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Before heading back to the hotel yesterday, we stopped at FamilyMart to
buy breakfast for today. We avoided the 7-Eleven downstairs – didn't
fancy
another unpleasant encounter... |
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I'm a big fan of plain cake, no cream, things like sponge,
Castella, walnut cake and the like. At home in the UK, I always keep
Madeleine – little shell cakes. I spotted Madeleine at FamilyMart
yesterday, but they weren't the traditional shape: the shell was styled
like a scallop, quite cute! I picked some up for breakfast today. |
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The texture wasn't like the slightly sticky traditional kind, and there
was no almond note. It was more like a walnut cake – minus the walnuts. |
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Today's breakfast – Madeleine (shell cake) |
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Madeleine as you usually find them in Europe |
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Toei Subway Ôedo Line train: Toei
Transportation Class 12-600 fleet |
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The Ôedo Line is laid out like the character
'6'. Shinjuku-Nishiguchi and Shinjuku sit just before the
junction at Tochômae |
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After a quick cake in the room, we set off for our first stop of the day
– Tokyo Tower. The plan was to take the Toei Subway Ôedo Line (大江戸線) from
Shinjuku station to Akabanebashi (赤羽橋).
But when we reached the platform and glanced at the route map, we
realised we were actually at Shinjuku-Nishiguchi (新宿西口)
station, not Shinjuku! The Shinjuku station cluster is probably the
easiest place to get turned around outside Tokyo station. Although Toei
Shinjuku-Nishiguchi and JR Shinjuku are linked by a subway (underpass),
it's still a fair walk. Confusingly, Shinjuku-Nishiguchi lines up with
Tokyo Metro Shinjuku station instead – no wonder your brain gets
scrambled by the names. |
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The Ôedo Line isn't a classic loop; it's shaped like a character '6'.
Shinjuku and Shinjuku-Nishiguchi sit on different branches just before
the node at Tochômae (都庁前,
literally 'in front of Metropolitan Government Building'). In the end, we
rode one stop to Tochômae, crossed the concourse to the opposite
platform, and changed for the Roppongi (六本木)/
Daimon (大門) direction –
eight stops in total, costs JP¥220. |
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It's about 600 metres from Akabanebashi to Tokyo Tower, with a bit of an
uphill stretch, so allow 10-15 minutes on foot. Skytree has probably
pulled away a lot of visitors these days. Even on a Saturday, it felt
fairly quiet – almost forlorn. But as a first-time visitor to Tokyo, I
still find Tokyo Tower more iconic than Skytree. |
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Tokyo Tower (東京タワー),
its official name is Japan Radio Tower (日本電波塔,
though no one calls it that). Modelled on the Eiffel Tower, it was built
in 1957 and opened on 23rd December 1958, just before Christmas. At 333
metres, it was then the tallest self-supported steel tower. These days
it ranks third, after Tokyo Skytree and Canton Tower (廣州塔). |
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Beneath the tower is a five-storey base called FOOT TOWN, extensively
refurbished in 2000. The first floor (ground) has ticketing for the
observatories, lift lobbies and coin lockers; the second floor is for
souvenir shops and eateries; the third floor houses the official Tokyo
Tower shop and special exhibition spaces. The esports/VR centre RED°
TOKYO TOWER is also inside FOOT TOWN – parts of the first and third
floors and all of the fourth and fifth. |
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On the tower itself there are two observation options: the MAIN DECK at
150 metres (two levels), and the TOP DECK TOUR at 250 metres. Tickets:
MAIN DECK only JP¥1,500; MAIN DECK + TOP DECK TOUR JP¥3,300 online or
JP¥3,500 at the counter. There's also the TOKYO DIAMOND TOUR – includes
the VIP room, both decks, a guided tour and a photo and, costs JP¥7,000. |
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Lift lobby in the base of Tokyo Tower |
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We skipped the observatiories as we were thinking of going to SHIBUYA
SKY later (in the end we didn't). As Japan's 'radio tower', Tokyo
Tower's real job was to broadcast TV and radio for the Kantô region, and
it also carries weather instruments and wireless communications gear for
emergency use. With the move to digital broadcasting, transmitters
needed to be higher and cover a wider area; plus, new high-rises around
the tower started to block signals. Hence Skytree was built to take
over. |
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Although broadcasting has moved to Skytree, Tokyo Tower still keeps its
equipment as backup. Its most recognisable feature is the colour scheme
– red and white, but it's not the Japanese national flag's colour; the
'red' is actually International Orange. Because it sits under Haneda's
flight paths, the tower has to be painted in high-visibility
International Orange and white to meet Japan's Aviation Law and ICAO
standards. |
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Mario Kart on the road again |
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Looking back at Tokyo Tower |
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After Tokyo Tower we walked over to
Zôjôji (増上寺)
temple,
next door. Zôjôji is the main Jôdo (Pure Land Buddhism) temple in the
Kantô region. Its full name is San'enzan Kôdokuin Zôjôji (三縁山 広度院 増上寺),
and its principal icon is Amitâbha (阿弥陀如来).
It was founded in 1393 by the 8th Jôdo patriarch Yûyo Shôsô (酉誉聖聰)
at Kaizuka in Toshimago, Musashi (today's Hirakawachô, Chiyoda), so it's
over 600 years old. Zôjôji has deep ties to the Tokugawa shogunate and
was one of the largest temples in Japan in the Edo period. |
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Entering from the north, the first building you see is
Ankokuden (安国殿).
On 10th March 1945, the Bombing of Tokyo destroyed much of Zôjôji: the
Main Hall, the Tokugawa mausolea and many other structures. A temporary
main hall was built. After the new Main Hall was completed, the
temporary one was moved north and renamed Ankokuden, after TOKUGAWA
Ieyasu's prayer for 'a peaceful and flourishing state'. It was rebuilt
in 2011 to mark the 800th memorial of Hônen (法然),
founder of the Jôdo school. Inside is a secret statue known as the 'Hakuhonzon' (黒本尊). |
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Path towards the Tokugawa mausoleum |
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Sentai Kosodate Jizô Bosatsu
(The thousand Jizô bodhisattva for children) |
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Walking along the north side, you'll soon notice rows of
small Jizô statues wearing knitted caps. These are the
Sentai Kosodate Jizô Bosatsu (千躰子育地蔵菩薩),
'a thousand child-protecting Jizô'. Families donate a statue to pray for
children's health and safe birth, or to mourn mizuko (lost or stillborn
babies). There are about 1,300 statues in total, each with a cap, bib
and a little pinwheel – symbols of love and protection. Visitors: please
don't touch the statues. |
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Soon after TOKUGAWA Ieyasu (徳川 家康)
took control of the Kantô region in 1590, Zôjôji was
chosen as the Tokugawa family temple. Ieyasu is said to have greatly
revered the then abbot Gen'yo Sonnô (源誉存応).
The temple moved to its present site at Shiba (芝)
in 1958. Under Ieyasu's patronage after the shogunate was founded,
Zôjôji flourished. Sonnô received the imperial title Fukô Kanchi Kokushi
(普光観智国師) and the purple
robe (the highest rank of vestment, akin to a cardinal in Catholic
terms). When Ieyasu died in 1616, his funeral was held here according to
his wishes. |
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Tokugawa family cemetery (the shoguns' mausoleum) |
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Saikô Kanzeon Bosatsudô (The Hall of
West-facing Kannon) |
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Beyond the Jizô stands the
Tokugawa Shoguns' Cemetery (徳川将軍家墓所).
The original mausolea once stood north and south of the grounds – now
Shiba Park and the Prince Hotel sites. Six shoguns are buried here:
Hidetada (秀忠, 2nd),
Ienobu (家宣, 6th),
Ietsugu (家継, 7th),
Ieshige (家重, 9th),
Ieyoshi (家慶, 12th),
Iemochi (家茂, 14th),
together with wives, concubines and children – 38 in all. The mausolea
were destroyed in the Bombing of Tokyo, the site lay neglected for
years, and in 1958 the remains (original interred in the mausolea) were
cremated and re-enshrined in the present cemetery. It's open to the
public (closed Tuesdays), cost JP¥500. |
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On the way back we noticed a small hall beside the Jizô – the Saikô
Kanzeon Bosatsudô (西向観世音菩薩堂,
the Hall of West-facing Kannon). Legend says the original statue was
enshrined in a small hall at the site where Tokyo Tower now stands,
hence 'Kannon Hill', and faced west towards the Kamakura Kaidô (鎌倉街道,
roughly today's Roppongi). The statue was moved to Ankokuden in 1975,
and this hall was built in 1980. Like the Jizô, the West-facing Kannon
is prayed to for children's health and safe delivery, so worshippers
often visit both. |
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Tokyo Tower may have been quiet, but Zôjôji was heaving. A long queue
formed outside the Daiden (大殿,
Main Hall), with people waiting to pay their respects. The wartime-lost
hall was rebuilt in 1974 in a modern style and once again serves as the
head temple's main practice hall – one of the largest in the capital
region. Up the stone steps, visitors enter the second floor main worship
space: in the centre sits the Muromachi-period statue of Amitâbha,
flanked by Shan-tao (善導, the Tang Chinese master) and Hônen, founder of
the Jôdo school. |
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Above, the third floor holds another practice hall; the ground is for
reception. In the basement, the Zôjôji Treasures Gallery (増上寺宝物展示室)
displays temple artefacts. The star exhibit is a model of the Taitokuin
Mausoleum (台徳院霊廟, for
Hidetada), made by the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University
of the Arts) and gifted to King George V after the 1910 Japan-Britain
Exhibition. It was shown at Kew Gardens, London and later kept in the
Royal Collection. Through the British Embassy, the Royal Household
agreed to a long-term loan to Zôjôji, and it has been on public display
since 2015. |
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Queues for charms were as long as for the Main Hall. Besides the
original counter at Ankokuden, the temple had set up a temporary marquee
in the forecourt just for omamori (お守)
and goshuin (temple's stamp), and it was packed. I didn't go in to pray,
but I did buy a 'victory & good fortune' charm as a keepsake. We'd
entered from the north and left via the main approach. At the bottom of
the steps, the Bell Tower is on the left and the Water Pavilion (chôzuya)
on the right. |
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The
Bell Tower (鐘楼堂)
dates to 1633; it too was lost in the Bombing of Tokyo and rebuilt after
the war, The great bell is enormous and took seven castings to complete,
in 1673. Together with those of Sensôji (浅草寺)
and Kan'eiji (寬永寺), it's
one of Edo's three famous bells. In Edo times it was struck three times
a day; now it rings at 05:30 and 17:00. On New Year's Eve, the Joya no
Kane (除夜の鐘, 108 tolls)
is a major event: the first toll is around 23:45, reaching 107 before
midnight, and the 108th at 00:00, symbolically dispelling the 108
earthly desires of Buddhism. |
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Opposite the Bell Tower is the
Water Pavilion (水盤舎,
Chôzuya). Many visitors assume it's just a standard hand-washing basin,
but it has its own story. It originally stood at the Seiyôin Mausoleum (清揚院霊廟)
behind the Main Hall (roughly where today's Meitoku Nursery sits).
Unlike other mausolea destroyed in the Bombing of Tokyo, Seiyôin had
already fallen into ruin in the Meiji era. This pavilion is one of the
few surviving relics of the Tokugawa mausolea and was moved here is
March 1978 to serve as Zôjôji's chôzuya. |
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Seiyôin was the tomb of TOKUGAWA Tsunashige (徳川
綱重), unusual in being a full mausoleum for a non-shogun.
Tsunashige was the third son of
Iemitsu (家光, 3rd
shogun). After
Iemitsu, the eldest son
Ietsuna (家綱)
became shogun; he died without an heir. Tsunashige had predeceased him,
so the office passed to the fourth son
Tsunayoshi (綱吉).
The son of
Tsunayoshi, Tokumatsu (徳松)
died young, so Tsunashige's son
Ienobu became the 6th shogun (see lineage below). After his
succesion, Tsunashige's remains were moved from Koishikawa Denzûin (小石川伝通院)
to the newly built Seiyôin Mausoleum at Zôjôji, and he was posthumously
granted the honorary title of Shogun. |
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Tokugawa shogunal lineage (3rd to 6th) |
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Sangedatsumon (the main gate) |
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We left Zôjôji through the
Sangedatsumon (三解脫門,
literally 'Gate of Three Liberations'). It's one of the oldest buildings
in Tokyo and the largest temple gate in eastern Japan. 'Sangedatsu'
(three liberations) refers to the Buddhist gates of emptiness,
formlessness and desirelessness – paths to release from suffering. The
gate was built by the shogunate's chief carpenter NAKAI Masakiyo (中井 正清)
in 1611, collapsed in strong winds in 1621, and was rebuilt the
following year. It's the only large structure in the temple to survive
the Bombing of Tokyo and retains its early-Edo appearance. In 2017 it
was designated a National Important Cultural Property. |
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Architecturally, it's a two-storey, triple-bay gate with an irimoya (入母屋造)
roof, painted vermilion – mainly in the Tang style with some Japanese
elements. The second storey is closed to the public and houses statues
of the Avatamsaka Trinity (釈迦三尊,
Shakyamuni with attendants) and the Sixteen Arhats (十六羅漢).
Passing through symbolises invoking Amitâbha's name, forming a bond with
him and casting off greed, anger and ignorance on the path to the Pure
Land. Ironically, modern society seems to run on those very impulses –
unless you get to Pure Land (the heaven) early, peace is hard to come
by... sorry for the blunt realism! |
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Zôjôji Daimon (Great Gate). Note the place name
on the road sign – Shibadaimon |
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Whether or not you find enlightenment beyond the gate is another matter,
but Zôjôji undoubtedly offers a peaceful breather in the busy city
centre. About 200 metres straight ahead across the street stands the
Daimon (Great Gate), formerly one of Edo Castle's main gates.
When the castle was expanded and Zôjôji moved to this site, TOKUGAWA
Ieyasu donated the gate to serve as the temple's gate. The original
collapsed in the 1923 earthquake; the current gate was rebuilt in 1937
in reinforced concrete. |
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The area around Zôjôji and Tokyo Tower is called Shiba (芝),
meaning 'grassland'. In the days of former Tokyo City there was a Shiba
Ward (芝区). This ward was
later merged with the Wards of Akasaka (赤坂)
and Azabu (麻布) to form
today's Minato City (港区),
The former towns of Shiba Ward were then given the prefix 'Shiba'. For
example, the old neighbourhood of Daimon is now called Shibadaimon. |
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Tsukijishijô station, the sub-name '朝日新聞社前'
is shown in Japanese only |
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'Back to where I started' – from Daimon we took the Toei Subway Ôedo
Line to Tsukiji Shijô station. I did this route eight days ago when I
first arrived Tokyo: Haneda Airport on the Tokyo Monorail to
Hamamatsuchô, the Ôedo Line from Daimon to Tsukiji Shijô to check in at
the hotel. (Why that route? I've explained in an
earlier article.) |
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Daimon to Tsukiji Shijô is only two stops, and costs JP¥178. I hadn't
noticed before, but Tsukiji Shijô's sub-name is 'Asahi Shimbunsha Mae' (朝日新聞社前,
literally 'in front of Asahi Shimbun Building) – as soon as you pop out
of Exit A3, there it is. Walk five minutes the other way and you reach
Tsukiji Outer Market (築地場外市場). |
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The Asahi Shimbun Tokyo headquarter |
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Tsukiji's wholesale market (inner market) moved to Toyosu in 2018,
leaving only the outer market behind. The inner market was the municipal
wholesale hub, meant for licensed wholesalers, intermediate wholesalers
and retail/restaurant buyers. In practice, because of the cramped
facilities, locals would sneak in to but seafood and tourists flocked to
eateries originally meant for market's workers. That's a big part of why
then-Governor ISHIHARA Shintarô (石原
慎太郎) pushed to relocate. |
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'Outer market' literally means outside the market – strictly speaking it
isn't part of Tsukiji Market at all, but a cluster of private retailers
and eateries that grew up around it. There's no single manager;
shopkeepers voluntarily join the Tsukiji Outer Market Promotion
Association to coordinate operations, joint marketing, visitor info and
support. |
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Has Tsukiji emptied out since the inner market moved, or turned into a
tourist trap instead? The answer: no – it's still rammed, as you can
see. Compared with Toyosu, Tsukiji is more central and easier for
visitors. Habits are sticky, and far from losing footfall, Tsukiji often
feels busier than Toyosu. Toyosu's strictly controlled inner market and
mall-style outer areas (Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, Toyosu Market Gourmet)
can feel a bit distant. Tsukiji, by contrast, still feels like a proper
market you can wander. |
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These days the outer market's shops mainly sell fresh fish, seafood,
dried goods and bonito products, along with fruit & veg and seasonings.
To eat, you'll find everything from snacks to full meals – sushi,
seafood bowls, grilled skewers, tamagoyaki, eel, curry and more. As is
Asakusa, don't walk and eat; use the spaces provided by each shop.
Most places open very early and start closing after lunch – best to
arrive before 13:00. |
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Tsukiji Sushi Dai Honkan |
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After a look round we headed to our target for lunch –
Tsukiji Sushi Dai Honkan (築地 すし大 本館).
We'd missed 'Sushi Dai' at Toyosu, so we tried 'Sushi Dai' in Tsukiji
instead. Both render as 'Sushi Dai' in English, but Toyosu's uses the
kanji '寿司' in its
Japanese name, while Tsukiji's uses the hiragana 'すし'.
There's also another Sushi Dai in Shinkawa that writes sushi as '鮨',
another kanji form, but it's not as famous as the other two. |
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Are the two 'Sushi Dai' related? People in Japan debate it, but there's
no clear answer. Personally, I reckon they're unrelated. First, each has
its own social accounts with no mention of the other. Second, with that
level of name recognition, there'd be no reason for a common owner to
use different Japanese spellings. Lastly, using separate registrations
under one owner is often about tax positioning, but at this scale it
seems unlikely. |
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Omakase sushi, and Tamagoyaki and maki rolls |
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It's not unusual in the UK either to see different businesses using the
same brand name – think Melton Mowbray pork pies, Thorntons chocolates,
or Bass beer. So having multiple 'Sushi Dai' in Tokyo isn't that odd. |
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Although the two 'Sushi Dai' are probably unrelated, their omakase set
(chief's choice set) formats are quite similar. Tsukiji Sushi Dai Honkan
includes miso soup, two pieces of tamagoyaki, one portion of maki roll
and 11 nigiri sushi (9 chief's choice + 2 you choose). That's one more
self-select piece than Toyosu's Sushi Dai offers. Today's chef's
selection was: flouder, medium-fatty tuna (chûtoro), botan prawn, whelk,
kinmedai, ark shell, horse mackerel, aburi tuna and conger eel; the roll
was mentaiko. |
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Our own picks – ôtoro and scallop |
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We added sea urchin as an extra |
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For our two picks we chose ôtoro (extra-fatty tuna) and scallop, and we
added a sea urchin nigiri on top. I can't compare with Toyosu's Sushi
Dai as I haven't eaten there, but against
Daiwa Sushi I'd say Daiwa edges it slightly on quality. Balancing
price and queue time, though Tsukiji Sushi Dai Honkan felt better value.
Our total for two was JP¥10,736: omakase JP¥4,180 each, sea urchin
nigiri JP¥935, coke JP¥253. (All prices include tax.) |
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After lunch, we set off for our next stop – Meiji Jingu... |
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