Jindaiji

A few weeks ago I spent the day in Jindaiji, a lovely little part of Tokyo that I used to visit often, drawn by the abundant greenery, old temple, delicious soba noodles and sprawling botanical garden. I hadn't been since we moved to our current apartment as the move made the trek down to Jindaiji just a bit too long. But as I discovered, it's still worth the two hours and two bus rides it takes, and I hope to be a more frequent visitor.

The area takes its name from the local temple. Jindaiji was founded in 733, making it the second oldest temple in Tokyo (Asakusa's Sensoji beats it by a century). The current buildings are of relatively recent construction, having been destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times over the centuries, but I really like the architecture and layout of the place. Two of the main buildings are connected by an open-air passageway, above, which is pretty enough with a pond in the foreground and small waterfall in the background but becomes rather magical when traversed by monks in their flowing robes.

Unfortunately no monks were on the prowl that day, but we did get to see a cutely posed turtle.

We took a few minutes to read the ema (votive plaques) and were rewarded with a few good ones. The one above is by a little girl (at least I'm hoping it's a little girl) whose prayer is to marry her father.

Jindaiji has long been known for its soba (buckwheat noodles). In the old days the soba was made especially delicious by the local spring water, which was used not only to make the noodles and broth but to power the water wheels that ground the local buckwheat. These days there are still quite a few picturesque little restaurants that feature waterwheels, but they are mostly cosmetic and both the water and buckwheat come from elsewhere. Still, the soba is good here and there are a few dozen places that offer it. We settled on Tamanoya, shown above.

Although it was a weekday the place was crowded, and we chose to sit indoors rather than wait for a table outside. It was a nice day and and an al fresco meal would have been great, but we were hungry.

We both chose juwari ten-seiro, cold 100% buckwheat noodles with tempura and a soy-based dipping sauce for both. At 1500 yen this was a pricey lunch, but the noodles were top quality with good buckwheat flavour and a chewy texture. Tamanoya also serves regular nihachi soba (noodles made with 80% buckwheat and 20% wheat) at much lower prices, but you can eat that anywhere.

Right in front of Tamanoya is the entrance to Jindai Botanical Garden, a lovely collection of formal gardens and sprawling greenery which has something or other in bloom all year long. We'd just missed the azaleas and were too early for the hydrangeas, but we came just in time for the rose festival. I'm not hugely into roses but the sight- and smell- of so many colourful blooms was stunning.

When we'd had our fill of roses we toured the two small greenhouses, one dedicated to water lilies and tropical plants and the other to begonias and orchids.

And then we took an ice cream break- that's my of rose gelato above. And then we took a walk through some of the non-rose sections of the garden until closing time.

Once out of the garden we headed to the touristy main drag of Jindaiji for a quick look around.

It was time for another snack break, so we checked out our options before settling for sobapan (steamed buckwheat buns), which is what I always get. This time I opted for a filling of pickled takana greens, thinking it was a slightly healthier choice than my usual sweet kabocha squash.

Aside from the temple, botanical gardens and soba, there are a few other things to do: paint some ceramics at Musashino Jinjdaiji-gama, a rakuyaki (quick-fire pottery) studio, fill up on snacks and souvenirs at the Gegege no Kitaro Chaya, a teahouse and shop dedicated to the manga and animation series Gegege no Kitaro (its creator lives in the area), and soak in one of the many themed hot spring baths at Jindaiji Yukari Onsen. But we were done for the day, so we boarded our bus and headed home, vowing to return again soon. For more pictures from the day, see here (and here are some bonus pictures from a visit five years ago).

Jindaiji can be reached by bus from Kichijoji and Mitaka stations on the Chuo line and Tsutsujigaoka and Chofu stations on the Keio line.

Comments

[krissy]

looks like you folks had a wonderful day.

[heidi husnak]

Lovely place. That cute turtle, I would almost bet my first born on, is from the Southern United States and is a red-eared slider. Wikki says they are popular pets in Japan. :)

[catherine]

beau temple, beau jardin,belle promenade....

[Duc]

That ice cream looks good right about now with this heat and rain we are getting. It is going to be a long rainy month.

[Mari]

Even after a century of modernization, Japan still offers much beauty and grace in its architectural and cultural traditions. Eating handmade soba at a temple in summer is a quintessentially Japanese experience... I'm glad you enjoyed!

[Amy]

Thanks for the comments!

Heidi, you're right. Red-eared sliders are probably the most common pond turtle in Japan. They are said to be a big problem as they compete with the native turtles, but of all Japan's invasive species (people are constantly buying exotic pets and abandoning them in the wild) they don't seem so bad. I often see sliders and Japanese turtles in the same pond and everyone seems to get along just fine.