We arrived in Tokyo on the afternoon of Sunday, April 8th. We rode a train from ??? to the Shinjuku station where we transferred onto a JR Line train and got off at the Nipporo station, Northwestern suburb of Tokyo. Our instructions were to hike for seven minutes to our hotel, but, us being in a strange city and night darkness having already begun, we opted for a taxi instead. It cost us only 660 Yen; money well spent.

On our first day, we were taken on a tour of some of the nearby shrines and temples by Matsuura, a member of Tokyo Free Guides. She was wonderful -- and did not charge a fee for her excellent tour of selected Tokyo sights. At right is the first shrine we visited, only a few blocks from the hotel where we were staying.

It turned out to primarily a cemetery, but an interesting one at that. The wooden slats on graves are provided by the relatives of the deceased - and contain the name of the relative.

Another "shrine" - or more accurately, a praying booth located on a street between residences.	Another neighborhood shrine, again, just a few blocks from our hotel, and the cemetery/shrine above.

Within the shrine whose main building is pictured on the right in the previous row of photos.			There were many beautiful flowers in the shrines we visited

More flowers in full bloom...	...just like the cherry trees

A whole row of dressed up statues.	I wanted to capture the intricate - and beautiful- ornamental work on the roofs of most shrines. Unfortunately, these small "thumbs" fail to show the details -- take a look at a bigger image by clicking on any of the roof images.

Roof details (click on photo for a larger image)

Continues..