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Monday, May 7, 2012

Japan : Sengakuji Temple, Tokyo and Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo

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Hotspot #7 and #8: Masterless Ronin Graveyard and Sumo Place

“From smelly fish market to Ronin? Wow…that’s…weird!”

As much as I am obsessed with Geisha during this trip, hubby is obsessed with Samurai and Ninja. He decided to include in this hotspot, a burial site of 47 Ronin who died by seppuku ritual, right after their master, Lord Asano, who was sentenced to death due to corruption, who later committed seppuku harakiri as well (a.k.a suicide la, ape lagi…)

Read for more details on Dead Ronins Tell Tales by hubby, here.

From Tsukijishijo, we went to Daimon Station on Oedo Line and changed to Sengakuji on Asakusa Line. It was just a few steps from this station (ok, I lied), where you can see the entrance of this “masterless samurai” graveyard. 
Sengakuji Temple admission is free and no closing days, so having this small-yet-famous temple in our list went well with my motto “cheap but fun”.
Right before the temple, there was a statue of Samurai lead, Oishi Kuranosuke, stood still in his yukata. (But…oishi means delicious…can you imagine people calling him “delicious, come here.” KINKY! Hahaha!) 
Ok, back to business. Where was I? Ooo…the delicious statue. Hehe. We then, walked in, where we saw a symmetrical shrine with huge compound right before us. There were locals sitting quietly on the benches and some were in the midst of paying respect to the Akoroshi by burning incense sticks (sekno). It was a calm situation. Until both of us positioned a tripod, set a 10-sec self-timer, and posed! Hahaha!
“Let’s move to the graveyard.”
Unlike Taj Mahal at India, or HCM Musoleum at Hanoi, Lord Asano is buried in a graveyard. When I said graveyard, it was REALLY a graveyard, with memorial stone written in Kanji on it.
We then walked up and stopped, to watch a grave-keeper, burning some green incense sticks. He offered us but we rejected with smile. Few meters from there, I saw rows of the dead, I believed, where the 47 Ronin were buried. 
It was a mind-blowing, to imagine, how loyal someone could be. Choosing to be a follower, rather than a leader. Deciding to give over yourself to someone you trust into. And committing seppuku? Hmmm.

It’s been said that these masterless samurai waited for over one and half year, before they retaliated. They killed Lord Kita (the culprit who caused the killing of Lord Asano) in his mansion, and carried Kira’s head to this temple (Sengakuji), before all of them committed suicide. Scary huh? Like…here’s the head, now you kill me, no, you kill me, wait, you kill me first, no, no, you kill yourself, I kill myself, so we kill ourselves.
Now, my question, who was the last to watch and be killed by himself?

“Ayang, take my photo.”

I searched for hubby. “Where are you?”

“Here. Here. Down here.” He was jumping next to the fountain.
“Owh ok. What’s that?”

“Ala…47 fountains for 47 Ronin…with their name on it.”

“Ooooookayyyyy…” Like I care. I focused on sakura instead. Hahaha!
We then took a break and had lunch at on of the area. That was right after we saw locals having bento on the bench. So, we took out our own “bento”, please welcome, none other than, serunding and nasik impit. Hahaha!  
After hubby finished his last puff, we moved on and walked down towards the exit. We were pretty amazed with Suikinkutsu at the end of the walkway. The info board explained that water that trickling down at bottom of the basin echoes and sounds like a Japanese harp. Cool…
It was nearly 12 noon when we walked out from the temple. Alongside the street, there were shops selling samurai-related souvenirs.

“Samurai use shuriken?” I pointed to flat piece of metal with spikes.

“More aero dynamical compared to straight blade (sword).”
I looked at hubby…speechless. Coz sometime, I really can’t tell when he is lying.

“Wait till you see Sumo’s weaponry.”   

“Sumo use weapon?” This time, I didn’t buy it.

From Sengakuji on Asakusa Line, we stopped at Daimon Station and changed to Oedo Line to Ryogoku Station. Finding Kokugikan wasn’t that easy, though you already see that HUGE green roof from afar.
Wondering whether we should walked to the left or to the right, I started to amuse myself and became one big fat ass sumo wrestler. When we supposedly chose the right way, we didn’t notice that we chose the longest route, where we finally end-up encircling the whole enormous multifaceted, consists of Edo-Tokyo Museum, schools, park, etc. 
Letih ok! Rasa nak sepak-sepak je batu tepi jalan! But, we endured and enjoyed the sight. Thanks to beautiful sakura and roses that soothed the pain.
We finally reached the entrance and were welcomed with beautiful and colorful sumo murals. Suddenly, there he was…
One BIG guy in yukata and selipar jepun, passed by.

“AYANG! TANGKAP! TANGKAP! CEPAT!!!” I shouted to hubby, where at the end, I was the one who successfully captured the guy!

"SORANG LAGI! TU! TU!" I started to get crazy. (It was actually the same guy who went in and went out. Pfft!)
“HUIYOOOO! LIKE…FINALLY, I SAW A SUMO WRESTLERRRRR!” And I had no idea whether he is a sumo wrestler or just a cook. But who cares. He looks like one.

We then entered the Sumo Museum but this hall was restricted for video and camera. They demonstrated (visually) of sumo history, routine, ritual, winners and etc. We had the opportunity to watch few tournaments where Baruto Kaito (whom real name is Kaido Höövelson), an Estonian sumo wrestler, who is famous for his technique and outstanding performance. Man…he’s a mammoth!
“Jom.” Hubby had to drag me out from the hall, since I wasn’t stop blinking looking at those fat guys. He said he can do better.
On my way out, we passed by the stadium entrance, and saw one attention-grabbing situation. There were old folks, sitting (and some were sleeping) on the floor, with tents and chairs next to them.
“They are camping? Why?” I tried to capture more pictures, but I was too afraid to do so.

“There must be a big tournament coming up. Oh ya, I read somewhere, but…it will be somewhere next month.” Hubby remembered hard.

“Maybe they are selling tickets tomorrow, who knows…wow…hardcore fans la ni."

"So where’s next?” I asked, I flipped the page, and I answered “Asakusa bebeh!”

Read HERE for Travelista version.  

24 comments:

lily riani said...

eerrr.... dah check luggage or umah ko ada yg terikut ko balik dari graveyard tuh. HHAHHAHAH...

btw, tak penah dibuat orang, makan kat kubor bawah pokok sakura. KUDOS BIQQUE! I tobat tak berani!

eh! pirst ke? baru nak lunch...

Biqque said...

hantu jepun tadak kapla? takde yg follow! kat asrama jer ada hantu tu...hahaha!

aah, makan nasik kat kubor, tah pape plak pikir...kalo takat dalam bangunan takpe gak, ni betul2 GRAVEYARD! hahaha!

masMZ KaKiJaLaN said...

sana sini sakura,,,
takde ker barang sekuntum, dua kuntum, tiga kuntum, pat kuntum untuk aku???? hurmmm k baiii....

eh jap pusing balik - sipar jepun tu memang sama cam sipar jepun kat sini ker???

just.HY said...

makkkk aihhh!!! 3-min self-timer??? lama gilerr tggu nk amek gmbr! hahaha

oh mai kubor? ade hantu pocong x? kekeke...takpun yg ade azimat kat atas muka kene tampal tu

just.HY said...

eh silap, 10-min???? HAHAHAHAH

Biqque said...

mas, ada tiga kuntum tapi semua tu untuk aku, aku, dan aku hahaha!

slipar jepun sume sama jer...

john, minit plak, seconddddd! satni aku ubah. hahaha! 10 minit mau keras tahan lama kat situ. ha lama kan, sbb nak lari lagi, nak adjust kedudukan lagi, hahaha!

aku tak risau hantu kaum lain, aku takut antu melayu jer hahaha!

Anash said...

walaupun graveyard..tapi cantik sehhhh....
makan nasik impit dgn rendang plak tuh???tak dibuat orang kat situ!!!...

sakura ...memanggg cun...(terasa mcm nak guling2 bwh pokok sakura sambil bermandikan bunga ituuuuuuuu..)

3plepl8 said...

hantu jupun kt malaysia je ada....
nasik impit + rendang = onagiri buatan malaysia.

Biqque said...

Kak anash, kubur yg cantik, kemas, bersih, dan tidak menakutkan. Hahaha silalah berguling di perkuburan ini ye :)

3plepl8, betui, kat mesia je ada antu jepun hahaha! Onagiri yg sungguh kemelayuan :D

Ren said...

OMG lawonya kubur...kekekeke



cer kubur kat sini lawo macam tu kekekee nak amek gambo tak?

Biqque said...

ko penah tak baca blog sorang mamat ni, keje dia gi sume kubur2 kat mesia...siap amik gambar! hahaha! tak penah dibuat orang kan...

Orga said...

Salam korang...bestlah still dapat layan sakura lagi. ada lagi ke tak sekarang nih?kitorang 12 mei ni baru nak berangkat ke sana...maklumlah,main beli tiket jer ritu,lepas beli baru cek pasal cherry blssom nie...

Unknown said...

oh kubur jepun.........mesti ada ju-on tersesat situ..

Daddy said...

Lovely place. Another place in our target to visit soon

Biqque said...

orga, sakura blossom 10 hari jer. if u nak gi 12 may mmg dah abih dah...u bleh check kat sini :

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011.html

takpe la, next round. tapi spring ada bunga2 lain lagi. tapi kena tgk tempat mana u pegi la kan :)

na, ok kalo ju-on I TAKUT!!!

daddy, ya, u should :)

Anonymous said...

I first heard of ronin ni while watching Robert de Niro's Ronin berabad lamanya dulu. Alhamdulilah, I had the privilege to visit Sengakuji Temple on my trip to Japan in 2009.

Dasyat kan pengaruh filem dalam pembentukan pola pemilihan destinasi percutian kita?

*terus capai lightsaber dalam beg golf tekan tekan kebod cari tiket murah pegi Matmata.

Okay. Blogger punya word verification ni memang psycho. That's why i hate leaving comments on blogs.

Hi biqque,
trojan melayu

Biqque said...

trojan, kahkahkah lawak ar ko siap capai lightsaber! ko takde blog ke?

tu ar, kadang tgk tv jer aku dah rasa nak pi sana sini...gile lah...

word verification tu mmg cam gampang...sorry ar, aku pun benci gile...tapi tu ar, letak gak sbb tanak spam hahaha!

Ely Hasrul said...

fuiyoooo gambo uncle c kt graveyard tuh cam drama yg shooting kt oversi laaa hhahahahha comel okehhh

Ely Hasrul said...

trojan tu mengingatkn aku kat yunus hahaha..

Ely Hasrul said...

aku dok tgk2 lagik gambo smbil gelak2 sbb sharul kan suka nipu ko.. patu gambo ko yg muka aje tuh.. tetiba sami ckp 'auntie biqque jadik the flying dutchman hohohoho' alaaa sami nih salah konsep laaa hahhaha

Biqque said...

gambar tu rambut dia cam 80's kan? hahaha! tu la, teringat kat nunu :D sami cakap camtu? hahaha! lawak la...

Anash said...

flying ducthman????
hahahah samiii....gimme five!!!

oooooooooooooooooooo....
who live under the sea..................etc etc..(lupa lirik tetiba?)

Biqque said...

tah part mana la yg macam flying dutchman tah...hahaha!

Ely Hasrul said...

tu la kena la stydu blk cemana flying dutchman tuh.. ala nih sume gara2 spongebob la nih, dia everyday dok ulang spongebob, dora, diego, thomas, wonderpets patu tetiba ultraman. tp agak surprised sbb selama 2bln dia menghiburkan diri tuh dia leh bina ayat dlm bahse english tau dak??! hahaha xyah susah2 anto ke kelas bahse, mlm tadik si suci terteleng2 kepala thantuk sket kt pintu kete, xnangis la merengek sket aje.. patu sami ckp 'mami, whats wrong the baby?' aku pandang kat dia xtau samada

1. nak betolkan ayat
2. nak tnya mana dia belajar
3. adekah dia paham maksud ayat itu

tp aku sengih aje then dia ckp

'mami, bila baby kena mcm tuh, sami tnya lah wats wrong the baby? so mami kena la jawab'

aik dia plak explain kt aku mcm aku xpaham hahahahhahahah

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