Tsugi wa Asakusa, Asakusa desu.

If you ever take the metro to Asakusa, that's what you'll hear. For the curious, it means "next is Asakusa, Asakusa". Actually, there's a lot of announcements you're likely to hear when traveling in Tokyo. From information to hold on if there's any chance of a "jerky" behaviour of the train - I kid you not, to which side the platform will be or just thanks for using the train.

Asakusa became quite an adventure for me but I'll get to that in a moment. In Asakusa the one thing everyone wants to see is the Senso-ji temple. Other than, there's the Asahi HQ with it's famous "golden turd". Senso-ji was quite crowded, even though it was almost closing time ( when I was walking into the temple they were already closing the side doors ). Actually, there were people milling about till about one hour later. There's lots of tourists there but many Japanese come to pray, too. One other thing about the place is that you can buy a lot of things by the road leading to the temple.

Myself I went for some kind of snack cookie or something. I've probably grossly overpaid but whatever ;). Being a little undecided on which kind I wanted, the guy asked me if I'd like 2 of each ( 8 in total ). Goes without saying that I agreed :P. The temple complex itself is great, the most impressive I've seen here so far ( Kyoto will take care of that, I bet ). There was this Japanese guy who started talking with me near the main temple. Pretty cool older gentleman, name's Kazumi ( can't shake the feeling that it sounds female somehow ), even knew of Warsaw when I said I'm from Poland ( didn't mistake it for Holland, too! ). Here's a photo of yours truly thanks to him:

Coolest day of the summer! The only day my whole legs have been covered so far.

A few more shots of the place:

Entrance gate to the main area.

This was one tall building!

Inside of the main temple.

It just wouldn't do for there to be no garden ;)

Now, this here is where you burn special sticks and then move the smoke with your hands over whichever part of your body that isn't fine. It's supposed to heal you which I can't comment on as I haven't tried this myself :P.

One of the streets near the temple. They're also full of shops and restaurants.

Traditional wear is not so easy to come by but every now and again one can spot someone dressed.

Trying to not make this post overly long, here's a random trio:

Starbucks in Japan!

AKB48 advertising coffee. They're a girl's band that's become very popular in Japan in recent months.

Rikshas!

P.S.

A few photos of a very nice, serene temple near some park in Asakusa.

Sightseeing in Tokyo - Harajuku

Yesterday we've started sightseeing for real and headed for Harajuku. Supposedly known for cosplayers, cheap shops and if you're more interested in traditional Japan, there's a big temple dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken. We didn't see many cosplayers, probably due to our late arrival there ( near noon ) or high temperatures. They ( temperatures ) didn't stop people from shopping along the main roads near the train station, though.

 The above is a photo of Takeshita street. Shops everywhere, lots of shop employees yelling special offers, trying to garner attention toward their store. Lots of people of all ages and appearances, too.

Myself, I haven't been all that impressed with modern attractions. Fact is, prices are generally higher than in Poland, sometimes by quite a bit. Another thing is how much Japanese people love baubles and the like. There are tons of useless things you can buy and they often aren't all that cheap. One thing the shops are good for is AC. Every 15-30 mins you go into one to cool down a little. It's funny how they're supposedly conserving electricity right now due to shortages when all shops inside of buildings run AC at such levels that it's actually comfortably cool in them ( and that's often with open doors ). Can't say I'm complaining, though. Talking about survivng the heat, some restaurants offer free cold water when you order something ( the one we've been to had unlimited refills, too ). 

Interesting fact:

While smoking generally isn't very restricted in Japan, there are areas where you aren't allowed to smoke in public ( transportation is also smoke-free ). That means it's allowed only in buildings ( as in restaurants and such ) or in special areas:

Photo of a "Smoking Area" near Harajuku station.

Meiji Shrine is a rather big place that you enter through a huge torii.

Unfortunately it's been destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt in 1953 so it's the same but not the same. Reminded me how much was lost to that man-made disaster. Walking towards the temple we've had our first taste on how generally left-sided traffic can change due to lack of shadow on one side, etc. The shrine itself is kind of a tourist trap. If you want to buy any gifts, be prepared to spend a good deal more than they're worth. There's also a lot of situations where you're expected to give an offering. Doesn't change the fact that it was pretty great. I've had a chance to see two weddings there, too. One more thing about temples in Japan is that before entering the grounds you should cleanse yourself. You do that by cleaning your hands and mouth with water ( there is a special place for this ).

I've also had a chance to pray. It was somewhat hard to figure out the right way of  doing it. People prayed in several different ways. In the end, I went with bowing twice then clapping twice. I sure hope I haven't angered any gods!

Lastly, toilets in Japan are, indeed, complicated at times. If you don't know some kanji you're in even more trouble:P.

Here are some more photos from yesterday:

 
Tokyo metro, I'm still very impressed by their transportation. Doesn't change the fact that navigating metro / train lines in Tokyo is quite intimidating, especially without knowing the language well.

Some people from our group invading a vending machine which are found in abundance in Tokyo. They're great in summer as the drinks are kept very cool. I can also agree that the famous Pocari Sweat is tasty.

Inside of a train, no it's not rush hour ;)

Prayer tablets, 500 yen and you can add one of your own.

One of the weddings. You can see the wedding procession, official photographers and some temple guards keeping tourists at bay ;).

Here's a not so small temple near our hostel.