Tuesday
I decided I would try to start off my day with a visit to the Kanda shrine in Akihabara. It is a Shinto shrine about a 20 minute walk from my accommodation and once again, was quite busy. I had planned to request a goshuin from this location but when I saw that it was a pre-written separate page goshuin I decided to move on and explore other places instead. I am not a huge fan of goshuin pages that have to be glued into my book unless they are special edition ones that take an extra long time for the priests/monks to prepare. So I decided I would circle back toward the end of my trip if I had room in my book.
I took a 25ish min stroll from here then toward the Ueno park area (stopping along the way for a snack) where I re-visited the Shinobazuno Pond – which is full of lotus plants. I have always ever visited during the time of year when they are in full bloom and there was something of a different kind of beauty to see them in the phase of life cycle when they are buried in the mud.
There is an island in the middle of the pond where the Shinobazunoike Bentendo temple is located. Here I stopped to purchase two pet health charms for Dante and Dmitri – they were blessed for pet health and traffic safety and designed to be worn on the collar. I also received my first goshuin of the day in my book and discovered that this was the 5th and final stop of a one-day walking pilgrimage of temples in the Ueno park area. I decided this would be my quest, although I would just do it in reverse since I had already started at the end.
My next stop was #4 – up the hill to the Kiyomizu Kannon-do Temple. Here they have trained a tree into this circular shape so that standing at the main entrance you can look down the hill and see the Shinobazunoike Bentendo temple down below in the middle of the pond.
This Temple is probably the biggest and most well-known temple in the park – it is also closest to the main train station as well. This was also the shortest walking distance between two temple spots that I encountered on this little quest.
Stop #3 consisted of collecting 2 goshuin from one location. This was the Ueno Daibutsu Shrine. The original temple was destroyed years ago by an earthquake. I believe the body was used for materials in the war but they were able to save the face and the very top of the temple spire and they just keep these two items on the top of a small hill in an open air temple space.
Stop #2 Was a tough one to find, and quite a distance away. The maps they had up around didn’t have very clear markers, were all in kanji, and not to scale – so I kept taking turns far earlier than they needed to be taken. The name of the temple is Kanei-ji Kaishan Hall – there are two separate halls and I ended up at the Kaishan Hall, although there is also the Rinnoden hall. I did not know about the Rinnoden hall until later and I just told myself it’s the intent that counts at the end of it.
This temple ground is dedicated to warding off plague so you can imagine that it has been very busy for the last few years.
The final #1 stop was a bit of a hike as I didn’t want to backtrack the way I had already gone and wanted to see new things – instead I walked behind the national museum. My map wanted me to walk through what looked like a school grounds which I didn’t feel comfortable doing so I took a longer loop around and eventually I ended up at the main Kaneiji Temple grounds and the Konponchu-do Temple where I completed my official pilgrimage. The monk flipped through my book to look at the stamps I had collected and congratulated me and placed an additional little paper talisman in my book for completion. I also sat in the temple for an extra 15 mins to just breathe for a bit at the end of the journey.
At this point I was ready for another snack, so I hopped on the metro and made my way back to Asakusa to get that melon pan that I wasn’t able to get the day before. I inhaled it with gusto too quickly to remember to try taking a photo, but it was super satisfying. Then I decided I would be brave and visit a brand new place, the Zozo-ji Buddhist Temple. It is also super close to Tokyo Tower which I have not visited before in all my other trips to Japan.
I arrived an hour before the evening service was scheduled to begin so I decided to visit the temple office for goshuin request and then wander the grounds for a while. I came back when I heard the pre-chanting begin and then sat to experience the service.
After this I walked up to the Tokyo tower. I was considering going up the tower today to see the city view at night. It would have been a very good evening for it since it was clear – I was also hungry and there were a lot of shops and places to eat inside of the tower. There is also a shrine at the top of the tower where I read I could get a goshuin – although a paste in the book kind of goshuin… but special edition for new years at least!
I decided I was too tired to take on a new series of tasks and instead headed back toward my hotel. I picked up an omurice to eat at my hotel and tanked out pretty early. Next update will have a brief summary of Wednesday since it was fairly uneventful, and then more detail on Thursday when I got to attend the Sumo Grand Championship Tournament!
After the conclusion of my matches in the professional division, I still had a good chunk of daylight left since my division was one of the first ones of the day to run. I decided that I would make use of it by attempting to visit a shrine in Harajuku for a limited edition temple seal book that I wished to purchase. Temple seal (Goshuin) collecting is one of my favorite side quests to do in Japan. When I visit a temple or shine, I can go to the office and request for the priest/priestess place the temple seal in my book via red stamps and hand brush stroke calligraphy ink. Each shrine and temple have their own unique seal. It is something small but memorable to collect, and also it gets me out of my comfort zone, interacting with people, and into different neighborhoods to explore more.
I walked past the entrance of the main street, which would be the most direct route to the Togo shrine but I decided to opt for a side street approach instead. I ended up meandering a bit and walked past this small curated garden, then doubled back and decided to give it a stroll through in order to help relax and decompress myself.
I did loop back around to my starting point and then had to wander back to get to the shrine entrance again. I made it up the side entrance and then saw the huge crowd of people and was once again reminded that it was a weekend. I did not have the energy to complete my quest and noped it out of there. Instead on my way back to the station I ducked into a small crevice and grabbed myself a bottle of my favorite electrolyte beverage from one of the vending machines there. I don’t know what magic is in this bottle but it really is the best thing ever, and the name makes me smile.
At this point I realized that I really needed to get back to my hotel and lie down so that I could get some rest after the day’s events. My headache just wasn’t going away and there was really no need for me to be pushing myself since the rest of this trip was officially vacation with very little by way of actual itinerary. I had eaten a salmon bento box at the venue before I headed out but definitely needed to feed myself a bit more before going to sleep. I didn’t have the energy left for much interaction so enter the convenience store rescue. I went for familiar (to me) easily digestible items with the plan to get myself some real food to eat the next day. Milk tea, egg sandwich, pudding, and vitamin jelly pack for the win!
I woke up pretty early Monday morning and started off with another milk tea before heading back to Harajuku to resume my quest. I still found the whole idea very overwhelming though and determined that since it was a much smaller and less familiar shrine I should instead backtrack to the other side of the station and instead first visit the Meiji-Jingu shrine – a very familiar, very large shrine that you walk through a large wooded park to reach. Even with the huge amounts of people present it still feels peaceful and I could feel myself getting into a groove.
One thing I quickly realized is that visiting so close to New Years means that I shouldn’t expect the normal type of tranquility that I usually experience when visiting shrines and temples in Japan. Most of the festivities were all over by the time I arrived in Tokyo, but people were still doing a lot of their New Years visits, and activity levels were much higher than what I had been accustomed to when visiting in the early autumn.
There was a box for placing your previous year’s amulets in so they can then be ceremonially burned later on. I had been holding on to mine since I had not been able to visit since 2019 so it was far past its prime – but we can only do what we can! My new amulet is for victory and perseverance, very appropriate methinks! 
When I visit any sort of sacred space, whether it be a church, synagogue, mosque, shrine, temple, etc; I tend to minimize the photos I take unless I see the locals also taking photos, and what photos I do take I try to make sure that I do not take or share unavoidable photos of people, particularly of people in prayer/meditation. It’s the respectful thing to do. At this particular location it is such a hub of activity that it doesn’t feel disruptive to take photos so long as I avoid being obnoxious
After getting myself oriented a bit at Meiji-Jingu, I made my way out their side entrance (making note of their new location for their Goshuin request line), and back towards the Togo Shrine. At this point though I was getting cold and hungry and I decided to stop at the cafe on the shrine grounds for a bowl of ramen. It was my first hot meal in Japan and it was pretty stinking amazing. The egg was hard-boiled but it was marinated and I could have eaten a bowl full of just those. The whole bowl of ramen was about $4 with the current exchange rate and while a pretty mid-level for Japan ramen, blew away the best ramen you’d ever get state side!
After this I felt like I finally had my feet under me and decided to jump on the train for a short ride to the Hie shrine. I unexpectedly arrived during the time they were busy burning the previous year’s amulets and was enjoying watching the process while I waited for the priestess to finish inking the shrine goshuin into my book. When I saw the locals taking photos and video of the burning process I took that as a cue it was okay to take photos as well.
This shrine is a bit out of the way on top of a hill but became popular when people discovered that one of the entrances was lined with red torii gates and it became a hot photo spot. I snapped a quick photo on my way out but didn’t feel like waiting around to get one without people in it – I’ve got that photo in my memory card already from previous visits and really needed to grab some water.
As it was a completely new place it was of course overwhelming and I took my time with it. As an autistic individual I’ve learned to give myself time and space to explore new things in my own way – I take in and appreciate the feel of a place first before I start looking at things visually and with other senses. I probably sat for about an hour before I started actually moving around and (from an outside onlookers point of view) taking it in. This is one reason why I prefer to travel alone especially my first visit somewhere, so that I can really experience places fully the way my brain does best. The second visit to a place I can happily do so with company.
The shop was unfortunately closed for the day by the time I arrived, so I just made a mental note to return the next day for my prize and then strolled to the adjacent Senso-ji Temple – my first Buddhist temple of the trip. This is the oldest temple in Tokyo and enshrines the Kannon – the Bodhisattva of Mercy. A huge marketplace has grown around the temple over the years and you could easily spend a week or more exploring this neighborhood. Senso-ji is also one of those places where you just give up about not having people in your photos. It’s just that busy!
At practically all temples and shrines you will see pieces of paper tied to trees, poles, and strings. These are the fortunes that are drawn by lot at the temples that are, shall we say, less than fortunate. If you draw a bad fortune you then fold it up and tie it in these designated areas. These bad fortunes are then taken by the priests and ritually burned to dispel the bad luck so it does not follow you.
After leaving the office, I was contemplating trying to go out to eat but I was fading really fast and the sun was setting, so I decided to go back to my room and just grab something quick and easy to eat on my way back. I was going to stick with familiar (egg sandwich again?) but something caught my eye and made me double back my steps on my way to the train station. It was a katsu shop that had pre-made premium katsu sandwiches for sale. I decided to grab one since I felt like I was depending on the convenience store failsafe a little bit too much (although admittedly their food quality tops most US restaurants).
This was my first time back in Japan since before Covid in 2019 and to say I had been looking forward to it would be a massive understatement. I was caught completely off guard however by the huge wave of emotions that hit as my plane lifted off from Nashville early that morning. I was thankful to have a window seat and the cover of darkness as the waves of realization hit and became reality – of how much I had done over the last several years to make this happen again. I ugly cried for the majority of that short flight from Nashville to the Atlanta hub where I would catch the connecting flight onward to Tokyo.
I chose to once again stay in a capsule style hotel, this time in Akihabara (aka: electric town/anime central). I really like capsule style hotels because they tend to be centrally located near main train stations and offer great amenities such as premium hair/skin care products, spa services, and such like. This one gave me a fresh bag with my towel set and pajamas every day and I did not have to pack any toiletries since everything they provide is luxury quality. I don’t need a lot of space either, since I’m not hanging out in a hotel room all day and just need a safe comfortable place to sleep at night.
As far as how my matches went, well it wasn’t my best day. I could make excuses but that’s all they would be. It doesn’t really matter what the excuses are, I either brought it that day or I didn’t – and that day I didn’t. I was feeling pretty cruddy about it since the masters division was supposed to be my actual focus for this trip and the pro division was going to be my “f*ck it I’m here, may as well” division.
The mood the next morning on the warmup mats for the professional match was quite more serious than the day before. I won’t go into too detail about my matches but I will say I felt so much better about my performance overall in the pro division than I did in the masters division the day before. Each match was dramatically different, and they do double elimination at these big events for brown and black belt matches so I went 2:2 and took 4th place, just missing the podium (and some sweet $$).
So, the overall lesson learned from this after the spiral of the day before is that I was a dumbass and shouldn’t fly for 18 hours to the other side fo the world, weigh in the same day of arrival, and then compete the day after I arrive. I could get away with that in my 20s and early 30s: but apparently it’s a no go in my late 30s. One extra day of recovery and I was a much less embarrassing version of myself – still not perfect of course, but much improved. Yes, I should know better but I’m thickheaded and need to be reminded sometimes that I’m not invincible. When I do the Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi this May I plan to arrive several days before the event so I will have time to recover from the trip before weigh ins and competing.
In my last update, I was getting ready to leave for the UAEJJF Tokyo Grand Slam in July. I did end up with ladies in the 62 kg purple belt division and brought home a silver medal and some cash. I used the cash prize to book airfare and register for the Los Angeles Grand Slam.
Instead of climbing Mt. Fuji, I ended up getting my tattoo done by an artist in Ueno named Horien (
The bus to Dubai was super easy to catch. I just went up to the ticket counter labeled “Dubai” and asked for one ticket. It only cost a couple bucks and a bus leaves every 15 minutes.
This began with a taxi ride to my friends hotel where we all met up and ordered a taxi for a ride to the beach. A good number of the beaches in Abu Dhabi are private beaches for hotel guests only – however there are public beaches available. We were dropped off at Corniche beach which is for families. It cost about $3-4 USD to get in and then you can rent an umbrella and buy food and snacks there.
After the last match, Itzel and I were quite hungry and went back to my hotel to try the dinner buffet. It was about $30 USD (he gave us the discount for first visit) and it was VERY good and worth it! I really loved all the little deserts that we proceeded to rank. I liked the carrot cake and flan best! Itzel went back to her hotel and I tanked out. It would be a long day the next day for me – changing hotels and then departing for the desert safari. Coming up next post!
Coach's Killer 