Public sleeping is a fairly common sight in Tokyo. So common, in fact, that on a soothingly warm autumn afternoon, it’s sometimes practiced with similarly lethargic companions.
Japanese public sleeping companions
Unhappy in Harajuku?
I don’t like waiting. He doesn’t like waiting. And he definitely didn’t like me, watching him, while we were both waiting.
Traditional tea ceremony in a Tokyo temple
Traditional Japanese tea ceremony is a fascinating practice. Its acute focus on aesthetics, however, along with an extremely strict adherence to specific movements and manners, probably makes the whole thing rather uncomfortable and stifling — at least for a beginner, anyway.
But to simply sit and watch it is an absolute treat.
And from a safe distance, those movements and manners are a mystifying marvel.
Sugamo, the Harajuku for old ladies
Sugamo, the so-called Harajuku for old ladies, is thankfully not an area awash with geriatric gothic lolitas, but is instead a shopping area geared up for the elderly women (and indeed men) who flock there. Jizo-dori, its main thoroughfare, is lined with shops and stalls selling the kind of clothes, food and assorted bric-a-brac that appeal to its target audience; all of whom hustle and bustle their way between them and the street’s popular Koganji Temple, or Togenuki Jizo as it’s also known.
Despite the age of those who predominate, however, there is no hanging about. Not by any stretch of the imagination. If you are in the way, you’ll be moved out of the way.
Sugamo also isn’t an area simply catering to the elderly — it’s run by them too. Many of whom should have officially retired years ago.
These old-timers and a few young bucks offer food and snacks of a much more traditional nature. The variety of which can clearly be dazzling.
Plus along with numerous medical aids and potions for sale, the temple priests do a busy one-on-one trade in health-based prayers and blessings.
Presumably after which some decidedly non-healthy food can safely be consumed.
Also, like most areas of this nature, there are plenty of characters. Both walking about.
And working.
Many of whom, like those who visit, are intent on making the most of it.
Shichi-Go-San celebrations
Before the full colours of autumn become visible in Tokyo, there are the equally vivid ones of Shichi-Go-San; a custom that sees kids of a certain age get dressed up in kimonos and taken to their local temple or shrine.
And quite understandably, photographs seem to be the biggest focus of the day. Something that the youngsters, to their credit, appear to deal with very patiently.
Or at least they do when it’s a family member taking the photo. But when it’s not, they don’t.
