Thanksgiving

By Temple U Abroad December 19, 2016August 24, 2018

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in a country that doesn’t celebrate the “traditional American Thanksgiving”? Simply – by spending the day with friends exploring the culture of the country you’re in.

f161401_tokyo_buddha-at-tennoji_tamlynkurata — The big Buddha statue with fall leaves at Tennoji Temple

f161402_tokyo_front-of-nezu-jinja_tamlynkurata — The main approach to Nezu Jinja

f161403_tokyo_nezu-jinja-and-goshuin_tamlynkurata — The goshuin for Nezu Jinja

f161404_tokyo_old-sake-merchants-house-and-museum_tamlynkurata — An old merchant’s store turned into a pseudo-museum

f161405_tokyo_yushima-tenmangu-daruma_tamlynkurata — The daruma doll arrangement at Yushima Tenmangu’s fall festival

f161406_tokyo_flower-bridge_tamlynkurata — The entirety of the temple’s grounds were covered in flowers

f161407_tokyo_yushima-tenmangu_tamlynkurata — Yushima Tenmangu is the temple of the scholars, so many students come here to pray for successful exams (which we did as well)

We couldn’t afford a real Thanksgiving turkey, so we celebrated by going to eat yakiniku, which is a restaurant style that brings you raw meat that you cook on your own at a little grill at your table. It was very good!

f161408_tokyo_yakiniku-thanksgiving_tamlynkurata — All of the drinks were mango juice

And of course, what was a night in Tokyo without experiencing some of the fun activities with friends? This is purikura, a large Photo Booth that is notorious for creating the illusion of larger eyes and clearer skin. It was a lot of fun!

f161409_tokyo_purikura_tamlynkurata

A Thanksgiving miracle! It showed in Tokyo in November for the first time in 54 years. Well… it was more like sleet than snow, but for this Hawaii girl, anything that isn’t rain is spectacular. f1614010_tokyo_first-snow_tamlynkurata