♥怡: 増上寺 Zojoji Temple

You must purchase and submit a "Certificate of Residence" to Sophia University if you are an exchange student. Today, I went to the government municipal office of Warabi to obtain this document, as well as enroll myself into a mandatory health insurance plan (I'll get to that shortly). Let me tell you, if you don't know Japanese, you're going to have a lot of trouble because the employees there don't speak a word of English. Fortunately for me, though, I was able to get by. But just a heads up for those that are planning on coming here: learn Japanese! or at least know how to form simple sentences, such as, "I need to buy x," or "I am here for x." And remember to bring the handbook for international students, since that book is in both English and Japanese, and tells you what you need. If worse comes to worse and you really can't learn Japanese, just show them the book.

By law (of Japan), anyone who stays in the country for longer than three months must join their health insurance system. There is a premium that must be paid, but according to the handbook, it states that if you declare you have no income, it will be deducted. At the office today, I checked (on the application) that I had no income, however, they said that I still needed to pay it. They didn't need me to pay for it immediately, but they did say that I would eventually need to some time before I leave the country. I will inquire more about it at the center for student affairs tomorrow.

Well, paperwork aside, today was a beautiful day: clear skies, sunny, 70 degree weather with a gentle breeze--the weather can't get any better than this! During the walk to the municipal office, I had a nice tour of the neighborhood.

The sakura path was still beautiful as ever. Though a lot of the petals have already been washed away, many survived the rain!

We passed by this graveyard.

Sanzou-in

and also this garden, whose name I forgot.

I went to Zojoji Temple today in Roppongi Hills. The area was really nice and close by Keio University. Zojoji is where the other half of the Tokugawa shoguns are buried. I wasn't able to go inside the temple, though, because I got there too late. So I only have pictures of the surrounding areas. I am thinking of making a second trip there sometime in the future, though.

From the garden, you can see Tokyo Tower.

Of course, you must clean your hands before entering the temple.

"This tree was planted by the forty first president GEORGE H. W. BUSH of the United States in memory of his visit to Zojoji Temple in 1982 when he was a vice president."

As we wandered around the garden, we stumbled upon this strange pathway. The lighting was bad, so the pictures are unclear, but it was a path of hundreds of small statues, each with a name carved in the back. I later on learned that these statues represented the graves of unborn children, including the miscarried, the aborted, and the stillborn. They were decorated with small clothing, knit hats, etc. and toys. Japanese people believe in a deity known as Jizo, who is the guardian of unborn children. To ensure that their child is brought to the afterlife, the parents usually offer a small gift. Some of them have stones piled next to them, and it's a custom that is meant to shorten the amount of suffering the child has to go through on their way to the afterlife.

No two were exactly the same, but this one in particular stood out.

Tokugawa Family Mausoleum

After we left the temple, we searched for a place to eat. For some reason, finding a restaurant was not easy. Eventually, we stumbled upon a restaurant called 陳麻家.

I ordered a yakisoba (pan fried noodles). It was nice and spicy, but sooooo salty. I later asked one of my Japanese dorm mates about this and he said that the saltiness is what makes it yakisoba.

Spring Rolls
The first time I've ever seen it served with ketchup, mustard, and pepper.

On my way back home, I got off Kanda Station for a transfer and roamed the streets a bit. Right outside the station is a busy shopping district, called Kanda Eki Shotenmachi (Kanda Station Shopping Street).