October 23: Tokyo

 

As we were preparing to leave the hotel with the hotel, Pastor Yanagihara and Hideyoshi met us in the hotel lobby to take us to breakfast.  We went to Coco’s and had an American style breakfast and “drink bar,” that is, all the juice, coffee and coffee drinks you want.  We talked at length about various church issues and ways to address them, and worked to provide encouragement to Yanagihara-sensei, especially with regards to addressing generational gaps.  They saw us off at the station.

 John Houlette was taking us directly into Tokyo to tour the city.  We wanted to see the contrast of urban life in comparison to the rural life we have experienced thus far, and gain other exposure to the culture.  First stop, Asakusa Temple.

 

Asakusa Temple grounds

As we approached the temple along with the crowds of adherents and tourists, we could hear rhythmic drumming and chanting of prayers and smell the incense being offered to the kannon worshiped here.  This visit offered us the opportunity to have John Houlette tell us about Buddist beliefs and means of worship.  Jeff and I had a short discussion with Masashi in the Onsen in Onomachi about the fine line between traditional religions and traditional culture and how the Christian church is challenged in defining the line between the two.  John shared that a frequent barrier to women becoming Christians is that their husbands guilt them out of it by complaining that the wife won’t care for the ancestral shrine within the home any longer.  At Fukushima First Baptist in Onomachi, they have worked with this by having a mausoleum on the church property where the ashes of church members are kept and honored.

 

The rest of the day, was spent in taking a boat tour along the Sumida River, walking the garden of the Shogun Tokugawa, touring a museum of Tokyo history, and walking through the business district of Shibuya and the electronics district of Akihabara.  Today was a good taste of the history and culture of Tokyo.  After we bid John goodbye, we strolled the alleys around the hotel and ducked into one of many small, traditional restaurants where we relied on the waitress to bring out samplings of various dishes.  We didn’t know what we were ordering, but it was a good way to end the day.  Chris

Refreshing and Uplifting

 

 

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Dinner near Sakura-dori