Unplanned Sightseeing

This morning, all three of us climbed into a cab to head over to the Minato-ku Ward Office (City Hall), where we hoped to pick up information about the other nursery school options in our ward.  They were extremely helpful.... in confirming that since I'm a stay-at-home mom, Kaylee doesn't qualify for any of the public nursery schools and the private ones are our only option.  And the private ones are limited by things like, "up to 8 days a month."  Again, because the need for daycare for two working parents is so high here.

Fortunately, we really liked the first school we saw, on Wednesday.  We're hoping to hear back from them about some options for splitting up tuition into a few payments instead of all at once.   And we joked about telling them we'll only sign the media release form (the one that says, yes, you can use my child's photo in promotional publications or online) if they give us a discount.  From my discussion with their director, I know that having a "blondie" around would be good for their marketing...  Alas... I don't have the courage to try that particular form of negotiation.

Anyway... So, we were down at the City Hall, and right across the street was a huge temple and the Tokyo Tower.  After our very brief stop at City Hall, I convinced Dylan we had time to at least get closer to the Tower and the temple before heading home.

My view of the Tokyo Tower from the taxis over the past few days didn't really prepare me for the height.  In fact, Dylan had thought it was smaller than the Eiffel Tower, but I've just read that it's 13 meters taller!  And much more colorful :)

The temple, Zojo-ji Temple, was very impressive.  It was rebuilt after World War II, when it had been burned down, but the history dating back to the 1500's was clearly felt in the atmosphere.  I need to go back with my good camera and really explore the whole area.

What really got me were the rows and rows of child-like statues, dressed in (mostly) red hats and bibs, with flowers and pinwheels stuck in small vases beside them.

Some had obviously been decorated years ago, and were faded, or even growing moss on their hats.  Some, though, looked like someone had come by just this morning to add fresh flowers.

When we got home, I had to look up more about the traditions associated with these statues.  It was a very Grandma Olson thing to do - I had to know more.

Turns out these statues are built to honor the guardian of children, Jizō, and are dedicated to children who passed away before their parents, or are used to thank the god for saving a child from a serious illness.  So, the pinwheels are a toy for the child to play with, and the hats and bibs (or winter coat and scarf on some of them), are to help and protect their child and draw Jizō's attention to them for his protection.

Beautiful.  Sad, but beautiful.