Tokyo Enchanted - Part IV, Glory of the Past

When I visit a city of another country I never skip visiting the historical sites of that city. Being a history buff like myself, I've always been fascinated by remnants of history. Be it a castle, a huge garden, a naked statue, or else.

History has bewitched me since childhood. Not sure the reasons why. But, as an adult, I guess only through history I can see the identity of a person let alone a nation. So, I was intrigued to know more about Japan's famous shogun, Tokugawa Leyasu. His clan ruled Japan for over 200 years.

So, we started to track down his footpath starting from Edo castle.

Read below.

 

Built by a man whose name was Ota-Dokan, years later, it became the place where the shogunate of Tokugawa Leyasu was established. Following the shogun resignation and a restoration of Meiji, this castle became the residence of Tokyo's Imperial family as seen nowadays.
 

The palace is overlooking a huge square separating it with those tall offices skyscrapers as the face of modern Japan. The two is the perfect juxtaposition illustrating the co-existence between two eras in modern Japan, though many things in the past have improved significantly (if not completely changed).  

The square is so relaxing and makes a good pit-stop point to seize the day (carpe diem).

It is so spacious, you can also do a bit of Plank.

Or jump as high as you can.

 

After spending an hour or so strolling the area whilst listening to T's explanation on historical tales of this castle and its relation to Tokugawa, we were whisked-off to another place of Tokugawa's footpath.

It's a centuries-old temple, famously known as Sensoji or Asakusha Kannon temple.

 

According to a local guide, Kannon is the goddess of mercy and the story of the temple started with 2 fishermen brothers who found a statue of the goddess in their nest. Trying to get rid of it, they threw the statue to the river. Strangely enough, the statue keeps coming back to them. This is why they built the temple to pay respect to the goddess.

 

 

During the era of Tokugawa, he made Sensoji temple  as a guardian symbol of the north-east of Edo (now, Tokyo) against possible attacks from his enemies. As time goes by it became a sacred place attracting many pilgrims from all over Japan. Following this, a samurai family helped extending the complex by building other parts of the temple. One of them is the renowned gates, Kamiranimon and Honzomon (see pictures below).

Before leaving the complex, make sure you spend time on a line of souvenir shops from the outer gate to the second gate of the temple. They sell cute little things which you might like to bring back home. However, be always on your toes, as in general the complex area can be very crowded. So watch-out for personal belongings, though Tokyo is generally safe, you'll never know what's lurking behind your backpack.

 

 

Our last stop will be the Sengakuji-temple.

During the era of Tokugawa shogunate, there were resistances that cause a lot of samurai lost their masters. They became Ronin, or master-less samurai. Armed and penniless, there was a striking event in the history of Tokugawa era about the 47 Ronin. So infectiously famous, the story is adapted into a movie too.

What fascinates me the most about this  story is the values it carries through our modern life. The exceptional life of these 47 Ronin is an excellent example of loyalty and perseverance that we as modern human-beings should practice nowadays.  

Sengakuji-temple is where these 47 Ronin lie their last breath.

Their patriotism, loyalty and perseverance and respect to their heritage is the reasons why we were all enchanted by Tokyo (or Japanese culture in general).