Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2025 Day Four

On day four of my Japan trip this year the day started with a stroll around the Yanaka area, which is just west of Nippori Station on the Yamanote train line, in the northern part of central Tokyo. It's a mix of shops aimed mostly at tourists and small businesses aimed at the locals. 

Nearby is an area that, for reasons I've not been able to precisely ascertain, is full of Buddhist temples. This is also where Yanaka Reien (Yanaka Cemetery) is located – a large complex of plots with a long history (established around 1875) criss-crossed by city streets. The streets are lined with large, old cherry trees. The blossom-viewing crowds were out, and so were the flowers. A wave of warmer weather yesterday brought out the last reluctant buds. White petals were fluttering in the breeze. A small film crew from NHK (Japan's equivalent of the BBC) was out capturing the falling petals; the progress of the cherry blossoms at every stage from bud to bloom is monitored and reported daily during cherry season. Personally, I prefer the plum blossoms because the cherries are virtually scentless, but the cherries are quite pretty too.

Also fluttering were birds. On my visit to Japan last year, I noted the Brown-eared Bulbuls that like to sip nectar from the base of the cherry flowers, clipping them and dropping them whole in the process. These are noisy, aggressive birds that were busy chasing each other from tree to tree. In addition, I noticed two unfamiliar birds that I've identified as the White-cheeked Starling, which is well described by its name, and the Azure-winged Magpie, which does, indeed, have pale blue wings. These are both new birds for my life list. The Magpies were flitting between the trees in small flocks. 

In the cemetery is a large section of graves belonging to the Tokugawa family, including the grave of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last of the Shoguns, the Shogun that ultimately stepped down to allow the Meiji Restoration in 1868 that returned Japan to Imperial rule. 

Among the most interesting of the temples was Jomyoin, known for its rows and rows of Jizo statures – 84,000 of them according to a local map of the area. I estimated that, in reality, there are about 7,000, but 7,000 is enough to create an effect. Jizo, or O-jizo-sama if you're being polite, was originally a Boddhisatva in Indian Buddhism but he usually appears in Japan as a stone statue in the form of a monk. Jizo statues, most often with red caps or bibs (or both) that are thought to ward off evil, are frequently placed at temples where they are revered particularly as guardians of children, especially of the souls of children that have died before their parents. You also frequently see them along pathways and roadways where they are placed as protectors of travelers. I've always been found of these statues. Sometimes they have a spooky look, especially when encountered alone in the woods, but usually they have a friendly aspect that has made them widely popular. Frequently you see offerings of food, beer, liquor, and small change at O-Jizo-sama's feet.

The evening was spent with friends who operate a restaurant in Roppongi where we enjoyed good food, good wine, and good conversation.