Spring is a vibrant time in Tokyo when life bursts forth encouraged by the frequent rain-showers. The intensity of the cherry blossoms are finished but flowers continue to emerge from nooks and cranies around the city to delight us:
Most Sundays when we are in Tokyo we get up early and ride across the city (over 20 km) to worship at the Tokyo Quaker meeting with a nice gathering of Friends from all over the city. We enjoy our journey every time as it gives us a chance to find new blossoms along the rivers:
To find where they have planted late blooming cherry trees...
As we ride along we love stopping for quick visits to the many, many shrines along the way. They are tucked in all kinds of nooks and crannies; from tiny ones...
To larger ones....
All setting the tone for our own weekly worship at the slightly less historic Tokyo Quaker Meeting house, but also very special to us with its lovely light and flowers:
Meeting and lunch are peaceful, thoughtful time to gather with Friends and then... we have the afternoon to dive into this huge city.
Last Sunday we went to a fabulous exhibit of the 300th anniversary of Jakusu, a prolific monk artist from the 1700s who has just been discovered in the 20th century. Click here to see some of his history and work.
We loved his ancient scrolls that had a real taste of a modern tastes:
After fully enjoying our visit of this stunning exhibit with some friends we dove into the random ebullient life of Ueno park for the rest of the afternoon. Other afternoons we pick Yoyogi park.
Over there? A dance festival for kids....
In this corner? Thai belly dance...
And no, this was a few weeks ago but why not Japanese/ Irish dancing?
And then of course, the rockabillies who have been studiously improving their moves for the last 20 years; check out the hair and outfits! This, by the way, is not a concert, it is just what they do on Sundays...
Ducking along some of the trails that were less busy, we stumbled on impromptu classical music:
A composer working on his songs:
And for those of us needing a jolt of Nelson culture, drumming at different sites:
As the gates of the park were shutting we decided to nip in a funky coffee joint fully furnished with old tree stumps and naked women statues (!) with opera pouring out of the speakers.
And of course, the requisite artistic cup of Cafe-latte!
To round out the day in a truly rich, textured Tokyo way, I dropped in on a monthly open-mike night in my school neighbourhood, a free intimate blend of rock, folk, jazz, rap in both Japanese and English.
Paddy, one of our new teachers, performed one of his poems to a drum background that night.
What we continually appreciate is the random encounters that enrich our day in this throbbing and creative city.
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