3 Days with Mom Day 3 (Part 1) / お母さんとの三日間 三日目 （パート１）

Its Mom's third day in Tokyo and with the weather cooperating today, we shall be spending the day in Shibamata.  Another place my mother was determined to see on this trip.

お母さん東京三日目の東京見物は柴又！今日も天気も良いし、最高の出掛け日和だ。お母さんがどうしても柴又が行きたいと言ったので、お母さんの願いを叶う。

Here is Mom sitting in a local train as we wait to go to Shibamata, the setting for the popular Japanese movie series "Otoko wa Tsurai yo!"  which translates to "It's Tough Being a Man".  My mother loves that series.

高砂でローカル線に座って、柴又行きを待つお母さん。柴又と言えば、「男はつらいよ！」の舞台。お母さんがそのシリーズが好きで、どうしても来てみたかったの。

Mom at Shibamata station / お母さんにとって念願の柴又

Tora-san greets you in front of the station / 駅に出ると直ぐ寅さんと会える

The path to Taishakuten (a very beautiful temple) / 帝釈天への参道

Mom and I just love the atmosphere of the shotengai  (market street) / 僕とお母さんは商店街の雰囲気が大好き

Candy shop & souvenir store with a toy museum on the 2nd floor (unfortunately, the toy museum is only open on Saturdays and Sundays and today was Friday).

昔ながらの駄菓子屋。二階はおもちゃ博物館（残念ながらおもちゃ博物館は土日営業です、今日は金曜日でした。）

If you look closely you can see an animal in the center of the picture.

良く見ると写真の真ん中に動物がいる。

Of course I had to take a picture of Mom on the path to Taishakuten.

もちろん帝釈天参道の前にお母さんの写真撮らなくちゃ。

Not too crowded in the morning / まだ朝だったので、あんまり込んでない

[Toraya」, the dango shop which was used in the "Tora-san" movies.  We'll come back here and eat some kuda dango.

「とらや」、寅さんの映画に実際に使われた団子屋。帰る前には必ずここで草団子を食べる。

The sign says this shop was used in the first four "Tora-san" movies.

This is the gate to Taishakuten / 帝釈天の門

Mom as tourist / 観光客のお母さん

Check out the details of the woodcarving! / この細かい作業が凄すぎる

Taishakuten / 帝釈天

Temple Bell / 帝釈天の鐘

If you want more information on Taishakuten, check the URL below (the site can be viewed in English as well).

帝釈天をもっと細かく知りたい方は下記のURLまでチェックして下さい。


http://www.taishakuten.or.jp/index.html


The following pictures will show you why Taishakuten is so popular.  The detail of the woodcarvings is too awesome to describe in words alone, you must definitely check this place out if you visit Tokyo.

次アップする写真が帝釈天の魅了が伝わるかも知りません。言葉だけじゃ足りませんね。東京に来たら是非行ってみるべきの場所です。

All twelve Chinese zodiac signs are represented, but I wanted to show off the more detailed carvings.

１２の干支が全てありますが、他にみせたいものがいっぱいある。

"The Offering of a Stupa"

"Three Carts and a Burning House"

"Thoughtful Rain, Equal Moisture"

"The Practices of the Keepers of the Teaching"

"The Appearance of the Tower of Treasures"

"A Rare Opportunity to Serve"

"Attainment of Buddhahood by the Daughter of a Dragon-king"

"Immediate Recovery from Illness"

"The Tribulations of Never Despising Boddhisattva"

"The Merits of the Lotus Sutra"

"Guardians of the Keepers of the Teaching"

More temple details / 素晴らしいでしょう


To be continued...

つづく。。。

3 Days with Mom Day 2 (Part 5) / お母さんとの三日間 二日目 （パート５）

Our last destination on Mom's Tokyo tour took us to Sengakuji, the final resting place of the 47 ronin.  The memorial hall was closed but we were still able to check out the tombs and the place where the ronin cleaned the head of the samurai that dissed their master.  If you want to know more about the 47 ronin, check out one of my previous post when I walked around Sengakuji on my own at A Walk around Sengakuji.

お母さんと東京見物の最終目的地は忠臣蔵で有名なお寺「泉岳寺」。赤穂義士が眠る場所です。もう夕方に来たもんで、赤穂義士記念館はもう閉店でした。でも赤穂義士の墓は見に行けた。日本人なら誰でも忠臣蔵の話が知ってるはずなので、説明は致しません。

Main gate to Sengakuji / 泉岳寺の門

The main temple / 泉岳寺の本堂

Graves of the 47 Ronin / 赤穂義士の墓

The well used to clean the head of the samurai who wronged their lord before presenting the head to their lord's grave.

Mom in front of the statue of Kuranosuke Oishi, the leader of the 47 ronin.

大石内蔵助の像の前に立つお母さん。


And that concludes are Tokyo temple tour.  Tomorrow we'll be heading to Shibamata to check out the Tora-san Museum and Taishakuten and whatever else catches our fancy.

これで東京お寺・神社巡り見物が終了しました。明日の予定は柴又にある寅さん記念館、帝釈天、矢切りの渡しなどに行く。

3 Days with Mom Day 2 (Part 4) / お母さんとの三日間 二日目 （パート４）

Can you believe I'm still writing about my second day with Mom.  So far we've been to the Todoroki  Valley and Todoroki Fudoson, we walked up the "Shusse no Ishidan" (Stairway to Success) at Atago Jinja, we browsed through the NHK Broadcasting Museum, and we snacked on French cheeses.  But Mom still has energy and is determined to go to Kanda Myojin and Sengakuji.  Once again we were off to the train station.  However, when we got off the train at Ochanomizu (the closest station to Kanda Myojin), the weather took a turn for the worse.  The beautiful sun disappeared to be replaced by pouring rain.  But that wasn't going to stop us.  However, we decided to have lunch first and hoped the rain would lighten up a bit before checking out Kanda Myojin.  With luck, the rain did die down and we were able to check out Kanda Myojin without getting too wet.

まだお母さんの二日目のネタ書き続いてるって信じられないでしょう。今までのおさらいをすれば、最初は等々力渓谷と等々力不動尊を探索、愛宕神社の“出世の石段”を上って、NHK放送博物館を歩きまわり、で「フェルミエ」のチーズ専門店でフランス産チーズも食べた。お母さんはまだエネルギたっぷりあって、神田明神と泉岳寺は必ず行ってみる。休憩終わって、また電車の駅に向かう。御茶ノ水駅（神田明神に一番近い駅）を降りたら、朝の良い天気が崩れた。雨が降り出した。結構降ってた。でも雨で私たちの東京見物は終わりませんよ。神田明神の近くのカフェで昼食を食べて、雨が弱まるを祈ってた。ランチを食べ終わったら運良く、雨が弱くなって、神田明神を楽しめた。

Mom at the entrance to Kanda Myojin / 神田明神の入り口い立つお母さん

Kanda Myojin / 神田明神

Mom is a fan of Zenigata Heiji / お母さんは銭形平次のファンでした

Mom was familiar with most of the names of the actors who participated in the dramatized version of "Zenigata Heiji".

お母さんが載ってる名前ほとんど知ってた。

Mom in front of the main shrine / 神田明神の本堂の前に立つお母さん

Kanda is also famous for its amazake (a sweet non-alcoholic drink made from fermented rice) and Mom wanted to have some at a shop that was featured on a television program she had watched.

神田で甘酒も有名なんで、お母さんがなんかのテレビ番組で紹介された店で甘酒が飲みたいと言った。店は神田明神の直ぐ近くの老舗「雨埜屋」。

Amanoya / 雨野屋

Kanda Amazake / 神田甘酒



While we were enjoying our amazake, this 83yr old grandpa who was sitting across from us started talking to us.  He was a very interesting man and fun to talk to but my mother and I had to refrain from bursting out into laughter as he his dentures would nearly fall out while talking to us on numerous occasions.  I asked Mom if she still wanted to go to Sengakuji which she responded with an "Of course!"  So off to Sengakuji it is!

甘酒を楽しんでる最中に隣に座った８３歳の老人がいきなり私たちに話をかけた。凄い陽気な方で、面白かった。でも僕とお母さんが笑うのを我慢してた。なぜなら、おじいちゃんが喋りながら、何回も入れ歯が口から飛び出す様な感じになってた。でも良い時間を過ごした。お母さんも疲れてるじゃないかなと思って、泉岳寺まで行きますと聞いたら、お母さんは元気良く、“もちろん！”と答えた。さ、最後の目的地へ～