Imperial Palace East Gardens...

At least my timing was finally good to be able to visit the Imperial Palace East Gardens at the former site of Edo Castle. All that remains now are a few guardhouses, such as this one, the moats, wall and entrance gates.

Although there wasn’t much in bloom in late August, you can imagine how beautiful this must be in the spring.

After hearing cicadas make a racket since arriving in Tokyo, I finally got a good photo of one (albeit a dead one).

Cars and Fish...

Ashlynn had to be at the agency at 6:40 a.m. on the 27th so she could be picked up and taken to a job for GooWorld Magazine. Although that title sounds like it could be pornographic, it’s actually a car magazine. Despite being too young to drive and living in a family that doesn’t even own a car, Ashlynn was paid to pose with a Porsche with the possibility that one of the photos could grace the cover of the magazine. Here she is after the shoot, before being driven back to the agency in the car. 

Since I got up early to drop Ashlynn off, I figured it was a good chance to finally head over to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Once again, my timing was off. Turns out that the wholesale section didn’t open for the public until 9 a.m. so I could only walk through the retail section. I considered having a sushi breakfast, but was too impatient to wait in line. 

Instead I had some freshly cooked scallops, which were delicious.

The retail section wasn’t very big, but there was definitely a large variety of fish.

There were also large stacks of dried squid...

...and some very expensive fruit including a bunch of grapes for $25.

Another Old Friend...

The following day, Ashlynn joined me for lunch in Shibuya with another old friend. I met Rob over 15 years ago at the Sir Walter Raleigh Hash. I last saw him and his then girlfriend Yuko at his little sister’s wedding in October 2005. Since then, he and Yuko got married and had Eimi. They were in town to visit Yuko’s family and do a bit of sightseeing.

Eimi, an amazingly well-behaved 7-year-old, was very patient as we caught up.

Best Tempura Ever...

Masaya gave me a choice between French food or tempura; that was an easy decision. He took me to Hagaten, a restaurant in Ginza that his family has been visiting for decades. The chef cooked at a small station set up right in the main room.

The meal was incredible! There were lots of small courses with the tempura as the main attraction. The breading was light, which was perfect, on a mix of veggies and seafood. Hagaten first opened in Ginza in 1928 and was rumored to be a favorite of Charlie Chaplin. I can fully understand why Masaya and his family love the place and appreciate him sharing it with me.

A Private Buddhist Temple...

That evening I met up with Masaya, whose family we met when we moved to Holland. After living in The Hague for 13 years, his family moved to Tokyo in 2007, but then Susan and the girls moved to California a few years later for better school options. Masaya still works in Tokyo and looks after his mother, who lives behind the family temple.

After having some tea in the temple, which dates back to 1699 and is named Shoren-Ja, Masaya showed me the tunnel behind his mother’s house.

Inside were two shrines, which extended family still visit on holidays. Above is Benten-Sama, a female deity that protects artists and those who work in the arts.

Other Sightings in Old Tokyo...

Outside the museum were these cute characters.

Further down the street was this goofy guy, the closest I came to seeing Godzilla.

After the Fukagawa Edo Museum, I walked to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Along the way, I saw this sophisticated piece of street art...

...and this sweet Buddha holding babies in a cemetery.

The architecture of the museum was quite cool and so was this funky piece built from recycled pieces of metal.

Fukagawa Edo Museum...

While Ashlynn was off on another job, this time for a hair stylist, I went to the Fukagawa Edo Museum. Like the Shitamachi Museum, this museum featured a reconstruction of tenement buildings from the Edo period. This is where brown rice was polished resulting in white rice...

 ...and here’s an early raincoat.

Behind this short wall would be stored futons and bedding during the day.

Clearly these short walls didn’t offer much privacy in the communal outhouses.

Unlike in today’s society, nothing went to waste in the past. Tea towels were made from old kimonos.

Fire was a constant threat with so many wooden buildings in such a small space. The only building that was secure against fires was the rice warehouse, which was built out of cement instead of wood.