A quick Trip to the Shrine

Today we headed out to Kiyomi's favorite shrine and had our Yearly blessing in Shinjuku. The shrine is about a ten minute walk from Shinjuku station, on the edge of Nishi Shinjuku Koen (西新宿公園 - park = koen). It is a small little park, but a nice bit of green in the middle of a bunch of hi-rise buildings that make up the Nishi Shinjuku area. The park was fairly busy as there was a flea market, and the usual crowd of people hanging out. (Actually the park is a little famous for its homeless, although seemed to be far less than Ueno.)The Nishi Shinjuku area is pretty much a creation of the bubble period Japan, and formed a more business district than the opposing side of the station that is more notable for its shops and restaurants.

Dominating the view of Nishi Shinjuku (and also the park) is the Tokyo City Hall. Actually Tokyo is not really one city, and is a group of Wards (known as "ku" here) and a couple of cities (I think four but can only name too - same with Kiyomi). The head guy that is elected is not a Mayor, but a Governor. The current Tokyo Governor is Shintaro Ishihara and is known throughout Japan, and sometimes Asia to be an outspoken politician. Sometimes I like what he does/says, other times not as keen. This giant set of buildings seen in the picture to the right are where the city is run from. It is pretty impressive and there is a nice free viewing area to check out the city. Definitely something visitors should do as it is free and then you can head into Shinjuku.

This is a view of the shrine that we went to visit. You enter a Shrine via the front gate (or Torii in Japanese). This Torii is a little bland in my mind being made of concrete, not the more traditional wood. As said before you can see that Nishi Shinjuku was created more or less during the 80's and 90's, even when you look at its more "traditional" aspects. Behind this Torii you can see the tall buildings which house the Grand Hyatt Shinjuku, famous as the back drop for the movie Lost in Translation. The bar in the movie is also in the Hotel and is supposed to be great (although expensive). The restaurant is always picked as one of the best in Tokyo. If you have some cash to throw around head out to New York Grill.... I am told you will be pleased.

Here is the actually building for the Shrine that we went to. The same Shinto Priest has been doing the ceremony for us for about three years now. We went for the first time together the January after we got married. They started to recognize us and remember... The ceremony is kind of neat, and glad to do it. Hey whatever keeps the wife happy right??? Afterwards a bit of shopping around the stores in Shinjuku and headed home quite beat.