Yanaka Stroll

Okakura Tenshin Memorial Park, Tokyo
Okakura Tenshin was a pioneer in the modern art of Japan. Known widely outside of Japan for his work, "The Book of Tea," Tenshin was instrumental both in developing modern art styles and preserving traditional Japanese techniques.

Tenshin was curator of the Department of Chinese and Japanese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He was also one of the founders of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and the principal founder of the Japan Art Institute. The former site of the latter is now the location of Okakura Tenshin Memorial Park.

This small park contains a hexagonal building that houses a statue of Tenshin, which was designed by sculptor and artist Hiragushi Denchu from a cast that was created in 1931.

The park was established by Taito City. It was opened in 1967.Okakura Tenshin Memorial Park is a historic site in Tokyo, Japan. It was the residence of Tenshin Okakura, and has been transformed into a beautiful memorial park.

Zenshoan Temple
The main grave is of Tesshu Yamaoka (1836-1888), swordsman/master calligrapher, who established the temple in 1883. He was one of the most trusted retainers of Japan’s last Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Another prominent resident in the graveyard is Sanyutei Encho (1839-1900), one of the great rakugo story tellers. Rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment in which a storyteller sits on stage and without standing up he/she depicts a long and complicated comical story. The third grave is of Hirota Ryutaro (1892-1952), a famous composer.

The main prize of the temple is their collection of ghost scrolls (called yurei-ga in Japanese) that are on display only during August (each year). They are scary, really scary. The attention to detail of the ghosts faces and teeth, the dimly lit room. The fact that I visited when there was no-one there when I visited helped with making it the perfect eerie atmosphere. The 50 scroll paintings, most of which date back more than 150 years, were collected by the earlier mentioned Sanyutei Encho, who used to be a student at Zenshoan. It is said that he collected these scrolls to help him get inspired for the ghost stories he told during his rakugo summer performances.

Apart from the ghost scrolls, this place features another special element. In the graveyard you will find a golden buddha statue, which is rather uncommon in Japan. It towers over the cemetery and gives the place an unusual touch.Baca lagi