The team leader wrote a report sent from Tokyo that the first point our team visited to honor good times and good fortune was: “Asakusa Temple” or as it is officially called. Sensoji Temple is one of the oldest temples adjacent to the capital of Japan.
I went to Japan for the first time nearly 50 years ago as a guest of the Cultural Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (If I got the name wrong, I apologize because it happened a long time ago.) A young student appointed by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the team leader’s guide was also taken to this temple.
2-3 other areas he took me to and later, when I have the opportunity to travel alone, I always have to stop to reminisce, including the Shinjuku area that never sleeps, the Ginza area with the sound of the clock telling the time every hour, and the “ Shibuya” is home to the Monument to the Honest and Grateful Dog and the chaotic “Five Intersections” which have been the busiest pedestrian crossings in Tokyo since ancient times.
So, when going this time with the ‘family’, the corner team leader made a reservation that he would have to return to Shibuya again… because he heard that two or three years ago, Tokyo was very lonely due to the Covid-19 epidemic and the Shibuya area. His eyes were thin. So much so that he looked incredibly sad.
Please allow me to take a look at Shibuya from October 2023, although there is still no news about Coronavirus (COVID-19). There are some outbreaks. But it turned out to be a cold.. What is the situation? Is she back alive yet?
The family had been walking around since late afternoon. Because I heard it’s close to Shibuya station. There is a shopping mall that has built a “sky garden”, which means planting beautiful grass and trees to decorate it into a fairly large garden on the roof of the building.
There are statues or statues of anime characters from the Doraemon + Nobita + Giant series that you can see as well, along with a delicious and inexpensive food court. Perfect for our dinner
This park is called MIYASHITA PARK. Install it, ask Google and follow the instructions. When leaving Shibuya Station you will likely be on the 7th or 8th floor of the building.
He set the atmosphere well and was very nice. It is considered a very good use of the roof of the building to be a garden. Our team stopped to eat at the building’s food court, which has McDonald’s, Chinese food, and Mexican food. Many Japanese foods taste good and are worth the price. It is not very expensive
Then we returned again to “High Junction” in front of the train station to prepare to sit in the “Starbucks” store, which was at the corner of the building. It is a place to drink coffee while enjoying one of the best views in the world. Because through Starbucks we can see thousands of people crossing the intersection at every red light. Which, when combined, will reach tens of thousands of people. And if we keep sitting there, there will probably be hundreds of thousands of people.
The team leader temporarily separated from his family in front of the Starbucks building, allowing team members to tour the area. But the team leader himself immediately went up to the second floor of Starbucks.
It seems that the chaos, or the nickname given to it by foreigners, “the stampede”, has returned. People streamed from nowhere into the Shibuya intersection, and it was just as packed as it was four years ago, before the COVID-19 outbreak, when the team leader sat and watched.
He stated that statistics say that every two minutes there will be approximately 1,000 to 2,500 people crossing the corridor at this point. Try multiplying the number by the hour.
After sitting and watching people walking around for about half an hour separate teams followed and prepared to take the train home. But to really get the name of visiting Shibuya, we’ll first go and report ourselves to “Phi Dog,” or the Monument to Faithful Dogs in Shibuya. To show respect and remember the dog Hachiko who stood guard in front of the train station for almost 98 years.
The story of the dog Hachiko, recorded next to the memorial, says that the dog came to live in Tokyo with his master, Professor Asa Buro Ueno of the University of Tokyo. And every day when the professor left his room to board the train at this station to teach. Brother Dog will also run after you.
Wait until the evening, when the master returns home, and he will come running and waiting to welcome you. Both the boss and his subordinates, man and animal, will walk side by side from in front of Shibuya Station to the professor’s residence. This is the image that the villagers in that area are accustomed to seeing.
But one day in 1925, Professor Ueno suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage and never returned to Shibuya Station again.
Although Hachiko has been adopted by another family… this loyal and grateful dog still runs to Shibuya Station every evening. It’s like waiting to welcome the owner back from teaching… running to greet him and staying like that for 10 years before the dog dies.
The villagers who learned of the incident built a bronze monument as a memorial to Fei Ma. And it has survived until now throughout those 98 years.
Our group has already gone to inform Brother Hachiko. Before returning home, he found tourists standing in long lines to take pictures with P’Mah, indicating that the story of P’Mah’s sincerity and gratitude would certainly be known around the world.
Note: The dog monument is said to be about 98 years old, but the actual age of the dog was 100 years old last July. There is also a Phi Dog centenary event. It’s one of the biggest news in Japan, I’ll tell you.
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