altar of the temple. (It is pictured within the temple, even though the original may not be viewed.)
In the period from 1717 to 1736 there lived across the street from this temple a daimyo who served as a city magistrate. He had come from Toyokawa in the provinces, and he brought with him the image carved by the noble Zen monk, which he established in the branch shrine that he had built across from his residence. This daimyo, Oka Tadasuke, was noted for his beneficent rule as a magistrate, and he is credited, among other charitable acts, with having created the first fire brigades for the city—brigades other than those that served solely to protect daimyo mansions in times of danger. Within the temple grounds, the main hall of the temple is guarded in a rather unusual manner by red-bibbed foxes, which normally grace Shinto shrines but seldom appear in Buddhist temples. There is a hexagonally roofed shrine to the noble magistrate on the left side of the hall, while to the right is a modern building, the Akasaka Tokyo Toyokawa Inari Kaikan, where one can have priests pray for whatever type of success one is imploring Dakini/Inari to grant. Even in these modern days there is a bit of the supernatural in such requests, for the priest uses “the wind of wisdom” in reading the Buddhist sutras that may help in the granting of one’s wishes. This “wind” insures that while the priest may chant only from the first and last page of an extensive sutra, when the intervening pages are being quickly flipped the “wind of wisdom” sees to it that the entire reading is automatically efficacious. The hall also provides space where shrine events can be held.
Before the Kaikan is a statue of the Kodakara Kanzein Bosatsu, a Kannon image holding a child in its arms. This bodhisattva is prayed to for the birth of healthy children and for prosperity for the future family line. In addition to the shrine to the magistrate and the main Buddhist hall, Inari shrines can be found on the grounds, guarded by their fox images—to which some worshippers bring offerings from nearby restaurants. The approach to the main Inari shrine is lined with banners, given by worshippers as prayers for the granting of their wishes or for thanks for the successful fulfillment of their prayers. Along the path to the Inari shrine is the Migawari Jizo on the right, again an unusual situation where a Buddhist deity is worshipped in the approaches to this Shinto shrine. He is a favored deity, since he takes upon himself the problems or troubles afflicting those who pray to him. To the left of the Inari shrine are images of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. At the far end of this busy and self-contained temple/shrine is the aforementioned Akasaka Tokyo Toyokawa Bunka Kaikan, a hall for wedding receptions, conventions, and other affairs both religious and secular.
9 AKASAKA DETACHED PALACE
Farther along Aoyama-dori on the right are the parklands of the Akasaka Detached Palace. Not too far within the grounds were the separate palace units of members of the imperial family, the mansions of the former Emperor Hirohito’s brothers, Prince Chichibu and Prince Mikasa and their families. While the palace, which was designated a National Treasure of Japan in 2009, cannot be seen on this walking tour, it shall be here described so that those interested in it can view it at another time. The Akasaka Detached Palace can best be seen by a seven-minute walk from Yotsuya Station on the JR Sobu Line. The palace itself cannot be entered, since it serves today as a State Guest House (Geihinkan), but the gardens and fountains may be visited.
The Akasaka Detached Palace today serves as a state guesthouse for visiting dignitaries.
Before the end of the Tokugawa regime in 1868, the land that the Akasaka Palace occupies had belonged to the Kii branch of the Tokugawa family. Taken over by the Imperial Household Agency in 1868, the Kii mansion had to serve as the Emperor Meiji’s residence from 1873 to 1888, after the buildings of the Imperial Palace were destroyed by fire. The new Akasaka Palace was built for the emperor by public subscription, and it was completed in 1909 as the Togu Palace. The structure was created after the fashion of English, French, and German palaces in a vain attempt to be “as Western as the West” in imperial architecture. In part, the architect Katayama Tokuma, who was a student of Josiah Condor, modeled it after the Palace of Versailles in France, but, reflecting the era prior to the French Revolution, the original model for the Akasaka Palace hardly served as the best example for the turn-of-the-20th-century official dwellings.
To further complicate matters, an American architect’s advice was also invited. The new palace had all the grandeur and many of the discomforts of European palaces of the past. There was, for example, but one bathroom, and it was in the basement. The emperor’s bedroom was in one wing of the building, while that of the empress was in another wing. This may not have made for the closest of marital bliss, but on the other hand, it was the custom of the emperor to drop his handkerchief each evening in front of one of the ladies-in-waiting (a euphemism if ever there was one), who was thereby invited to his wing for that evening. The palace has seen changes through the years. Emperor Meiji, on his move to the Imperial Palace after 1888, gave the Togu Palace to the crown prince for a residence. After World War II, it temporarily housed the National Diet Library until 1962. Next it was the headquarters for the 1964 Olympics in Japan. Then in 1974 the palace was redone so it could serve as the State Guest House for heads of state when they visit Japan. President Ford of the United States in 1974, Queen Elizabeth of Britain in 1975, world leaders at the 1980 summit, and other heads of state have used the guest house. The various rooms are quite impressive: the Egyptian Room was the former Smoking Room of the original palace, while the Hall of the Feathered Robe (the former ballroom) has a painted ceiling inspired by the Noh play The Feathered Robe. The former dining room is now the Hall of Flowers and Birds. As indicated above, the grounds also contain the Omiya Palace Park, with mansions of the branches of the imperial family, which included a residence for the Crown Prince.
10 SOGETSU KAIKAN
Returning to Aoyama-dori, some three streets further along the avenue is the Sogetsu Art Center, a 1977 Kenzo Tange building of mirrored glass. The Sogetsu School of Flower Arranging was begun by Sofu Teshigahara, and he was succeeded as head of the school by his son Hiroshi Teshigahara, who is also well-known as the director of the film Woman in the Dunes. Today, Hiroshi’s daughter, Akane Teshigahara, is carrying on the family tradition as the head (iemoto) of the Sogetsu School. The lobby, a cascade of stone, has sculptures by Isamu Noguchi, and flower arrangements here are often on a very large scale. A small theater is on the lower level and a café on an upper level overlooks the lobby and the street. There flower arrangements by members of the school as well as other Japanese artists may be seen, and traveling exhibits of contemporary art are frequently on view. Lessons in the Sogetsu style of flower arrangements are possible for a fee.
One can continue further along Aoyamadori to the Meiji Shrine Outer Gardens, but this is recommended only for those who wish to see the 1964 Olympic sports complex or the Meiji Picture Gallery, a rather heavy-handed glorification of the life of Emperor Meiji in 80 pictures (described below). If one does not continue to the picture gallery, a return to Akasaka Mistsuke brings one back to the various subway lines that lie below that intersection. (One can also reach the picture gallery and sports complex by taking the subway from Akasaka Mitsuke to Gaienmae Station, which is close to the Gallery.)
11 THE MEIJI OUTER GARDEN (DIVERSION)
The 20 acres (8 hectares) of the Meiji Outer Garden are an extension in part of the former daimyo lands that became the Akasaka Detached Palace. This portion of the land was developed into the 120-acre (36-hectare) Aoyama Parade Ground for the military after 1868. Here in 1912 was held the funeral service for Emperor Meiji, and in recent years a major portion of the area has become sports grounds. On the left side of the Outer Garden can be found the units that were the center of athletic events during the 1964 Olympics: the National Stadium, which can seat 75,000; the two Jingu Baseball Stadiums, which can accommodate 66,000 and 12,000 respectively; the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium, seating 20,000; the Tokyo Gymnasium, for 5,300 spectators; and the Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool for 3,000.
A long walk into the grounds along the gingko tree-lined roadway leads to the Meiji Memorial
