Musashi-Koyama Shotengai

My mom has been sending me emails full of random tidbits, things to do, places to visit, etc while I've in Japan. I do actually make an effort to read and do the things she tells me to do (like searching for my old house). The next thing on the list was to visit the Musashi-Koyama (two train stops away from my station) Shotengai. I had no idea what to expect but I managed to convince one of my friends to check it out with me one Sunday morning. We didn't spend too long there but we definitely plan to go back sometime. It's basically a flea market. As soon as you get out of the station, you see lots of people just sitting on tarps with what looks like all of their belongings for sale. Some people have suitcases full of clothes, old stuffed animals, shoes, just about anything goes. The Shotengai is actually a different section, it's covered and there are stores instead of people with tarps. I think the garage sale was only a Sunday thing.

baskets of stickers

Japanese flea market

I don't know if it's customary to bargain, but I just found it funny since she looks like she's praying.

meat on a stick! 

This is the shotengai part

These baby grapes are the tastiest things you'll ever eat (if you come to Japan)! I don't even know how to describe them. Unfortunately they are going out of season any day now and the prices are skyrocketing.. 525yen is about $7

pillows

 

Colonel Sanders getting ready for Halloween

Yasukuni Jinja

Here are some pictures from the Yasukuni Shrine. It's a shrine dedicated to the soldiers who died fighting for Japan, it's a nice area, very pretty and somehow manages to be peaceful even though it's in the middle of a major city.

Thai Festival

My friend and I decided that since we were in the area (when we went to Koishikawa Korakuen) that we would go take a goosey gander at the Yasukuni Shrine. Turns out there was a Thai Festival going on! Very crowded, but so much fun! There were stalls of foods, vendors, raffles, you name it. The festival was taking place a little bit before the actual shrine so we walked around a bit, ate some delicious frozen mango, and then headed into the shrine.

When we were at the gates, walking into the shrine/festival area this group of Japanese people came up to us and asked if they could take our picture. A little bit odd but we said sure, thinking it was going to be a one picture kind of deal. Nope. Each one of them now has at least 10 pictures of us on their cameras.

This guy was advertising for a Thai beer company... I think. 

Don't know what these are, but they looked like strawberries

Frozen dragonfruit

Not really sure but I think this is a lychee type of fruit.

小石川後楽園 （こいしかわこらくえん） Koishikawa Korakuen

Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens is a famous garden in Japan, it is one of the oldest and best preserved parks in Tokyo. It's located in Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo if that means anything to you. There is a 300Yen entrance fee, it's open from 9 to 5, closed on certain holidays, and it was inaugurated as a garden on April 3, 1938. (The pamphlets are available in English!)  I'm not sure that we were visiting in the right season, but it was still very beautiful. On the pamphlet there is a flower calendar telling you what months to visit to best see certain plants in bloom. Very handy!

Tokyo Dome is the barely visible white bubble behind the trees. The other thing is a roller coaster.

Wish I could remember what the sign said about these steps, but I can't..

Ume Blossom grove

A replica of how one of the emperor's built an example of a rice paddy for his wife, so that she would know what one looked like. Some people get the Taj Mahal, some people get fake rice paddies.

You can see the reflection of an office building

Can't remember exactly what the sign said, something about how a famous person used to sit at these rocks and think..

 It's weird how you almost forget you're in a city when you walk through the garden, but then you look up.

This sign was posted nearly every few feet. We would see a building or a statue and walk up to a sign expecting to read some important fact about it but no. Instead we were just being informed that we were (still)  in a garden and must resist the urge to start a fire. 

This guy was hanging out at the entrance to the garden.