On our second day in Japan we had the benefit of a tour guide through my mom’s travel agent, Audley Travel. Our guide Duncan was able to take us to so many interesting places and traveling was so much more smooth without having to figure out where we were going. Duncan met us at our hotel at 9:30 and immediately we walked around the neighborhood. He brought us to a broom store that was founded in 1818. The store has been owned by the same family for the full time, and had the most impressive handmade brooms and brushes that I had ever seen.
We then walked to the Yasmin Konpiragu Shrine, a shrine for creating and breaking relationships. Each person takes a piece of paper and writes what they are trying to release on one side and their future state on the other. All then stand in line to greet the shrine. Each person crawls through the shrine twice to bring a new way of being.
We then took a cab to see the Yasaka Pagoda and walked through Ninenzaka Street. Ninenzaka Street is a traditional pedestrian free street with souvenir stores. I enjoyed imagining what Japan looked like before the invention of electricity and cars, and was especially amused by the signs for Starbucks.
We then walked to the Grand Gate Chionin Temple. This temple is famous for scenes for the movie The Last Samurai.
We ended the day in Teramichi Street, the indoor shopping center near our hotel. We found yet another shrine, and a hundreds year old stationary store. We then went back to the hotel to rest before dinner.
