Tsukishima

On Spring day (public holiday), we went to Tsukishima for a walk around. Straight out  of the station and a short walk took us to the beautiful Sumiyoshi Shrine.

The shrine had an old store house for the mikoshi (portable shrine)

And a brand new one with two mikoshi inside

We explored the fascinating alleyways and side streets. Tsukishima is an island formed of reclaimed land completed in 1892, using earth from the dredging work performed to create a shipping channel in Tokyo Bay. There are a lot of old houses and shops here.

This shop made and sold eight-sided chopsticks Lady Gaga has visited there. He had photos to prove it ...

Down one alleyway (no wider than a few feet, we found a little shrine. Tsukuda Tendai Jizo. Guardian Deity of Children. The stone carving conveys the image of Budhist Chief priest Suu-toku-in who lived in Ueno from 1715 to 1738.

 We then went for a walk along the waterfront of the Sumida River.

The white Chuo Ohashi Bridge. You can just see Tokyo Sky Tree in the distance

This is an old lighthouse. It has public toilets underneath now

The waterways had fishing boats moored in them

Unfortunately this one had sunk

We found 'Monja' street, which has dozens of restaurants that serve monjayaki.

We chose Tsukushiya for lunch - fortunately they had an English menu

Monjayaki is made from fresh ingredients (in our case, cabbage, tomato, chilli, carrots and noodles are finely chopped and fried on a teppan hotplat in front of us. A batter is then poured in and it finishes cooking. We then ate it directly off the grill using small metal spatulas.

We also had a pork, squid, shrimp and scallop okonomiyaki.

After lunch we continued our stroll dow Monja Street.

This is the oldest Koban (police box) in Tokyo - built in 1920.

All in all, we had a great day exploring this older and interesting part of Tokyo.