Nippori

Today after church, a friend, Junko and I went out for lunch.  After lunch we decided to go on a bit of a sightseeing tour.  We went to Nippori to the Yanaka area.  Our first stop was the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, Taito.  This used to be the house and studio of a Japanese sculpture artist.  I had not been through this museum before and was not familiar with Asakura Fumio.  I was not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but took pictures of the brochure they gave.  The brochure also gave an overview of the museum. 

Entrance to the Museum

Asakura Fumio

One of the scuptures you would find in the museum.

Another bronze statue

These are pictures of the brochure you receive when you pay your entrance fee.  A helpful piece of information is to wear socks when you visit.  As is typical for entering houses, you take your shoes off.  Many of the floors are wood and therefore they would like you have socks and not walk on the wood floor on bare feet.  They do provide socks, the split toe kind.  

This is the inside of the brochure which is close enough for you to read, if you wish.  

 These are a couple of close ups of some of the pictures on the brochure. 

After visiting the museum, Junko and I went for a walk.  Some of the places conjure up pictures of what I think old Tokyo must have been like.  These are a couple of pictures of some of the streets on our walk.

This street is narrow and many of the stores and restaurants are small.  I love walking down these types of streets.   Some of the streets are lined with walls.  This is a close-up of one of the old walls. 

This is a close up of the wall, stone with mortar. 

This is an old Japanese Protestant church.  It has been declared a historic building. 

We also walked through the Azalea garden, but there were no azaleas blooming at this time.  We also saw a puppet shop that had many different puppets.  I really enjoyed the walk and looking in the various shops as we walked by. 
There are so many places I haven't seen in the Tokyo area and then there is the rest of Japan.  I find that no matter where you are, there are wonderful, interesting places to see.