Tokyo, 47 Ronin, masks, missed buses and Ribs!

I haven't posted for a while...so I'm here to remedy that. :D Let's see, where to begin. Earlier in October my school had a one week holiday. I went over to Tokyo for a day to get a notarized copy of my passport, and did a little exploring while I was there. I got the passport business done first and had the rest of the day to go around. I had made a list of a few places I wanted to visit including: Japan Sword shop, Sengokuji, some used book shops, International grocery etc. As I was walking to the sword shop, I passed some sort of small festival of people dressed in traditional garb. Very interesting...but i'll let the pictures do the talking.




After checking out some old swords, some costing $20,000 or more, I headed over to Sengakuji. This is the resting place of the 47 Ronin, masterless samurai who, on Dec. 14, 1701, took revenge on the man that had been responsible for the death of their master. After attacking his house and decapitating him, they then brought his head to this place, washed it in a well, and placed it at the gravestone of their deceased master, who was buried here. They were then arrested and all made to commit ritual suicide (seppuku). They were also buried here along with their master.
I did a lot of walking that day, and learned that my cheap-o 500 yen ($5) shoes aren't great for walking!! I had a nice dinner at T.G.I. Fridays (Jack Daniels ribs) before heading to the bus station. Turns out, regardless of being told otherwise by two separate people, it was the WRONG bus terminal. I missed my bus, last one of the day, and thought I'd have to stay the night. I ended up getting a ticket to another city about 45 min from where I live and was lucky enough to have Rumi come and pick me up at like 1:00 in the morning....Thanks Rumi!!! :D