Japan May 2018

The Gate Hotel is an upmarket hotel in Asakusa. I have always wantedto stay here since it opened a few years ago. Even the bathroom hasa view！

Tokyo skytree in all its 634 metre glory.

Sensouji temple with its five story pagoda at night. This is not the usual view of the temple, its taken from the terrace of thr Gate Hotel.

My hotel is in Minatomirai whivh means future port.

My room in Yokohama had a fresh fruit platter .

Ikegami Honganji is a Buddhist temple in Tokyo that has been around since the 13th century. The temple has a five story pagoda. There are at least two others in Tokyo and their design makes them pretty much earthquake proof.

Tokyo Disneyland has a reputation for putting on a spectacular night parade and the illuminated floats are certainly something to see. Normally the parade would be followed by fireworks but they were cancelled due to weather.  Japan has not only been experiencing high temperatures for this time of year but there has also been some strong winds.

Sunday night I finally got to use the pass for Tokyo Disneyland that I didn't use last trip. There are a number of different types of passes, mine was an evening pass. The Disney parks in Tokyo,  there are two Land and Sea, are the only Disney parks not actually owned by the Disney Corporation but are franchised out to a Japanese company.  So they are subtlety different to all the others.

Some of the main roads in Asakusa were closed for the festival and a view of Tokyo Skytree from the middle of the road isn't one you normally see as a pedestrian.

Here are some photos of three different size Mikoshi during a break.

The Sanja Matsuri is one of the three great Shinto festivals in Tokyo getting around two million people over three days. I was there Sunday for the last day. Mikoshi or portable shrines are carried around the streets of Asakusa in Tokyo during the day. The kami or spirit enshrined in the local Shrine and given a tour of the neighbourhood during the festival. This is very much a group effort as some of these Mikoshi weigh a couple of tons! A couple of years ago I got the chance to help carry one for a short time and believe me they are heavy. However there a smaller and lighter versions for groups of hidden to carry.