Blizzardboy | A Kiwi in Australia

Have been reading Paul Waley‘s Tokyo: City of Stories which my wife kindly picked up for me from our local library.

(mushrooms in Shiba Koen)

It is an interesting read (not finished yet) that broadly skims over the history and growth of the city of Tokyo. I have seen three or four maps from the 1500′s onwards of the area where we live, and originally this land was temple land with a number of temples having been here since the infamous Long-Sleeves Fire of 1657. The most famous, and still here is Zojoji.

Zojoji, the main temple of the Jodo Shu (Pure Land sect) of Buddhism became the main temple of the Tokugawa Shogunate at the beginning of the Edo Period.

To quote from the Zojoji website:

Nevertheless, as the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end and the Meiji Era started, an anti-Buddhist movement got under way. The cathedral, temples and the mausoleum of the Tokugawa family were burned down by air raids during World War II. Thus, Zojoji was profoundly affected by political and social circumsrances. Today, however, its cathedral and other structures have been rebuilt, and Zojoji continues to serve as the main temple of Jodo shu and the central nembutsu seminary for priests and novices. Furthermore, it has endeared itself to the general public as both a grand Buddhist temple typical of the metropolis Tokyo and a hub of religious and cultural activities.

What they don’t say is that Shiba Koen, our local park has been almost completely destroyed, supplanted instead by Tokyo Tower, a hotel, a golf club (which I have never found) and a bowling alley (ditto for the bowling alley). There are a few fringes on the edges where one can enjoy the peace and quiet of a few trees and a couple of streams.

(Tokyo Tower at night)

Also worth checking out if you are in the neighbourhood is Keio University, especially the back entrance, and the NEC headoffice, which looks just like a rocket that will one day blast off into space leaving Tokyo rocking in its wake.

All in all Paul Waley did a good job with his research into Tokyo, one might wish that he developed some of the stories a little more, but Tokyo: City of Stories is well worth a read.