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Sengakuji Temple (Resting Place of the 47 Ronin)

Sengakuji temple houses the graves of the 47 Ronin (and their lord, Asano Takumi-no-Kami Naganori). The story is fairly well known in the west, and is very famous here in Japan. It is considered a lesson on bushido (the warriors code).

If you aren't interested in the story, you can jump straight to the photos.

History in a Nutshell

As the story goes, lord Asano was insulted by Kira (Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka), another of the myriad of Japanese lords, and Asano attacked Kira. Oddly enough, the actual attack wasn't, it seems, as important as where the attack took place; Edo castle, the home of the Shogun. Asano was ordered to commit seppaku (ritual suicide).

Asano's samurai retainers planned to step down quietly, as to enable the succession of another member of the family. Unfortunately, this was impossible due to some political maneuvering. The current leader of the samurai (now, technically ronin), Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshio decided to plan revenge! On December 15th, 1702, Oishi and 46 other ronin (including Oishi's son) stormed Kira's mansion and, after a brief discussion, decapitated Kira, and took his head to Sengakuji temple. Apparently some people think that the true villan was the shogun, as this question is brought up in the entertaining, yet poorly produced video playing at the temple.

A month and a half later, on February 4th 1703, forty-six of the ronin committed seppaku as ordered by the shogun. Their graves can still be seen today at Sengakuji temple.

The Temple Today

After looking at the plaque listing the names of the 47 ronin at Sengakuji station, proceed quickly to the temple (about a 1 min walk). When you get to the temple from the station the first thing you will see is a large wood gate. This is called the middle (or second) gate constructed in 1836. Passing through this you come to the sacred gift shop. Next, across a very small stone bridge is the bronze statue of Oisji Kuranosuke, built in 1921. After this is the main (or third) gate, rebuilt in 1832. On the celling of the ground-floor can be seen a bronze dragon. Next is the wholly unimpressive main hall, rebuilt after WWII. To the left of the main hall is a statue of Sawaki Kodo Roshi, a 20th century Zen master. Just past him is the temple bell, constructed in 1913. Next is a series of plum trees given to and from people involved in the story. Among these trees is 'the blood stained stone,' from where Asano committed seppaku. Upon returning from decapitating Kira, the ronin, for some reason, washed his head in the well. The well is named Kubi-Arai well, meaning the head washing well. I assume that this was a later modification. Next, proceed through the gate that was originally at Asano's house, and come upon the Graves of the 47 ronin.

Getting There

First, get to Japan. Specifically Tokyo. After that, it's a piece of cake. The temple is a 2 minute walk from the aptly named Sengakuji station. This is very close to Shinagawa station on the subway Toei Asakusa Line. Admission is free for the graveyard and ¥500 for the museum.

Jiyugaoka Graveyard

After stopping at the Tamagawa Shrine I headed to a Graveyard in Jiyugaoka.
For the most part, it's just the same as most other shrines. The main difference being all the gravestones. Typically in Japan people are cremated rather than buried. Also, it seems that a lot of families use the same headstone. Some of these headstones appear to be very old. As I wandered around looking at the monuments I had to take some pictures of some of the gifts left for the dearly departed: mostly flowers, but also beer.

I enjoy walking the grounds and I would definitely recommend visiting some of the smaller neighborhood shrines. Many of these are not as "magnificent" as some of the more popular ones, I think they offer a lot more in terms of accessibility.

Tamagawa Shrine

After looking back at other posts that I have made, I noticed that , while I got a lot of Japan and Tokyo, I had very little from my back yard, as it were. So, last week, I piced up the camera and jumped on my bike and headed out around Setagaya. I hit 3 temples/shrines in the course of one afternoon, and there are at least three others within walking distance that I did not visit.

Tamagawa Shrine is the first of the three that I did go to. It is a bit farther away than some of the others, but it had some interesting stonework. Tucked under bushes and in corners are small statues of monks and dragons. There was also a small shrine dedicated to the wily fox! The chipped and worn foxes signify an Inari shrine, or rice-god shrine, of whom the fox is a messanger.

The shrine, in general, is sadly a bit rundown. It seems that they may only really spruce the place up when they have a special event. When taken as a whole the shrine is nothing special. This shrine only shines when you get close-up.

Fukuoka

As far as history goes, this entry is going to come up a bit short. I went to Fukuoka for a few days over New Years and while I was there I visited a castle (unknown origin/name) that had a very nice bridge leading to it (unknown bridge), a museum (next to the above unknown castle) that had some really interesting samurai armor and weapons and a temple. Fukuoka itself is much like other non-Tokyo cities is Japan: more unused space and greenery. It was New Years, so naturally very quiet. Also, in three days, I didn't see any other foreigners. Not even at the airport. Since it was a short trip, this is in no way a review/critique of the city and I am just using this as a place holder to share a few of the pictures that I was able to get.

Enjoy

Motomachi-Chukagai (Chinatown)

Motomachi-Chukagai is the old gaigin (foreigner) part of Yokohama. On the one side o f the canal you have the European/American style area (which includes the Foreigners Graveyard [pic], and on the other side, you have (the much more visually interesting) Chinatown. Chinatown in %85 tourist trap/ %15 real Chinatown. There is also a Museum/mall called Daska [pic] that purports to be a "Historical time travel through Shanghai" (starting in an elevator). Mostly it's just a cheesy display, a surprisingly entertaining floor show, and a food court. as a side note, the bathrooms here are especially clean and nice. In general the food in the big restaurants is shockingly overpriced and (so I am told) suited to the Japanese palate. There are, however, many street vendors selling cheap, filling food such as Pan (called niku-man or whatever-is-inside-man) [pic] in many varieties; from beef and pork to green tea & red-bean. These, along with a moderately priced Tsing-Tao beer, were my lunch.

The night ended with dinner and drinks in Kannai: an developing nightspot in Yokohama, where hundreds of bars and restaurants can be found. In all, Motomachi is a good day trip if you live in Japan and want a simple day trip to see something different, but if you travelled all the way here to experience Japanese culture, you may want to skip this and head to one of the more Japanese-y places.

Tsukiji Fish Market (and photos)

Another Update. Today I went down to Tsukiji Fish Market! [tsukiji-market.co.jp] The biggest fish market in the world! or something.

For those of you who don't know, Tsukiji Market is the largest fish market in Japan and quite possibly the world. Upon entering the market from the Fish temple [pic] side it isn't all that impressive. This is before you realize that the market goes on beyond what you can see. There are over a thousand merchants selling their fish stock (2,500 tons a day). The entire area takes up about the same space as a football stadium.

We got to the market at around 6:30. Luckily we were early enough to see the tuna auctions. In a few warehouses near the back you can find the tuna auction by the singsong chant of the auctioneers. The most interesting of these was doing a little dance on his pedestal as he sold his giant tuna [pic]. The tuna themselves are impressive. Ranging in size from that of a large-ish dog, to bigger than two men. All of them are frozen to keep for however long until they need to be sliced and served. The tails of each are cut off to, I assume, check the fat content and color of the meat. Each tuna is inspected and graded before the auction and some of the better fish go for over a kilo (about $45 a pound).

Next was the market proper. Each of the 1000-plus merchants site in a carefully defined space and generally specialize if a few types of fish. The prices for fish here are drastically lower than what you would normally find in Tokyo supermarkets. The selection is amazing. Not only can you find local procured fish, but also fish from around the world.

One of the important things to remember is to try and stay out of the way. There are hundreds of shoppers and, even more dangerous, the little transport trucks that swarm over the small aisles. But honestly the tourists are fairly well tolerated, considering we are just wandering around their workplace, taking pictures as they go about their workday.

One of the more interesting moments was the escaping octopus [pic]! It slowly tried to escape while people danced around it (or just stepped on it) on their way dawn the aisle. Unfortunately for him, it was only a matter of time before he got scooped up and carried off back to the tank.

Last for the day was breakfast sushi at Daiwa sushi. It's listed as the #1 sushi restaurant in Tokyo by Zaggat. Unfortunately its only open from 5:30AM to 1:30PM, so you cant stop in for dinner sushi. The sushi set is large (and a lot of food for breakfast), but is very fresh. after looking at all the fresh fish all day, the tuna was unbelievably good, and a great way to end a trip to Tsukiji.

Click "Continue Reading" below to see the photos from this weeks adventure.

A Walk Through Old Tokyo (Photos)

Kyoto Imperial Palace Photos

Kinkakuji Photos

Nijo Castle Photos

Gion Photos

Kiyomizu Temple Photos

Kyoto Gion Odori Photos

New Bike

Just a picture of my new bike... I like it. as always, click to enlarge

A couple of photos that I took with my new 2meg digital camera-phone! shrunk down quite a bit from full size. The first one is a photo taken at the japanese garden at the bottom of the new Roppongi Hills Building. The second is a random summer festival dance that took place in Nakameguro a while back

Another Random Japan Pic

Random Weekly Photo

here

2004 Hanami

2004 Hanami:
I know it's a little late, but here are some of the pictures that I took around spring. never seemed to have time/energy to put them up. I have more, but they mostly suck. also, i think that the link to the Tokyo Motor Show is bad, so check the new link.

Edo Museum, Tokyo Japan

From my continuing adventures in Japan, I bring you The Edo Museum. This museum is full of replicas and neat little dioramas. Have a look at the pics I took of the museum and some of my friends.

Galleries

My Photo Galleries

Tokyo Motor Show

It's time to visit the 37th annual TOKYO MOTOR SHOW! I did. It was a lot of fun. I even managed to take some pictures.

Joe

random image

Here is a random image from last winter.

Matt's Visit IV and V (mislabeled)

Well, the final images are up now here and here. There wont be any more ffrom Matt's visit. I'm going to clean up these images and put up the "best of" set. If there are any you particulary like (or dislike) let me know. feeback, please.

Joe

Matt's Visit - Photo's III

Set numero three is here! this features a lot of the photos from the trip from Shinjyuku (including a bunch of the dancing bikers, or whatever they are) to Shibuya. There we have one more set to go before the great Mt Fuji trip photos. So have a look, and keep comin' back for more.

Joe

Matt's Visit - Photo's II

Alright! I told you that the next set would be soon. I may wait for a little bit to add the rest of the files. They are here. Let me know what you think about the images. Larger file sizes are available for those of you (Matt) that want/need to print them.
Included in this set are most of the pictures from the Kimono Party, some of the pictures from the walk from Shibuya to Shinjyuku (including one of the dancing bikers!)

So! Stay tuned for the next installment (hopefully to be done in the next few days)

Joe

Matt's Visit - Photo's I

Hey everybody, head on over here to take a look at the first installment of photos from Matt's visit. There are more to come (something like 200 in total). The next set will be going up soon.