The elephants were active again last night, but I bought earplugs and I got more sleep. Or maybe I did, I’m not sure. I think I got up a lot less than the last few nights. I dragged my ass out of bed again and got to dealing with my banking. I knew I couldn’t call today. Even though it’s Tuesday here, it’s only Monday (and Columbus Day) in the US. At least my sister had a way I could FAX over the internet without having a phone line or a FAX machine.

Since I found an even cheaper way of calling home, I called my mom again as well (not that I haven’t been doing that every day). I talked about where I could go for the day and asked about Jindaiji Temple south of Kichijoji, where she’s been mentioning because of the lake there. She said Jindaiji wasn’t famous because of the TV show Gegege’s Wife but because of the soba. That was reason enough to go see the area.

Of course I wasn’t paying attention and two stops after I got on, the train reversed course. I got off at the next stop (one away from where I started) and got on the next train going towards Mitaka but that train did the same thing. Fortunately, I was paying attention this time.

According to Google Maps, Jindaiji Temple is over an hour south of Mitaka station if you’re walking, and I got a late enough start that I took a bus. Buses are harder because there are more stops and the announcements aren’t as clear. I was watching my iPhone and hoping that Google maps wouldn’t die like it usually does when I’m away from a major train station.

Once I got off the bus I was in the middle of nowhere and it was time to start walking towards the temple.

I figured I was headed the right way, or at least headed towards the countryside, when I saw a nursery.

Then I ran into a line of soba shops. I picked it the Japanese way, by finding the one the most people were going to.

It wasn’t the fanciest looking one, but it certainly had the most people going in.

It also had a window where they make their soba, though no one was making soba when I got there.

I had tenzaru soba which was pretty good. I can’t say it was a lot better than what I had in Ikebukuro, but it was good.

The women next to me were having yōkan for dessert and I had to have some as well. It was soba yōkan!

Jindaiji temple wasn’t very far away.

Here’s the first shrine at the edge of the old street.

And a nice pond near the first shrine.

There was a small temple street in front of Jindaiji Temple.

The gate of Jindaiji Temple.

The temple was much more impressive than the temples in the city.

There was an impressive shrine behind the temple as well.

And a pond on the temple grounds.

There was some sort of tower in the cemetery behind the temple that I can’t explain.

On the way back there’s a botanical garden, but the sign says “Closed Monday.” It’s Tuesday, but I know that some parks are closed on the day after a national holiday.

So it was off on the path through the park.

The path had lots of wood spiders and I even saw a giant Asian hornet.

After the park it was down a bunch of suburban roads.

The map showed a shrine on the way, so of course I took a detour. Even small shrines are impressive after getting out of town.

The gates out into suburbia.

I headed back towards Kichijoji and the park. Halfway there I saw an interesting kid’s park with the front of an airplane.

I thought that was odd, so Iooked to see where I was and saw a sign for Jaxa, which I think is the Japanese equivalent of NASA.

Right next door is the Maritime Research facility which is a heck of a long ways from the water.

So, back I went back down the roads towards town.

And I found the edge of the park!

Cosmos, like my mom grows.

And I’m not sure if this is cosmos as well.

I also came across the Ghibli museum, where I was about to ask how hard it was to get tickets.

But there was no one to answer my questions.

Turns out that you have to go to the Lawson convenience store, not Lawson 100 which turns out is a ¥100 shop, to find a machine called a Loppi. If you want to get in during the morning, the tickets are sold out right now for just over a week. I bought a ticket for the day before I leave for Tokyo, eight days away. Even if I don’t go, it was only ¥1,000.

Around the museum was some sort of art project that looked fun for kids.

Back to the park and I found a fairy ring.

Part of the park is quite wooded and someone had an interesting art installation with battery powered bamboo chimes. I didn’t take pictures of them all, and the batteries were dead in some of them. I saw a guy replacing some of the batteries.

This is a video of one of the chimes.

I finally got to the part of the park nearest the station and it was a bit much.

Here’s Daisei-ji temple outside of the park. It was closed up but it was HUGE. You can see outbuildings to the left that are as big as the main temple.

Back into the park and there’s a shrine in the park. The park itself is built on old ruins.

The shrine felt a bit crammed into the park, but it was pretty.

The park is also quite nice, though less natural than the forested area.

Part of the park even had paddle boats and row boats for rent.

There were the usual rest areas that are common to popular parks. The restaurant to the left has typical park foods including soft ice cream and odd-tasting Japanese hot dogs. There’s usually a line-up of vending machines.

RIght on the other side of the restaurants was a shopping street leading to the station.

I got back around 4PM and fell asleep for a bit, just like yesterday, making up for the sleep that the elephants seem intent on disturbing. I didn’t feel like eating for a while but wanted to go to Saizeria downstairs. The beer isn’t the only reason.

I’ve been avoiding Saizeria downstairs because it’s too easy, but the pizza was surprisingly good. And, as my cousin said, “it’s cheap!” I think I’m going back soon.