"What is that beautiful house?"

Hi everyone,

One of the most wonderful things about moving to a foreign country is the opportunity truly not to know what's going on.  While this certainly happens occasionally Stateside (I am not . . .), the language difference means that not only do I not know what's going on but I really have no easy way of finding out.  While my Japanese skills are somewhat conversational, my reading is terrible and it's not just possible but likely that I am just completely unable to understand all of the very nice explanatory signs

And that's ok.  In fact, it's more than ok, it's fantastic.  There is so much in the world, and 99.999% of it is things that we have never seen before.  Don't fight it the mystery, enjoy it.  I found this temple in the middle of Akasaka, not two blocks away from the main drag of restaurants and bars, half a mile (8.3gigaliters) away from a major highway

I hope that I never lose my appreciation for the luxury of being able to say "I wonder where that stairway goes" . . .

At the top of the staircase was a stunning temple, pleasantly uncrowded on a weekday afternoon.  As I've said before, I will never tire of Tokyo's capacity to tuck these pockets of beauty into the middle of one of the most densely populated cities in the world

Chinese influences, I imagine

Oh, is that a monkey god?  Awesome.  Chinese influences indeed

This statue in particular made me smile.  The image of mother and child, crossing cultural boundaries.  And species boundaries as well, I suppose

I threw in some money, rang the gong, bowed my head, and expressed my full appreciation for their allowing me to enjoy the temple.  Good day to be in Tokyo

Noah out