Asakusa and the Fireworks that Weren't

We trekked out to Asakusa today, (Sunday the 29th of July). It is on the other side of "central" Tokyo from us, in that it is on the far side of the Yamanote line. The Yamanote line is a rail line that runs an oval circuit around central Tokyo measuring approximately 7km from East to West, and 12km from North to South. It would take around an hour to circumnavigate it, but I digress... we intended to see the annual Sumida fireworks display, but as it turns out, they were on Saturday. The English language website where we read about them got the date wrong.

The trip as not wasted though, as the Asakusa district is home to a number of shrines and temples. Here are a couple of photos:





As we continued past the shrines, and dusk began to settle, we happened upon a neighborhood playground and decided to let Robbie out of the stroller for a while to play. He is a relatively good sport about all of Mommy and Daddy's galavanting around and exploring their new environs, but he has recently learned to climb, and now he thinks he should climb everything: the couch, the chair, the bed, the kitchen table, Mom, the bracing pole in the train, Dad, and even the playground climbing wall.



When we arrived, the playground was deserted. It had rained earlier in the day, and the swings, slides, and other toys were all still a bit damp, so we dried our way around the playground and Robert had an excellent time. Once we were through, we walked back to the station via Sumida river where the fireworks had been the night before. For the most part, the infrastructure was still in place from the night before, when an estimated 900,000 people had come out to watch two separate fireworks displays, each over an hour in length. By the time we arrived, all that remained were barricades and roped off pathways, somber in the gathering dusk, a visceral reminder of the thousands that passed through yesterday, keeping us on the main-line through the riverside park, back to the JR station and home.