Spending lazy days walking around the shitamachi, enjoying early November air with a sun still warm and a wind whispering about a change of season... I can hardly describe how comfortable I am with this routine.
Iriya became over time a second home for me and I can't help to spend a couple of days here everytime I come back to Japan.
The path to Otori Jinja from my hostel took me around quiet neighborhoods, small shops and a couple of rundown buildings... Then I reached the main road, marking the border between Iriya and Senzoku, and now happy voices and faces are everywhere around, the temple is just in front of me.
Lanterns start to shine brighter in the dusk, making me wondering of a different time... the Edo period.
When common people, once a year, flock to this market to get a "kumade" looking for good luck and even Yoshiwara district, the geisha's old gated city at the other end of this neighborhood, opened its doors to them...
On the "day of the rooster".
