So one day I went for a walk...

I have 5 days left in Japan, to be spent in Tokyo specifically.  Having been in this city for a little over a week already I have had the chance to explore a fair deal of the city, and to no ones surprise I have found it to be exceptionally busy. Everywhere. All the time. I'm used to the idea of places having peak periods. Restaurants, stores, subways all getting busy at certain times of the day. Here, what I would consider peak activity in most other cities in have lived in or visited is merely the baseline. There is a good reason for this sense of hustle and bustle; Tokyo is the biggest city in the world, with 38 million people living here. To put that into perspective, the entire population of my home nation, Canada, is 37.5 million people. One of many exits to Shinjuku station, at 11am on a Sunday morning. At times this sort of density can be intense, and other times it can be frustrating. But for the most part I have simply adjusted to the flow of life here, and ...

This morning I set out south from my hostel with the intent of visiting Shorin-Ji temple, as I had heard that they have a very nice garden within their walls and unique Goshuin for those who visit. It was a short walk, approximately 3km, and was nestled into a neighborhood like so many temples and shrines throughout Japanese cities.  Were I not looking specifically for it, it would have been easy to miss. Nearly all temples and shrines have a small fountain with wooden laddles for performing a cleansing ritual before you enter. By now I have becomes quite accustomed to this step, but I was happily surprised when finding the fountain in this temple to be filled with vibrant flowers. I quietly washed my hands and mouth, following the bow familiar ritual, and proceeded further in to the grounds. Like most urban temples and shrines, the grounds were not massive, but they were immaculately kept.  I slowly strode along the path admiring the carpet of moss and stones that ...