Misadventures with Miso

Misadventures with Miso

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Walking Through Tsukishima: Aioibashi

Partway through my Tokyo trip I switched hotels. Not because there was anything wrong with where I was staying, but because I wanted to check out another part of Tokyo and the room rates were a lot less. So on the day I changed places, I had time in between. I left my bags at the first hotel and headed out to an area not far from Tsukiji and Ginza. One of the first things I saw there was this bridge. The Aioibashi. 

Tokyo has so many bridges, some with histories and others that became famous for their appearance. The Aioi isn't famous for it's appearance and doesn't have much a history except for it's name. Which translates to "good couple". Why this name? Read on for the answer. 

While the bridge isn't much to see the views are not bad. Like this ship with amazing rigging. The green cross flag may be a Japanese flag of safety and health.  This is the Meiji-maru, built in Scotland in 1873 for the Japanese government. The ship tended lighthouses and at one time Emperor Meiji sailed on it. It is now a museum. The flag may be there because they are doing work on it.

Aioibashi is one of several bridges that span across the Sumida River. That's Eitai Bridge in the distance, which is known for it's appearance. Across the way is Etchujima, or Etchu Island.

A look at one of the greenways that line the Sumida River. This one is called Ishikawajima Park and it wraps around the end of this island. Again the Eitai Bridge and just beyond is the tip of Sky Tree Tower. 

Like a lot of Tokyo, this part is home to many nondescript buildings. Office buildings, apartments, there isn't much that gives them character. Although the views of the river may be nice.

 On the left is Tsukuda Island. I will have photos of it in another post.

That green wooded area may look like it is the other side but actually it's a little island in the middle of the river. Nakanoshima Park. I'm not sure if there is a way to get there from the bridge. And this may be why the name of the bridge is "Good Couple". Because there use to be two bridges here. One long, one short. My guess is they met at Nakano Island. When the Great Kanto Earthquake happened in 1923 both bridges burned. The current truss bridge is made of steel and was completed in 1998-2000. It's 489.17 feet long or 149.1 meters. 

My walk across the the Aioibashi wasn't that boring. There was a bird sighting. Of a massive Jungle Crow or Large Billed Crow. I wish there was something that could show the size of this bird. They are impressive.

Friday, May 18, 2018

Hanging out in Shiba and Hamamatsucho

For the first part of my March trip to Tokyo I stayed at the same hotel I've stayed at a few times before. In Shiba, which is a little area in Minato Ward. During the time I took a few photos seeing what had changed and what was the same. The Poko Bagels place was gone (I mentioned this last year), replaced by a pet groomer. The window had lost the wooden Dachshund dog but gained this little fur baby. There were other cats on other days, usually asleep. 

 The bowl with water plants and tiny minnows was still in front of a place, and so was this tank of fancy gold fish.

And the sakura tree was still there besides this building. I first saw it in 2011, next to the entrance. It's too bad they didn't just plant it by the building. It would look better. But it is still alive and blooming. 

Shiba's gained a sign! Now I have proof. 

Near there is another sign with a bit about the history of Shiba. Basically there were fishing villages here. At some time in the Edo period, tea serving servants for the castle lived in the area. 

There's even an ukiyo-e created by Utagawa Hiroshige, the first. One of Edo's famous sites at the time. 

The Furukawa still flows under the Inner Circular Route. Restaurant boats still moored there. On the right is Shiba, on the left is Hamamatsucho.

Despite all the concrete buildings, there are a few places where one looks up and sees green. 

Back at Sanuki-Kohaku Inari Shrine on the Hamamatsucho side of the river.

Lions and foxes still watching the place. 

Fox ema still being left. Someone left an omamori, a blue charm. Guess it was time to turn it in. 

More ema including the horse ones I mentioned in last year's post. Here's a link in case you are curious. I explained a bit about the shrines here. 

Not the same cat this year. I'm sure this shrine is nice for cats to hang out at.

A few more Inari foxes hanging out at the smaller shrine.

Just a few more random photos. Like this water hydrant manhole cover. The second firefighter looks a little shocked. 

Still a lot of eateries in Hamamatsucho. Being between Shiba where there are a lot of major companies, and Hamamatsucho and Daimon Stations, it makes sense that the dining business has grown there. There's even an Okinawan restaurant complete with red roof tiles over the entrance. I believe the name is Uru no Ya, but I couldn't find a review of the place. I think it is new.

 Me, while I was in Shiba I ate breakfast at the hotel since it was included and dinner was something from local konbini. I found myself eating lunch in different parts of Tokyo while I was out exploring. I did stop at MOS Burger in Hamamatsucho. It's a tradition by now. Sat upstairs this time so I could have a different view.

I had my shrimp burger fix. 

Along with their fries and onion rings. Those onion rings are so good!

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Malice Mizer interview from Vicious March 1999

Before the turn of the century there was this musical band that was beloved by their fans. The band put on theatrical performances that delighted those who attended. Outlandish, lyrical, scary and just fun. Sadly a day came when the lead singer was no longer part of the band. As to why, it has been a bit of a mystery. The band was growing in popularity and there were plans to do more. Over the years, the lead singer gave his version of the story a number of times. Given that it matters to his popularity, he always claimed it was the others that were responsible. As to the others, not much has been said over the years.

At least not shared among many fans outside of Japan. But hidden away in the recesses of the internet there is someone who wrote about an interview conducted with the four remaining members of Malice Mizer, Yu~ki, Közi, Kami and Mana. It happened at a point from January to early June, 1999, probably a little time after Gackt left the band. Unknown what magazine this was in, maybe Vicious according to the person who posted the interview in 2012. It was translated on Scape fan board in 2007. People tried to figure out what magazine this was in but have not had any luck.

I've known about this interview for a few years. When I mention it to people, they are surprised. They have only heard Gackt's story about why he left the band. Since Mana mentioned in the Rock and Read interview that the members did respond to magazines asking about their thoughts after Gackt left, I thought it would be a good time to share this interview here. I wish I knew more about the original source. But it fits with what Mana said, and it is with the four members including Kami who passed away that year. So here is the translation from Scape, and I will note the original online source at the end.

--What happened between Gackt and the four members here? 
Mana - Having done with the merveilles concept, a member meeting is held to decide on what's up next. A certain article mentioned of how he said "let's continue without taking a break", but we've never heard that, nor did we say "we want to rest". In reality, we needed time to think and so we decided to set aside a period of time to replenish our strength after some discussions.
During these type of conversations, differences in opinions occur between him and the other four members, and he didn't come to the meetings anymore...

--Is that just a conflict concerning only the concept?
Mana - No, it's about the direction we are heading towards and how we are to become as humans.

--It's not about being musicans or artists?
Mana - Malice Mizer is a five person group, it's a form created by five members. The thing is, even if one has got a brilliant artist personality, it's difficult to create something as a cooperative group bound by fate with just that personality alone.

--So, Malice Mizer didn’t expand from a group of very good friends? 
Közi- Right from the start, we didn’t gather together because we have close links with one another, but to come all the way here isn’t considered a coincidence either. Conflicts happen among other members as well, and they didn’t pose much of a big problem, after all, it’s just human to do that. Up till now, there have been disagreements, but it’s only after the merveilles concept has been created that those happened a lot. 
Yu~ki-This happens with all bands, but when people gather together to come up with something, don’t we need to be polite in our discussions. We never avoided that and despite collisions here and there, we came up with wonderful productions. We never overlooked anyone, and made discussions right from the beginning, not concealing any conflicting views, yet without realizing when, there were no conversations before anything concerning music. It’s not specifically about anyone. And we thought there will be some words of trust as in the past such as “how about this sound?”
Mana- After Malice Mizer’s major debut started, Gackt changed as if making a sudden turn, for both good and bad. Perhaps humans will change when the situation changes, but I think the basic points won’t. 
Yu~ki- Our office was not set up only yesterday or today, it’s the most obvious thing. Indeed, the record company is very understanding to us, and great productions were created without compromising. We did all that without having any confrontations with the office nor the record company. But in a certain article, what he said of something like “the confrontation with the office”, how such words came about, it’s strange, but I guess that can’t be helped. 
Kami- Meetings after meetings, we will stop around and catch up from there, but he’s the only one who will leave. Things such as trust began to drop. He said “I love Malice Mizer”, but how is it that he would take such an action, it’s unbelievable. 
Mana- Perhaps that’s what he wanted to do, for his personality as an artist has been greatly recognized. When he’s performing the merveilles concept as an artist on stage, complicated personal emotions are completely left out. 
Kami- Because there’s trust in the music. 
Mana-However, this is the limit. Most parts of the concepts that has been created until merveilles are done in the past. To create new things, a trusting relationship is very important. Countless meetings have brought up the fact that that is lacking. 

--To say it in a substantial way? 
Mana-That’s people for you. From now on, I think there’s nothing to work on together anymore. 
Yu~ki-I think from now on, the band will need strong bonds to stand to the top and represents many ideas and meanings. Without a bond that can enable communication through eye contact during lives, nothing good will come out of it, neither can we reach the top. Though we always think that way until now, but still we managed to do it pretentiously. 
The Director said “even as the songs are good, but somewhere I feel your hearts aren’t as one.”, and I feel the same way after watching from the back of the stage with an open mind. Not wanting to go on putting on such pretense and that emotion increased with the experiences from the meetings, yet it has come to a point of no return, the gap cannot be mended anymore. That why, the main problem is our relationship with him, not the office and us against him. It’s tough that many who wrote fan letters thought that way. 
Mana-I’ve had it rougher. After a certain article came out, a letter came viciously, giving me a lecture. “As the leader, please behave more like an adult” and so on. I’d like to express what really happened sooner, but in this world, there is truth that appears as if it didn’t exist. We are sorry to the fans of the Malice Mizer with these five members, but we hope you can understand. This is the result of moving forward and breaking through without worrying too much, I regret it so badly.
Yu~ki- We have troubled fans and those in the industry who helped us, we are really sorry, regretful. 

--Returning back to topic, are there any discussions regarding Gackt leaving the band? 
Mana-He disappeared around November last year, despite having work to do, there’s lots on the schedule, but we don’t know where to contact him, and it remained that way. But we continued waiting for him. But, it seems as if he came up a betrayal kind of manner…it’s sad and regrettable. 
Közi-Not really, gentlemanly in those meetings, then all of sudden, he didn’t come anymore. 
Mana-That’s why, please do not believe things like we drove him out etc. 

--What will happen to Malice Mizer from now on? 
Közi- well, we are still in the situation whereby we haven’t really decided on when we’re going to announce our works, right? 
Mana- Many things happened, we are now recovering and sorting our emotions. The only thing that we can say now is that we want to meet and bring in a new vocalist, and begin a new Malice Mizer. 
Közi-we are definitely not going to disband. We can’t continue like a normal band, given the situation now, and it’ll be so for a while to come. To decide on a vocalist requires much consideration, it’s not a simple “yes, let’s take this person, now let’s GO!” 
Mana- That’s why, right now at this stage, we can only promise that we will not disband, Malice Mizer will continue. We will move forward. 
Közi- Perhaps it’ll be a while before we can meet with our fans, but surely there are different encounter ways. We are not doing nothing now, we are exploring and experimenting around. 

2012 post in Japanese of the interview on 5chan (which was 2channel at that time) http://music.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/visual/1036681228/

Updated since the source of the interview was given to me by someone who was a fan back then. This interview was in Vicious March 1999. Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Part Two of Rock and Read's Interview with Mana

Continuing with my synopsis of my translation of the interview with Mana by the Japanese music magazine, Rock and Read. I got my copy at Kinokuniya book store. Since no translations were online, and I wanted to read the interview, I did my first long translation. Since I am not a skilled translator but I know there are people who want to know what the interview was about, I decided to post a synopsis of it. If there are any errors I will correct them. But for now, here is the rest of the interview.

The topic changed to the 25th anniversary of Malice Mizer and the memorial event this September. Mana laughingly said the 25th anniversary was actually last year. He said that this is something he has never done before, but there was one time something was to happen at the time of the 20th anniversary, in 2012.

Mana shared that back when Malice Mizer stopped working he felt sorry inside. That everyone who enjoyed it felt the same. He spoke about 1998 and mentioned Gackt leaving saying "what is the truth and what is a lie?". That the situation was not expressed then and has continued. The interviewer said that at that time, there were no comments from the Malice Mizer side. Even in 2001 when they stopped performing there was no comments about that. Mana was asked if he wanted to break it down in the 20th memorial year.

Mana said he had that kind of feeling. That the Gackt side was speaking in interviews and putting out books, where the Malice Mizer side was at a disadvantage. That since they did not do anything to talk about it, the situation was misunderstood because there wasn't information released. Mana said it was not his intention to continue things that were not true. So he thought it would be good to move on, "shed the past things into the water". He thought it would be nice to be onstage as an artist.

Asked if it would be with Gackt, Mana replied that the mind and circumstances of people will gradually change over time, that ten years had passed so things will fade away like heartburn. In the first place, he acknowledged the talent of Gackt as part of Malice Mizer. Because Gackt joined they were able to expand theatrically and be more effective. (It was previously mentioned their major debut allowed them to go to France to have photographs taken and shoot a promotional video, Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Shunkan no Naka de~ de L'image.)

The interviewer asked "So you contacted Gackt?" Mana replied that since they had no contact since his sudden departure and withdraw from Malice Mizer, even though he did not have a way to contact him, Mana made up his mind to call him.

Mana spoke of the rumor that has gone on since Gackt left. That Malice Mizer would not do a comeback because he as leader of the group never forgave Gackt. Mana said that as for what is real and what isn't, he thinks there are some people who understand. That some of the music magazines asked for their thoughts and feelings at the time of Gackt leaving (this is true, there is at least one interview with the band at that time. I plan on posting something about that).

Mana did call Gackt in 2011. He met with Gackt, gathered the other members and they even went to dinner. They discussed Gackt participating in the 20th anniversary show. Back when Malice Mizer was active, they were planning on performing at Tokyo Dome following the live at Yokohama Arena in 1998. Mana had hoped they could trying to do something like that for the anniversary. They had started working out the plan, meeting with staff and it was going well. Then circumstances changed and Gackt could no longer do it. Since they ended up not being able to do the kind of show they wanted for the 20th anniversary, Mana decided to do something special for the 25th anniversary.

Mana contacted everyone who was a former member and roadies and asked them to appear. While he called out to everyone, there were people who could not be contacted by any means (most likely a reference to Klaha, who has gone from public life to private). Sakura-kun (ZIGZO etc.) who was a sensei of Kami will play drums. Kamijo and Hitomi were very pleased to be asked to perform.

The interviewer mentioned she saw Mana's birthday shows in March and had the impression that a lot of the Malice Mizer era fans are still fans. She asked Mana what did he think was the secret that continued this? Mana said perhaps it is because he does not change in what he does. That it is only him. She asked if he thought about changing, taking in new things? He replied that he does not and mentioned his wearing make-up for the shows, that he never did one with out it. (In other words, don't expect Mana to not dress-up for his shows. I wonder if this is a reference to the trend of older musicians making comebacks but not wearing the same kind of outfits and make-up, groups like X-Japan.)

Mana is asked what he thinks is interesting and the interviewer refers to various photographs taken during the Malice Mizer era. Where he was dressed in a motorcycle riding jacket next to a motorcycle, took photos with kids at a kindergarten, and various other shots. He replied that now there is a solid image of medieval Europe and gothic books, although his interests are wide. (Mana may have been referring to the image he has created since Malice Mizer, with his band Moi dix Mois.) He said there is always a desire to constantly surprise fans. He would like to challenge a variety of things, so it is a matter of what those would be.

Asked what is popular with him, Mana replied that it is music. That he can not change the music in any way that he has been doing for 25 years. That is okay to do whatever you do, if you defend it. She asked about the music with Moi dix Mois. Mana said that the atmosphere of the songs are like Malice Mizer and so that has not changed. That he is ready to keep doing this music without bending. It is meaningless for him if music and visual are not fused.

Mana is asked that the fans continue to love Mana, but when he looks back on his life so far, when is it that he thinks he is happy? His reply was that his music life, was not it a series of accidents? That if one thinks so, that he is still well behaved. It may be different from happiness. He mentioned how many of the vocalists have changed, which is not that unusual. Asked how many were there, Mana lists them in order. With Malice Mizer there was Tetsu, Gackt and Klaha. He laughed and said he is adding himself before Klaha since he did the vocals on ”再会の血と薔薇" . With Moi dix Mois there was Juka and now Seth. He said there are mountains and valleys but he appreciates that each singer always supported him.

The interviewer closes with saying even though Mana and the world he creates have not changed much, that it still attracts a lot of fans. Mana said that because the music and world he wants to express are hardened in him, there is no way to deviate to a side street. There is always a feeling that he wants to protect this world, this world that comes from him. From now on, because he will keep his music and world forever, he wants people to follow him.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Part One of Rock and Read's Interview with Mana

I know this isn't what I usually do with my blog. Rock and Read music magazine in Japan did a long interview with Mana, leader of Moi dix Mois and founder of the band Malice Mizer. I ended up ordering a copy from Kinokuniya (link here for their online store). I had hoped that since some had the magazine for a little while that an English translation would show up online before I got my copy. Except for one or two sections, nothing as of the time I am writing this. So I ended up doing my first long translation. Since I am not a translator, I feel it would be a disservice to put my rough work online. Instead I am going to write up a synopsis of the interview so at least people will have an idea of what it is about. Some of what was said in the interview was a little difficult to get a definite translation so if there was an error, すみません. I hope that what I write is accurate and if I find later on that something was different I will update these posts.

Since even my synopsis is long, I decided to break it up. So this is the first part. I also apologize for not having the name of the interviewer at this time. She has worked in music magazines for several years and attended Malice Mizer shows. So here is part one of this interview about Malice Mizer and the upcoming 25th Anniversary show, Deep Sanctuary VI.

To start with, Mana was asked if people still say they love Malice Mizer today. It makes him happy that they do. He mentioned that people who worked with them as roadies did so because they were touched by Malice Mizer and that some of them will be performing at the Anniversary show, Shuuji (Cali Gari/ Goatbed), Kamijo (Versailles) and Hitomi (ex-Moran, UmiYuri).

Mana talked about how around the time Malice Mizer was formed, Visual Kei music was just beginning to take shape. While some bands did have different visual and performance aspects, Mana wanted to take it further with Malice Mizer. By having parts where guitarists danced without their instruments, the twin guitar style he created with his fellow band member Közi where they purposely did not play normal rock guitar but instead created a sound like classical harpsichords.

The interviewer asked about Mana's music teacher father. He spoke about how there was classical music playing in his house all the time. He doesn't know if it is related to that but he likes church and mass songs and the pipe organ. He wanted to create songs like this. To do this they used guitar synths.  He spoke about the difficulty using them but they could get various sounds like violins from it. He was asked why not use a keyboard. He said it was a strange thing in him that he did not want to put a keyboard in a rock band. Even though there are many rock bands that have keyboards, he never made the choice to do it.

Malice Mizer staging was discussed. Mana wanted to have the image of medieval Europe so along with the stage sets, songs and costumes were given story characteristics also. He wanted to be productive with the theatrical elements. They used to have to start their shows early, be the opening act in order to decorate their sets. There were issues sometimes with gold powder that would stick to fans' faces and fake blood that got on people. So they had to make sure there were tarps down and clean up afterwards.

Not having much of a budget they would try to make as much as they could. Yu~ki, the bassist, made the coffin he would come out of on stage. Kami, their drummer, used welded pipe as an instrument in (N.p.s.N..s), Mana remembered being outside in the cold making items.

They had to use two cars to get around to venues because of the sets. Since they did not have money, they got a used car from an acquaintance of Kami. Mana went to Ibaraki to get it. He opened the door and there was a nasty odor, turns out there was something rotting inside. Even cleaning it would not remove the smell. The car for the set also had broken air conditioner. Tetsu, the first lead singer, chose to go in that car because he didn't want air conditioning for his throat. In summer. Mana said when they were next to the car they could see Tetsu sweat coming off of him like a waterfall.

One of the stage sets was so large it would not all fit in Mana's room. He didn't think of finding a warehouse he could borrow space at, so he tried to hide the Parthanon pillars in his apartment parking.

Mana moved on to talk about Tetsu. At the beginning Mana and Közi played guitar but he wanted to do more, move around, create sounds like an orchestra. When Tetsu joined the band he said it looks interesting but after about two years Tetsu's direction with music differed from Mana, who said his own musicality became active during that time. (Tetsu left the band in Dec, 1994).

As for the other band members, Közi was positive about the direction, saying he wanted to do it if it looks interesting. Yu~ki said he didn't want to dance much but he did want to do theater. Kami wanted to try new things, even as they wrote more songs that did not have drum parts. They all worked on doing interesting things, with Közi and Mana getting up at 5 am to go to a park to practice dancing. There was a building there with reflective windows so a lot of people would go there to practice dancing. Mana said he wanted to do both theater and dance.

Mana mentioned how he originally aimed to be a part of Johnny's agency. The interviewer was surprised. When he was in junior high Johnny's dance felt very intense. He was a lively sports boy, also practiced basketball every day. Perhaps because Malice Mizer seems to be a literary band, people see Mana as someone who read books a lot. But being active made him feel it was acceptable for him to dance in Malice Mizer. To think he would be able to use in Malice Mizer something he practiced every day as a junior high school student.

At first, it was a pretty weird air at Malice Mizer lives because there weren't other bands where the musicians were dancing and doing plays, without using their instruments. But Mana was serious about working to make a view of the world of medieval Europe. With the major debut, Mana was working to make Malice Mizer's final form, to make it even more flashy. Even though this was contrary to how when ordinary rock bands have a major debut, which they tend to be styled to the needs of the record company. Mana disliked that. He did work with a variety of record companies but Nippon Columbia told him he could do whatever he wanted. Other companies told them otherwise, like they should drop their make-up. Mana said perhaps it was because there weren't many prior examples of bands doing fancy costumes and make-up and trying to sell themselves to a major label at that time. He did not intend to change what he was doing, but he also did not know anything about major label missions. He did not think Malice Mizer would sell if they became an ordinary rock band.

Because they signed with a major, they could do larger performances and direction. Mana believed the band could be successful, the ultimate art group going beyond the boundaries of bands and could be sent out to the world. Even so, the base must be the music, the concept and goodness of the song, and he believed Malice Mizer's music was good. From the beginning with the Memoire album with Tetsu as vocalist, making strongly built musical pieces was an absolute requirement.

So what makes a good song? Mana said he does not have a theory for it. He threw away the definition of rock and never really thought about what was common in music for selling it. He did not learn music theory so he can not write a score. He creates songs by feeling the sounds he hears while working on a keyboard. He does it all, arrange and so on. He composes with with a world view. Perhaps, he said, he was influenced by the classical music that always played at his parents' house. He was not interested in it as a child but it may be that he absorbed the complex orchestration sounds there. He also incorporated French pop and bossa nova which are not used by the usual rock bands. He was looking for beautiful, awesome, brilliant and graceful sounds.

The interviewer spoke about how Visual Kei became public back then, a music boom. She asked Mana how was that? He said that he felt the bands then made their own boom, instead of it just happening naturally. One thing he wanted to then was to combine music with a two-dimensional world like animation. Then they were two separate genres and the fans of each did not coexist (in Japan). That Malice Mizer was like a group that came out of anime, so he wanted to attract people who liked that to Visual Kei. The interviewer said he had foresight since this sort of thing is now commonplace. Mana replied that he was only faithfully expressing the world he wanted to show. Not like he was feeling like a creator for the future. He was not doing it to create a boom or to sell something, but he wanted to make a new culture that did not exist before. This included starting his fashion brand Moi-même-Moitié, combining elegant lolita with gothic fashion.


Thursday, May 10, 2018

Sitaara Curry at Ueno Station

 I've been looking forward to writing about Sitaara Diner. Still the same day I was walking around Ueno Park in the rain, ice and snow. I was cold and a little drenched so I headed to Ueno Station looking for a place to eat lunch. When I saw this little Indian diner.

Outside they had colorful samosas, naan bread and more displayed. Checking their signs I saw they had vegetable curry. I figure it would be just the thing to warm me up.

Like a lot of places at train stations, inside the diner was really small. I ordered at the counter. The staff spoke English, Japanese and probably a few other languages. 

Very small seating area, maybe twenty people could squeeze in here? Maybe less? 

My receipt as I waited for my food. If you can read Japanese you will know what all I ordered. 

If not, here is my lunch. Cabbage salad that seems to be standard in Japan, spiced vegetables, gelatin, vegetable curry and a giant garlic naan bread. 

Did I mention that because the Ueno Zoo has panda bears there are panda bears in many places in Ueno? Sitaara branded their naan bread with a panda bear image. 

As to the food, I could have just eaten that vegetable curry with the garlic naan and been happy. This was one delicious bowl of spices and pieces of different vegetables including lotus root. I was impressed by how well made it was. If I ever get a chance to stop in again, I will. And they also have a place in Shinagawa Station. I was happy to get my curry fix and even more so that it was so delicious.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Visiting with Benzaiten in Ueno

I wasn't done with visiting places in Ueno Park. Even with the bad weather. Because I wanted to see the island. Which is in the middle of Shinobazu Pond. To get there one has to cross this long bridge. As you can see, preparations for the Ueno Sakura Matsuri were happening. 

 The bridge led to this. Bentendo Temple, a Buddhist temple dedicated to Benzaiten.

The prayer ema were in the shape of biwa, a type of lute, for Benzaiten is a goddess of things that flow. As in music and water. Which is why you will find a water feature at her shines, or surrounding them like this temple located on a man-made island Bentenjima in Shinobazu Pond.

The back of Bentendo Temple. It really is a remarkable building, rebuilt in 1958 after the war. I'd like to see it again someday in better weather and without all the festival stuff around it.

Near Bentendo Temple is another Buddhist temple,  Ooyukadendou. Now this may be related to Benzaiten because she is one of the Seven Lucky Gods and this temple is dedicated to Daikokuten who is also one of the Seven Lucky Gods. Daikokuten is a god of fortune. 

Even with the inclement weather, Shinobazu Pond still had lovely features. This sakura floating on the water.

Reeds that would become green and bloom with lotus flowers.

Birds like this lovely Little Egret. It was exciting to see another one after seeing one at Hibiya Park. Even more so because this bird came even closer to me, standing just below me in the water.

Also on the island were sakura trees.

Beautifully blooming behind Benzaiten's temple.

As it was still raining with snow and ice, it was difficult to take photos without spots from the rain. But I had to try.

I did go in and make an offering and a prayer and bought a little charm for myself. I don't know if Benzaiten-sama answered my prayer. I hope so.

There is still one more place I went to in Ueno. I hope to get that post up tomorrow. Thank you for reading!

Monday, May 7, 2018

Gojoten and Hanazono Shrines in Ueno Park

Since I made the effort to be out in the rainy, icy, snowy weather, I decided I wanted to visit a shrine or two. One was on my list but before I made it there, these red torii caught my attention. 

I'd always wanted to walk through a row of torii like this.  

To have this many meant the shrine here was special to people. 

Red torii also means it's an Inari Okami Shinto shrine.


 And of course, there are foxes.


 This shrine area is interesting because there are a number of pathways and different little shrines hidden away. However the main Inari shrine Haiden is easy to find.

And the fox messengers here are cute. 

 One had a cub, a symbol of fertility while the other had what looked like a large jewel under it's paw. This is a common symbol with Inari, a jewel that grants wishes.

While Hanazono Inari Shrine has been here for some time, the Gojoten Shrine has only been around for about 1900 years or so. It was moved into this location in 1928. This building is the Honden where the Kami are enshrined.  

 The purification Chozuya resembles a lotus flower.

 The Gojoten Haiden, with large stone lanterns and komainu.

A look at one of the komainu. 

A look back with a sakura tree about to burst into bloom. If the weather had not been so bad, I would have spent more time looking around and taking photos. But this was not the end of my visit to Ueno Park.