Scenes I saw in Tokyo, the capital of Japan.

 Last week, I went to Tokyo for the first time in a while to attend a social gathering for current and former staffs at the office where I used to work.

Next day, I got off at Shibamata Station on the Keisei Electric Railway to visit Shibamata Taishakuten .

The statue of *Fūten no Tora-san* in front of the station which starred Kiyoshi Atsumi.　Although the statue of the younger sister of Tora-san is out of the frame, Tora-san is turning around to see his younger sister who came to see him off.　Her name is Sakura.

This is a famous line from the movie *Otoko wa Tsurai yo* (It's Tough Being a Man). A total of 48 episodes of this movie were released between 1969 and 1995.

I was born and brought up in Shibamata, Katsushika.

I was blessed at Taishakuten Temple.

Kuruma is my family name, and my given name is Tora-jiro.

But people usually just call me TORA ... Tora the street peddler.

This is the approach leading to the Shibamata Taishakuten temple in Shibamata, Katsushika Ward, Tokyo. Many souvenir shops line the street.


This is the large gate at the entrance. It is called *Niten-mon*.

The Sculpture Gallery is a notable attraction where you can admire the magnificent carvings adorning the exterior of Taishaku-do Hall (the main hall of this shrine).

This is the covered corridor that surrounds the Japanese garden.


This is the Japanese garden named *Sui-kei-en*, a type of Japanese garden with a pond in the center.

After visiting Shibamata Taishakuten, I walked to the nearby *Tora-san Memorial Museum*.

This museum features exhibits such as dioramas recreating the settings of the *Otoko wa Tsurai yo* (It's Tough Being a Man) film series, which starred Kiyoshi Atsumi and was created and directed by Yoji Yamada. I took a lot of photos at the *Tora-san Memorial Museum*, but I'm sorry I can't show them to you.

After visiting *Tora-san Memorial Museum*, I moved to *Yamamoto-tei* right next to the *Tora-san Museum*. 
*Yamamoto-tei* is the former home of the founder of a local camera parts manufacturing plant. It is famous for its Japanese garden, and it is located on the grounds of its estate.

When I ordered a coffee at *Yamamoto-tei*, a staff gave me an original plastic frame.

So, I tried looking at the garden through this plastic frame.

To go back to the previous day...Before the social gathering, I took a walk around the Kasumigaseki area. Kasumigaseki is a district of central government offices located in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, and serves as the center of Japanese politics and administration.

This is the Ministry of Justice building. It is a classic building.

This is the building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

This is the Sakurada Gate (sakurada-mon), one of the important gates located on the inner moat of Edo Castle (the present-day Imperial Palace), which is located right nearby the Kasumigaseki area.

It was the scene of the Sakuradamon Incident in 1860, in which the*Tai-rō* (Chief Minister) Ii Naosuke was assassinated outside the gate by 18 samurai of the Mito Domain and Satsuma Domain.

This incident dealt a decisive blow to the authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Night view of the Imperial Palace's inner moat. Visible in the center is the mixed-use commercial complex ‘Tokyo Midtown Hibiya’.