Month: April 2016

From the Hasedera (Great Kannon/Kuan Yin) Temple, we walked to the Kotokuin Temple where the famous Dai Butsu (Big Buddha) statue is. This majestic bronze statue of Amida Buddha stands at about 43 feet tall. Don’t forget to wash your hands before you enter! The statue survived a tidal wave (tsunami) and an earthquake. It…

This is the grand entrance into the Hasedera Great Kannon Temple. Entrance is only 200Y per person (cheaper than the Neko Maru Cat Cafe!). Really, visiting these places is so reasonably priced. Wash your hands before going in! The path is peppered by the three-guardian figurines. Photography of the statues (for worship) inside the shrines…

The Kamakura trip was not exactly on our itinerary since the journey would take 1.5 hours one way, but since we already managed to cover all three Hachikos on Day One, we decided we’d spend one day at Kamakura instead of Tokyo city. If possible, I did want to see the famous Dai Butsu (the…

Ueno Park is one of the best tourist spots for the viewing of Sakura and we were lucky we stayed right there! Look, there’s a black-and-white cat!! Picnic under the sakura trees. They camp all day, overnight, and throughout the weekend! There are museums and shrines within the park itself. Before entering any shrine, temple…

I had earlier googled, read reviews and the Neko Maru Cat Cafe seemed to be one of the best cat cafes in Tokyo. By sheer luck, it was located just 6 minutes away from our hotel. So we walked there after dinner. But we couldn’t find it until we stopped at another hotel and the…

After visiting Hachiko at Shibuya, we took another train which led us to the Meiji Jingu or Meiji Shrine. Located in the heart of the city, but once you enter, it is an entire forest! Meiji Jingu Shrine is built in the traditional nagare-zukuri style with Japanese cypress. It is the largest Shinto shrine in Japan. By…

From the University of Tokyo, we walked back and we passed by the Hongo Sachome Station, which is the recommended stop if you were to take the trains to visit Hachiko and the Professor. But we walked all the way back to Ueno, feeling a sense of triumph that we found the correct gate (!)…

After visiting the real Hachiko at the museum, walking around Ueno Park and the temple, our next stop was Hachiko and the Professor at the University of Tokyo. This statue was unveiled on 8th March 2015, 80 years after the passing of Hachiko and it shows an excited and happy Hachiko greeting Professor Hidesaburo Ueno…

It was news about the latest statue of Hachiko and the Professor that started it all. Why not make a trip to Tokyo to see it for ourselves? And we haven’t been for any holiday for more than 12 years now, especially after getting the cats and starting AnimalCare. So, after carefully planning, getting the…

Tiger, Tabs and Poldrey, each in his/her element! Them, too! Vincent sleeping on our bed after breakfast! Vincent has his ups and downs. But the consolation is that he eats a hearty breakfast every morning. Often, he just sits under the printer table and skips lunch. He has to be coaxed to eat dinner and…