Day 5: Last touristic day for a while

Sunday February 27th, 2011 by Rick van Kemenade

Today’s program started off with a visit to the Sensoji Temple. This temple, which is situated very close to our hostel, has a beautiful main hall, a pagoda and impressive gates, all coloured bright red. The sun was shining and the participants had time to see the entire complex. Leading from the area was a crowded street of small shops. Many members of the group took the opportunity to buy souvenirs and try out some of the countless delicious snacks that Japan has to offer.

After gathering at the temple gate, we walked on to Asakusa Metro Station, past the crowd that had formed to witness the Tokyo marathon. From there we travelled via Kanda to Kichijoji Station. Following a quick lunch we walked to the Ghibli museum. Ghibli is a world-famous Japanese animation studio. In the museum they showcased their animation techniques through the years. There were also exhibitions of their many cartoons and characters and there was an exclusive demo movie entitled “Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess.” The museum visit really woke up the child in many of us.

In the late afternoon the group split up. Some decided to travel back to Harajuku to witness the “cosplay” street performances that take place there on Sundays. Others headed to the Kagurazaka district, where they made a walking tour that went past many small temples and shrines in a relatively modest, urban area of the gigantic Tokyo.

Everyone came back to the hostel relatively early, as tomorrow we will rise early for our first technical day. We will visit the RCAST research centre (University of Tokyo) in the morning and NEC in the afternoon. During the past days, we have been on fairly busy trains in ‘quiet’ hours. Since we will be travelling via Shibuya Station during rush hour tomorrow morning, the trip there will be an adventure on its own!