My Japan Adventure18829
 Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
The fall colour may be getting tired, but it's still pretty.  |
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| Post 376 • IP flag post | ||
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Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Okay. I'll watch for this. Falling rocks out in the mountains, this here in the city. Makes... sense...?  At least he was wearing his mask when he took a header onto the tracks.  |
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| Post 377 • IP flag post | ||
 Collector
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| Great to be a beetle on the wall for this trip. Japan moved up the bucket list thanks to this thread. Many thanks. | ||
| Post 378 • IP flag post | ||
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Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by doog It's a pleasure sharing with friends! I hope you get to enjoy Japan one day.  |
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| Post 379 • IP flag post | ||
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Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Beautiful steam locomotive on display at Shinbashi Station.  Maybe it's for the anniversary?  Got Pokemon? |
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| Post 380 • IP flag post | ||
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Okay. Not going in there, thanks.   |
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| Post 381 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Check this out. At some gas stations, particularly in crowded areas, pumps are suspended rather than on the ground. Saves space and prevents drunken yahoos from running into the pumps.  |
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| Post 382 • IP flag post | ||
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Today was a little sad (I left the Kansai!  ) but I still managed to have some fun and to kill my feet, too, despite the relaxing three-hour train ride.I left Osaka at 0-dark-30 and took my last bullet train to Shinagawa, where I dropped my stuff off in a locker and went off to check out something that had been making me curious for YEARS. You know how the kaiju are forever attacking Tōkyō and people run around all over and sometimes you see them running up a flight of stairs that has a shrine torii gate at the bottom? Well, that shrine is Shinagawa-jinja Shrine. I've seen it at least three times in various kaiju movies (for sure once in a Godzilla movie, once in a Gamera movie, and a third that might have been Godzilla, but it could have been something else), and as soon as I realised it was the same place, I've been wanting to check it out. Shinagawa-jinja is nice for an urban shrine. The stairs are steep, and if there were multiple takes on those movies, the extras were probably hoping that Godzilla would stomp the director into the second dimension. The hill is NOT high enough to deter a kaiju, so I have no idea what people were thinking, running there.   It was interesting to see that Shinagawa-jinja has a yōhaijo, though. A yōhaijo is a place where a pilgrim can pray to a distant, possibly unreachable, location as opposed to having to actually go to that location. There are a number of yōhaijo for Mt. Fuji (Shinagawa-jinja has one of these), Futaarasan-jinja Shrine in Nikkō has one for Mt. Nantai, and I know of one for Mt. Kōya at Tō-ji Temple in Kyōto. Yōhaijo are great for people who really want to make a pilgrimage to one of these locations, but just can't for whatever reason. Perhaps there are financial reasons, or family obligations, or the person simply isn't physically capable.  Those are the stairs leading to the yōhaijo at Shinagawa-jinja. Those are the stairs I saw people running up in (I think) Shin Godzilla. I'll be home in a couple days. I can check. After satisfying my kaiju curiosities regarding Shinagawa-jinja, I went to Karasumori-jinja near Shinbashi Station.  This shrine is well-known as a place to pray for good health, and specifically to pray for a good cancer prognosis. Things are looking very good for someone I know who was diagnosed recently, but I figured a visit to Karasumori-jinja certainly wasn't going to hurt anything. From Karasumori-jinja, I went a ways across town to Kanda-jinja, another shrine that appeases the vengeful fury of an onryō. In this case, the onryō was Taira-no-Masakado, a samurai who many see as the first person to ever officially take a stand against the Imperial government in Kyōto. There is some debate over what started the rebellion, whether it was an official title he was denied, or lands he was supposed to receive but didn't. In any case, he staged a small-scale rebellion in 939 after a few years of squabbling with various persons he felt he had grievances against (in some instances, he probably did). Not long after, in 940, he was killed by his own cousin, who took his head as a prize. That wound up not having been the best of plans. Bereft of its body, the head took it upon itself to remedy the situation and flew off in search of its missing parts. It managed to get pretty far, and finally landed in a small village that was in an area that would eventually become the capital city of Edo/Tōkyō. The fishermen, clearly wiser than Masakado's cousin, raised a mound for the head and laid it to rest. The mound became 'The Hill of Masakado's Head.' They were fishermen, not Shakespeare. Let's cut them some slack. Time goes by and the little village becomes a thriving metropolis and no one has any time for silly head mounds dedicated to people who should have exercised better judgment. Again with the bad plans. From the Edo Period all the way up until the modern age, any attempts to play it fast & loose with Masakado's head-mound have been met with disaster of some kind, be it natural, or financial, or simple destruction of equipment. The message was finally heard loud and clear, and to this day, Masakado's head-mound is still occupying space that no one dares to disrespect. Despite the activity regarding Masakado's head, he was actually deified not that long after his death. He was added as one of the principal deities at the recently established Kanda-jinja (founded in 730). Taira-no-Masakado is now a protective deity for the city of Edo/Tōkyō.    That lovely statue stands to the right of the main hall, and it dates from the 18th century. After Kanda-jinja, my feet were done, so I went back to Shinagawa Station and fetched my bags and went to my new hotel in Ueno. Tomorrow will be my last full day in Japan, and I no longer have an active rail pass. I will be staying in town and seeing what kind of mischief I can get up to. My plans may wind up being dependent upon whether or not it rains all day tomorrow, which is what some forecasts have been predicting. We'll see. |
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| Post 383 • IP flag post | ||
 Collector
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Quote:Originally Posted by Dart1146 Wow, thanks @Dart1146 & @Byrdibyrd ! That's cool. It sounds like they're a physical brick/mortar version of all the phone games people are addicted to!! but with physical prizes I think I could understand the attraction. Especially if they're collectible, etc. Thank you! |
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| Post 384 • IP flag post | ||
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Collector
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Byrdibyrd LOL!! あなたはそれに私の言葉を持っています! 私は絶対に日本語を話そうとはしません! |
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| Post 385 • IP flag post | ||
Just don't say 'shingk-uh-sen' 
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Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by dfoster43 But Japanese is not that difficult (at least I don't think so)! I think learning Spanish is harder. All those damn irregularities. It drives me nuts. |
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| Post 386 • IP flag post | ||
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View from my hotel window in Ueno. |
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| Post 387 • IP flag post | ||
 I have a problem with fattening women up.
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Bronte private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Nice view. The only shame is the reinforced glass looks like a prison cell or what I imagine a prison cell to look like.... | ||
| Post 388 • IP flag post | ||
 It gets old smelling it everytime I go outside my door.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Byrdibyrd I stayed in a hotel in Waikiki, I think we were above the 25th floor. It was a bit hairy. All hallways were outside, with a 4' railing to keep a person from a long drop... Looked like this view. Ocean was blocked by another even taller hotel... Safe travels home @Byrdibyrd  |
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| Post 389 • IP flag post | ||
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Collector
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Byrdibyrd I found Chinese easier once i learned to sing it (4 tone Chinese vs. what, 8 tone Cantonese and 12 tone Thai? I'll take 4) and Spanish I just learned enough to make it through LOL |
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| Post 390 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Sometimes it's best to be upfront. |
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| Post 391 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Let's see if I can complete another Lucky 7 in one day! This time it's the Nihonbashi Lucky 7 in Tōkyō. Stop #1 Sugimori-jinja  Icon: Ebisu |
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| Post 392 • IP flag post | ||
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Quick detour to Ōkannon-ji. They have their principal icon (Kannon) on display today only. Couldn't pass it up. |
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| Post 393 • IP flag post | ||
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| Stop #2 Koami-jinja  Icon: Benten Huge crowd today, cops were here for crowd control. Wow. |
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| Post 394 • IP flag post | ||
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| Stop #3 Chanoki-jinja  Icon: Hotei |
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| Post 395 • IP flag post | ||
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Stop for lunch at KFC. Why? They have a bathroom and no huge line to wait in.   |
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| Post 396 • IP flag post | ||
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Not eating here, thanks. I'll have KFC  |
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| Post 397 • IP flag post | ||
 Masculinity takes a holiday.
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| Is it true that KFC is a Christmas tradition in Japan? | ||
| Post 398 • IP flag post | ||
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| Stop #4 Kasama Inari-jinja  Icon: Jurōjin |
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| Post 399 • IP flag post | ||
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| Stop #5 Suehiro-jinja  Icon: Bishamonten |
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| Post 400 • IP flag post | ||
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| Stop #6 Matsushima-jinja  Icon: Daikokuten |
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| Post 401 • IP flag post | ||
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Oops  Screwed up on Koami-jinja. Icon is Fukurokuju, not Benten. |
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| Post 402 • IP flag post | ||
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| Stop #7 Suiten-gū  Icon: Benten |
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| Post 403 • IP flag post | ||
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Quote:Originally Posted by EbayMafia YES, it is. KFCs all over in Japan have take-out reservations coming in days in advance. It's not unusual for them to sell out completely, possibly even unable to fill all orders. It's pretty intense. Not that I have anything against the Colonel, and my chicken & cheese sandwich was nice, but dang. |
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| Post 404 • IP flag post | ||
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Quote:Originally Posted by Bronte I'm up on the 9th floor, and it's actually nice to have any view that isn't the wall of the building next door less than a foot away. I've had that 'view' so many times! As for the safety glass, I suspect it's required above a certain height due to potential glass breakage during an earthquake. This type of safety glass is all over the place here. |
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