The rain lashed and tried to tear away the umbrella from my hands as I approached the massive Hozomon Gate that precedes the Sensoji Temple. I was on a buying spree for souvenirs to bring back home at Asakusa’s Nakamise Street when I chanced upon its red gates. I still have a few hours left before my plane leaves for Manila and it’s only with good fortune that my last destination before leaving Japan would be Tokyo’s largest Buddhist Temple and not to mention, the country’s oldest.

I watched from the comfort of Hotel Okura’s breakfast nook as a transparent umbrella whipped off a salaryman’s hand on his way to work outside the streets of Tokyo. The rain had worsened on our third and last day in Japan. It wasn’t a good way to start the morning at all.
My original plan was to check the nearby Imperial Palace by foot. I’d like to savor Tokyo on my own slow terms. I wanted to see its side streets, its small stores and its ordinary life unfold by walking through its thoroughfares. But it looks like I’d have to come up with a quick plan B.