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Yanaka Images 16 images Created 22 Aug 2016

Many visitors to Tokyo do not realize that beyond the city's shiny architecture there are neighborhoods unchanged from a century ago. Yanaka is one of these neighborhoods, lovingly referred to by the Japanese as shitamachi or downtown. Like most shitamachi neighborhoods, Yamaka is a low-rise, almost rural place that makes Tokyo lovable and livable, taking us back to another slower and friendlier era.
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  • Kannon-ji temple's Tsuji-bei wall was built in the Edo era. The wall was constructed by alternately pilling mud and tiles, and then putting roof tiles along the top. The wall encloses Kanonji Temple in Yanaka, and is one of Yanaka Tokyo's main sights.
    tsuji-bei-wall-13.jpg
  • Tokyo National Museum Garden adds seasonal color to Ueno as it is abloom with flowers each season. During short periods in spring and autumn it is open to the public. Five historic teahouses are the highlight of the garden - and are available for tea ceremony and other events by booking in advance.
    tokyo-national-museum-garden-10.jpg
  • The Asakura Museum of Sculpture is known as Asakura Choso Museum in Japanese is the former studio of sculptor Fumio Asakura in Yanaka Tokyo. . The Museum features many of Asakura’ssculptures  as well as paintings and pottery.  Asakura would wander Tokyo sketching animals, as he could not afford models as a student.  This is reflected in his numerous sculptures of cats.        Asakura set up a studio in his Yanaka house in 1908 and set about expanding the place little by little, selecting materials and providing the concepts for the architecture and layout himself. <br />
Asakura Museum of Sculpture facade is modern which belies its traditional interior.  The Japanese part of the building served as the artist's residence.  Other rooms contain artifacts  such as Japanese ceramics and calligraphy.
    asakura-museum-2.jpg
  • Facing the other side of Kannon-ji temple's Tsuji-bei wall, which is a mud wall built during the Edo Period, a second wall is on the other side of the road to compliment Tsuji-bei Wall.  Although composed of different elements and colors, it coordinates well with the other side.   The wall encloses Kanonji Temple in Yanaka.
    tsuji-bei-wall-9.jpg
  • Senbei is a Japanese rice cracker that come in various sizes, shapes, and flavors, and usually cooked by being baked or grilled while brushed with soy sauce.  Certain types of sembei are wrapped in seaweed or nori.
    sembei-shop-1.jpg
  • Nezu Shrine Azalea Garden - Nezu Shrine is without a doubt most famous for its unique undulating azalea garden built along hills and trails. It is planted with more than 3000 azaleas of over 100 species.  Next to the Azalea Garden or Tsutsumi Teien, pathways tunnel through hundreds of torii or shrine arches.  Nezu Shrine was established more than 1900 years ago and is therefore one of Tokyo’s most important and historic Shinto shrines.
    nezu-shrine-garden-1.jpg
  • Downtown Shitamachi - Shibamata is famous as the home of Tora-san, the lead character in the movie franchise Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo "It's Tough Being a Man" about the adventures of Tora-san, a salesman who explores travels a modernizing Japan, forever falling in love with the wrong people. Tora-san was played by actor Atsumi Kiyoshi.  There is a statue of Tora-san in front of Shibamata Station, and the shopping street leading to Taishakuten Temple has an ample array of mochi shops, all claiming to be the one featured in the movies.
    shitamachi-4.jpg
  • Ueno Sakuragi Atari is a unique multiple purpose  community in Yanaka.  It is composed of Yanaka Beer Hall, Salt & Olive Restaurant, Kayaba Bakery a gift shop and a restored home that can be used for relaxing.  The entire alleyway and houses that make up the commmunity has been restored and has become a popular destination for visitors to Yanaka.
    ueno-sakuragi-atari-5.jpg
  • Daibutsu Big Buddha at Tennoji Yanaka - Tennoji is the oldest of the many temples in Yanaka Tokyo founded in 1274. It is a temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism.  The focal point of the temple grounds is the large,  bronze Big Buddha several centuries old.  The large, bronze, seated image of Buddha was constructed by Ota Kyuemon in 1690 and is called Tennoji Daibutsu by locals. Tennoji began life in 1274 as Choyosankannoji-sonjuuin temple.  Much of the temple was destroyed during the civil war of 1868,
    tennoji-yanaka-02.jpg
  • The Shitamachi Museum Yanaka Annex is housed in a century-old liquor shop which was in business until 1986.  It was restored to its original state with sake barrels, weights, measures and retro posters adding a perfect accent to Yanaka.  When it was still in business, it was the Yoshida Sake Store. It was built in 1920 and its long eaves are characteristic of Tokyo merchant buildings of the time.
    shitamachi-museum-yanaka-5.jpg
  • Ema Votive Shop Yanaka - Ema are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The votive tablets or ema are then left hanging up at the shrine where the spirits or gods receive them. They usually bear various pictures of animals or other Shinto imagery and many have the word gan'i meaning "wish" written along the side.
    placards-yanaka-2.jpg
  • Yanaka Cemetery - The vast cemetery surrounding Tennoji Temple is a favorite spot for cherry blossom viewing in April and maple leaf viewing in November.  Many of the tombs are elaborately decorated and thougtfully landscaped, paths are well kept and wide.  On the edges of the cemetery farmhouses that resemble garden supply shops are to be found, they are however, for visitors to buy flowers, buckets. brooms  and other gardening utensils to tidy up their loved ones graves.
    yanaka-cemetery-5.jpg
  • Yanaka Rickshaw with Sakura or cherry blossoms overhead - A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is called sakura in Japanese.  Japan has a wide variety of cherry blossoms with well over 200 types can be found there.[ The most popular variety of cherry blossom in Japan is the Somei Yoshino. Its flowers are nearly white, tinged with the palest pink, and bloom and fall within a week, before the leaves come out.
    japanese-rickshaw-1.jpg
  • "Jizo" images and statues are popular in Japan as Bodhisattva who console beings awaiting rebirth as well as comfort for travelers. As such they are often found along roadsides, paths or even street corners. The jizos in this image are at Yanaka Cemetery.
    tennoji-yanaka-11.jpg
  • One of Japan's most crowded, noisy and popular cherry blossom spots, Ueno Park features more than 1000 trees along the street leading towards the National Museum and around Shinobazu Pond. Rather than the poetic, quiet, contemplative scene that one might expect, the sake-fueled revelry goes into the night with companies celebrating springtime with karaoke sessions in this type of hanami or cherry blossom viewing party.
    ueno-park-sakura-3.jpg
  • In the past, people brought straw sandals or waraji as offerings to temples, in hope of having healthy feet or to receive travel protection from the temple. Even though Japanese rarely wear waraji sandals anymore with the exception of a few monks, the custom still exists.  Naritasan Shinshoji is one of the most important Buddhist temples in the Tokyo area, and the Head of the Chisan Shingon Buddhism sect.
    waraji.jpg