A stroll around Yanaka March 2017 part 3

4th March 2017

A visit to Nezu Shrine.

After  enjoying hand dripped coffee and exploring some side streets near Yanaka Ginza it was only a short walk to reach the Nezu Shrine.

By this time the sun had come out, the sky was blue and everything was very bright. The shrine looked amazing in the sunlight so I decided to use a different camera. The Panasonic LX7 was not the best camera I was carrying and it struggles a little in the high contrast between shadow and bright light in the Japanese sunshine. However it is still pretty good and I chose to use it as it has a great 16:9 widescreen setting which captures the views within the shrine grounds more spectacularly. 

Nezu Shrine is supposedly one of the oldest in Japan and it is certainly very attractive now.

Legend suggests the shrine originated in the first century BC, founded by a "fearsome Prince" then moved a short distance to it's present location in the mid 17th century and apparently many of the current structures date back to  1706 when the shrine was rebuilt.

As always please click the photos once and then a second time to view in full quality.

"The Restoration Will" Japanese news video clip.

 My friend Mayumi Suzuki is featured in this news video regarding her photobook "The Restoration Will"
I'll write more about this later but for now please watch the video, the report and interview is in Japanese but the footage of Onagawa and the equipment that is displayed is interesting and relates to Mayumi's book and her exhibition that I visited while in Tokyo in March.


Please click here to view the news video

A stroll around Yanaka March 2017 part 2

4th March 2017

Yanaka-ginza 

It was just a  short walk from Yanaka cemetery to locate the steps that lead down into Yanaka-ginza: a popular shopping district consisting of one main street with a few side streets leading from it. It's a narrow pedestrian street lined with shops, restaurants, cafe's and stalls.  With most of the buildings dating back to the mid 20th century  I had the feeling of stepping back in time to a busy 1950s or 1960s  Tokyo shopping street like the ones in old Japanese films.

As always please click on the photos once and then a second time to view in full detail.

A stroll around Yanaka March 2017 part 1

4th March 2017 

Yanaka Cemetery Tokyo

Climbing the steps just to the side of Nippori Station you can look back over the rail tracks as you approach Yanaka Cemetery and enter via the cherry tree lined Sakura Dori.

Please click the photos once and then a second time to see in full detail.

 Sakura-dori stretches though a mass of well kept ornamental graves.

 Yanaka cemetery is also known for it's large population of stray cats.

 The cemetery is also the the location for the grave of Tokugawa Yoshinobu and his family.

He was the last shogun of the Edo period.

Another historical site in the Cemetery is the stone foundation for an ancient 5 story pagoda destroyed in an arson attack in 1957.