Nezu and Noodles: My Last Night in Tokyo

the gardens at Nezu-jinja Shrine

It was my final night in Japan before flying home to visit my family in the USA for the summer. Looking at my map of Tokyo, I saw that there was an ancient and well-regarded Shinto shrine within a short walk from my hotel! I decided to pay it a visit, despite the cold misty rain of the evening.

prayers and wishes left by the shrine's visitors

Nezu-jinja, often called "Tokyo's most beautiful shrine" was built in 1705. Although it's not super old compared to other places in Japan, it's one of the oldest shrines that survived the bombing of Tokyo during the Second World War.

Japanese torii gates

The shrine has a set of vermilion torii gates; a diminutive version of the great mountain shrine at Fushimi Inari in the ancient capital, Kyoto.

the path beneath the red gates

Nezu-jinja is a quiet spot in Tokyo. In fact, as it's less crowded than most places in the city, it's easy to forget that you are even still in the capital! Visiting the shrine is like instantly transporting to Kyoto. There were few people there on the evening when I visited the shrine.

the fox is the symbol of Inari

It was about an hour before sunset, and I was almost all alone. I took a walk along the path, flanked by torii gates and the occasional fox statue. The fox is the symbol of Inari, Japanese god of rice, sake, and money.

beautiful shrine

The main shrine hall was built in a style reminiscent of the great shrine in Nikko, which also inspired the Toshogu Shrine in the nearby Ueno Park. You can see how the architecture is similar!

the main shrine hall

After leaving the shrine, I was hungry! It was my last night, and I wanted to do something special. There was a small local noodle restaurant just across the street from my capsule hotel. This looked like a good place for dinner! It was cold and rainy, and a hot bowl of noodles sounded just perfect.

dinner at a small diner, just across from my hotel

Something that I really love about Japan, especially about Tokyo, is how convenient and intuitive everything is, even if you don't speak Japanese. You don't need to know the language to be able to figure out the metro system, how to buy a train ticket, or how to order your dinner. Lots of diner-type restaurants in Japan have a special system for ordering... you order from a machine! The menu is in Japanese or English, and has pictures of what you might want. Just select what looks good, insert your money, and bring the ticket to the guy behind the counter.

you order your meal from this machine

Then, just sit down at the table in the tiny, cramped diner. Your meal will be out shortly! This type of restaurant is popular with salarymen, students, and people who are in a hurry. It's also great when it's raining outside, since it's always warm and dry in the noodle shop.

inside the little diner

I ordered a huge bowl of udon noodles with pork. Just what I needed after a long day of walking around Tokyo in the rain!

my delicious dinner - a big bowl of pork noodle soup (udon)