First day: Walking around Yasakuni Shrine.

I remember from my first stay in Japan that things that might look close on a Tokyo map, probably aren't all that close. (On my first day in Tokyo in 2007, I decided to walk from Ikebukuro to Shibuya, which looked like a good walk for the day. It took ten hours.) But clearly I didn't learn my lesson. I can't be sure how long it took, but I wasn't as close or as easy to find as I thought. I had to stop into a convenience store on the way and buy a can of cold coffee. That gave me the extra boost of energy to keep going.

It was probably around 8pm when I finally got there. Of course, it was quite empty, and only a few people were walking through, mostly on their way home from work, I suppose. May main motivation for visiting Yasakuni Shrine is because of the controversy it stimulates. It is the shrine for soldiers killed fighting for Japan since the end of the 19th century. The controversy is that convicted war criminals have been enshrined there, and politicians always irk foreign neighbors like China and Korea when they visit. (Surprising to some, the current Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo, did not visit to commemorate the end of World War II like other Prime Ministers have done over the years.) Among other things, one of the reasons I am in Japan this time around is to do research and visit some of these key places that are related to Japanese memory of the War. If all goes according to plan (when does it, really), I hope to write a book regarding this subject. We'll see what happens. I also want to visit the accompanying museum and see what I can learn. In any case, I couldn't do it tonight (I didn't expect to, really) because the museum was already closed. I really just wanted to walk around and feel the geography of the city under my feet, and this seemed like a fine destination for that.

Despite it being such a controversial location, after dark, when the place is empty, there is a serenity that, for me, magnifies its role as a memorial to those killed at war. I stayed far away for a bit, just to let the scene soak in. While I was sitting there looking, two different people went up to pay their respects. One was wearing a suit, and the other rolled up on his bike. I can only imagine what prayers they offered, and even though I wanted to, I thought it would be uncouth to go up and ask them. Perhaps they had a relative killed in war, or perhaps they were just paying respect to those who perceived something bigger than themselves, and were willing to give their life for it. Regardless of my political beliefs, I could not fault someone for honoring such ideals.