Ikea Temples, Harajuku and Hachikou

View from the other side of the hostel

I woke up at 6 am on my second day in Tokyo (-_-) Long-distance plane travel really does mess with your body clock. 

The hostel is just above Iidebashi Station

We ate breakfast at the hostel: an eclectic mix of traditional Japanese food and western food. I tried natto for the first time! For those who don't know what natto is, it's fermented soya beans that you mix with a little bit of soy sauce and mix until it gets really gooey. It looks horrendous, but the taste is bearable. You can eat it on its own or on top of rice. 

I also had miso soup, salad, a fried egg and something else English but I can't remember what it was...

We then spent the morning being briefed by Tomoko on what to do if we get lost and what to do and expect when we arrive at our placements. There were two guest speakers from the UK who then told us about life in Japan and we all had to explain what we wanted to achieve by the end of the placement. I said that I wanted to improve my Japanese (and hopefully become fluent someday!), learn more about Japanese culture and see how the Japanese healthcare system works. I've had work experience in an NHS hospital, but Japan doesn't have a national health service; the government only pays about 30% of your medical fees.

Afterwards, we had a break for lunch in Shinjuku. I went to 7/11 (a convenience store) with two other volunteers (Jon and Zac), where I bought some Onigiri: rice triangles wrapped in seaweed sheets with a filling (one was tuna mayonnaise, the other was chicken). I also came across my first Japanese KitKat!

Matcha (green tea) flavour! The KitKat flavours in Japan range from soy sauce to hotcake (pancake). Most of them are only found in certain regions (Hiroshima is in the Chuugoku region, which is where the citrus blend flavour can be found). I also can't wait to try purple potato flavour and sweet corn flavour.

We also had some time to wander around. That was when we found the Ikea shrine...

The wood looked like it had come from one of the flat-pack Ikea furniture sets. I didn't expect to see a new temple like this, but Jon explained to me that in Shinto death is a taboo subject, so if a temple starts decaying you have to rebuild it (I think). 

Even though we were in central Tokyo, the hustle and bustle of the city seemed to melt away when we entered places like this.

After lunch, Tomoko took us to the Meiji shrine in Harajuku. It's a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, and it's surrounded by dense forest and winding paths that go underneath 3 giant wooden Tori gates. 

I was really surprised to see all this woodland in the middle of Tokyo.

There was also a wall covered in sake kegs wrapped in straw and decorated. They're donated by members of the sake brewing industry as a sign of respect to to Emperor and Empress who did a lot to help Japanese industry during their reign. 

When we approached the main shrine, a Japanese man with a camera came up to us and said we had nice hair. We agreed to pose for him in front of the main shrine entrance:

Me, Samantha and Jon

He then let us take a picture of him striking a sort of heroic pose.

 This is what the main shrine looked like.

I didn't know what to do with my hands, so I ended up mirroring her. I think that was a bad idea; I've only seen Japanese women doing this and it's usually when they're trying to look feminine...

Afterwards, we went to the modern part of Harajuku; famous for its shopping and cosplay. I didn't see anyone doing cosplay, but apparently there are lots of teenagers doing it around the station on a Sunday.

Harajuku Station

Around here there was a sticker shop we went into where I had my first proper conversation in Japanese!! The girl working there was then showing me all the 'I Love Hiroshima' stickers and anything to do with the Hiroshima dialect. All the people working in shops are so much more friendly here than they are in the UK.

We then found our way to Shibuya, famous for it's pedestrian crossing (the busiest in the world).

We also found the Hachikou statue. Hachikou was a dog who went to Shibuya station everyday to meet his master on his way home. However, one day, his master died whilst at work. Because he never returned, Hachikou came to the same spot at the exact time every day without fail. People took pity on him and gave him food whilst he waited, and he became a national symbol for loyalty. He died after 9 years of waiting. 

There is a statue dedicated to him near the station entrance. It's now a common meeting place.

Evelyn, Jon, me and Lucy

This was my last day in Tokyo, but I'll definitely be coming back at some point. Even though I've seen so little of it, I love Tokyo and I can't wait to go back!

***I've updated the previous post. I've worked out how to put videos on this :P ***