Hanami Hope

This morning, we did another family rendezvous! My cousin’s son coincidentally was in Tokyo with a friend and had reached out a week ago to let us know. His name is Jinhyung (진형) and is actually closer to me in age than his mother / my cousin. His grandmother is my mom’s sister and he had spent considerable time crashing on my couch when he studied abroad in the US in 2014. He had taken my mom to dinner on Friday when Justin met a friend, and we all met for breakfast in Tokyo station before his flight back to Seoul.

Below is our sushi breakfast and a quick photo before he headed to the airport. He reminded us that the jacket he was wearing was given to him by my father…another timely coincidence…





I had hoped to go to the Kusama museum as it was sold out the last time I was here. But unfortunately, it’s between exhibits and closed. I also realized other museums were closed this week and suspect they use this popular time for folks to enjoy the outdoors for exhibition transitions, renovations, and etc.

We walked over to the Imperial Palace and walked around the gardens and Chidorigafuchi Moat. Although I had planned this trip 9 months ago, I was hoping we would overlap with the peak bloom of cherry blossoms. Last week it was projected to be today, but due to a cold snap, it’ll be in the next few days. Here you can see it starting to bloom and although we saw some bright trees, it is not yet full bloom.





However, the palace grounds and parks were packed with families, foreigners, and picnickers. They were all hoping for Hanami which literally translates to "flower watching" where folks gather around and enjoy the cherry blossom trees. I had originally projected that the post title would be “Hanami Time”, but we enjoyed intermittent trees as we will have to wait for full bloom. On the plus side, this does give us hope we will not be past full bloom when we head south on Tuesday.

Also today it was over 80 degrees - felt more like summer than spring! We rocked our shades in front of these castle ruins on the Imperial Palace grounds:



We also walked by this event center where mega fans of this cartoon character were dressed and getting merchandise:





We then took the subway to Harajuku and enjoyed iced coffees and rested on couches in the 2nd floor coffee shop of the train terminal. We needed the respite before heading to the Meiji Shrine. Again it was packed, but the Japanese are very orderly as they generally walk on the left side of the paths and are mindful. Here, we enjoyed the torii gate and paid our respect to the entrance of the sacred area by bowing:





On the path, we walked by the Meiji Sake barrels:



And washed our hands and rinsed our mouths to purify ourselves:



We entered the shrine area where we couldn’t take photos as we made wishes and threw coins:



We did however see several weddings like I had seen back in 2017. These Shinto wedding ceremonies are apparently decreasing in number as less people are getting married, but the Meiji Shrine is still the most popular place to wed. Here are two different processions led by Shinto priests and attendants followed by close family and friends:





Afterwards, they took family and group photos around the plazas:



We walked back down the path and hopped into a café where we enjoyed matcha and chocolate gelato yogurt:



After resting here, we were headed to Gyukatsu Motomura. We passed all the big consumer brands on Omotesando street in search of the restaurant. My brother saw a Gyukatsu sign and the restaurant was on the basement floor. After the meal upon receiving the sticker, I realized we ended up at Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu instead! Two different gyukatsu chains on the basement floor 1 block away from each other! 

The restaurant was busy with high turnover and folks queuing up for tables. Although it was not our planned gyukatsu restaurant, it was destiny as we loved their beef katsu. We enjoyed different cuts such as sirloin and tenderloin, sampled the various dipping sauces, and even ordered an extra wagyu set to share. A collage below including the little hot plate where you cook your beef to your liking:



After dinner we walked through Takeshita Street which was filled with shops, food fads such as strawberries on a stick and corn dogs, and pet cafés for those who like dogs, cats, and piglets!



We then to took the train 2 stops to the massive Shinjuku train station as we were headed to the Metropolitan Government Building. Starting in February, they started a nightly light show that apparently has the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest in the world. We sat on fake grass where we followed others and took off our shoes and were moderately entertained by “Tokyo Concerto” for 15 minutes:





We hailed a taxi back to our hotel and paid with Pasmo credit. We had walked over 17,500 steps and wanted to get some rest before heading early to the fish market tomorrow. What a sunny and spring way to spend Easter in Japan! Happy Easter everyone!