The gates out into suburbia.<\/p>\n I headed back towards Kichijoji and the park. Halfway there I saw an interesting kid’s park with the front of an airplane.<\/p>\n I thought that was odd, so Iooked to see where I was and saw a sign for Jaxa, which I think is the Japanese equivalent of NASA.<\/p>\n Right next door is the Maritime Research facility which is a heck of a long ways from the water.<\/p>\n So, back I went back down the roads towards town.<\/p>\n And I found the edge of the park!<\/p>\n Cosmos, like my mom grows.<\/p>\n And I’m not sure if this is cosmos as well.<\/p>\n I also came across the Ghibli museum, where I was about to ask how hard it was to get tickets.<\/p>\n But there was no one to answer my questions.<\/p>\n Turns out that you have to go to the Lawson convenience store, not Lawson 100 which turns out is a \u00a5100 shop, to find a machine called a Loppi. If you want to get in during the morning, the tickets are sold out right now for just over a week. I bought a ticket for the day before I leave for Tokyo, eight days away. Even if I don’t go, it was only \u00a51,000.<\/p>\n Around the museum was some sort of art project that looked fun for kids.<\/p>\n Back to the park and I found a fairy ring.<\/p>\n Part of the park is quite wooded and someone had an interesting art installation with battery powered bamboo chimes. I didn’t take pictures of them all, and the batteries were dead in some of them. I saw a guy replacing some of the batteries.<\/p>\n This is a video<\/a> of one of the chimes.<\/p>\n I finally got to the part of the park nearest the station and it was a bit much.<\/p>\n Here’s Daisei-ji temple outside of the park. It was closed up but it was HUGE. You can see outbuildings to the left that are as big as the main temple.<\/p>\n Back into the park and there’s a shrine in the park. The park itself is built on old ruins.<\/p>\n The shrine felt a bit crammed into the park, but it was pretty.<\/p>\n The park is also quite nice, though less natural than the forested area.<\/p>\n Part of the park even had paddle boats and row boats for rent.<\/p>\n There were the usual rest areas that are common to popular parks. The restaurant to the left has typical park foods including soft ice cream and odd-tasting Japanese hot dogs. There’s usually a line-up of vending machines.<\/p>\n RIght on the other side of the restaurants was a shopping street leading to the station.<\/p>\n I got back around 4PM and fell asleep for a bit, just like yesterday, making up for the sleep that the elephants seem intent on disturbing. I didn’t feel like eating for a while but wanted to go to Saizeria downstairs. The beer isn’t the only reason.<\/p>\n I’ve been avoiding Saizeria downstairs because it’s too easy, but the pizza was surprisingly good. And, as my cousin said, “it’s cheap!” I think I’m going back soon.<\/p>\n The elephants were active again last night, but I bought earplugs and I got more sleep. Or maybe I did, I’m not sure. I think I got up a lot less than the last few nights. I dragged my ass out of bed again and got to dealing with my banking. I knew I couldn’t call today. Even though it’s Tuesday here, it’s only Monday (and Columbus Day) in the US. At least my sister had a way I could FAX over the internet without having a phone line or a FAX machine. Since I found an even cheaper way of calling home, I called my mom again as well … Continue reading Japan Day 20<\/span> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.i8u.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/IMG_1548.jpg\" "\\"IMG_1548\\"")
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