A revisit of Yoyogi park

I have been to Japan four times this one included and I have visited Yoyogi park every time. More precisely, everytime I visited the park I thought that the Meiji shrine was all it was, but it seems ithat is only a third or so of the entire area.

I decided to give it another go and try to get out from the normal path and find some of the less common places. I left the house at 12 and got to the entrance of the park in no more than half an hour.

The temperature stayed at a wonderful 31 degrees during the entire trip and even though I was in the land of the rising sun I wished it hadn't risen that high. I stuck to the shadows when possible and hydrated pretty regularly. A 2 liter water bottle costs only 100 yen so you won't get poor when buying water. The tap water seems drinkable, but doesn't taste all that well, especially if you pour hot water directly. My advice is to only brush your teeth in it.

But since I was at the park I decided to visit the Meiji shrine just for old times sake. I didn't take too many photos as there seemed to be a wedding going on and I didn't want to disturb the guests.

When you walk along the path to the Meiji shrine you will see several small paths leading to other parts of the forest areas and a long line of straw wrapped sake barrels on one side and on the oppposite side you will see a long line of western style barrels of what I guess was wine, offerings to the late emperor Meiji and empress Shokan by Japanese brewers from all over the country.

I also found the path to Kiyomasa's well which is known for its great quality and people claim that their luck increased after drinking from it.

To get there you first have to buy an interesting looking ticket for 500 yen. The shape is like a diamond from a card deck and green flowers printed on it. This lets you get into a little more secluded area with lots of forest around you, small trampled paths and signs pointing to different locations.

One thing you really have to watch out for is the suzume bachi, swallow wasp. It is the size of your thumb and can both bite and sting you. If you get stung once you should be alright, but if you get stung twice there are risks of heart seizures. Luckily, since they are so large they can be heard from a distance, they are easy to avoid.

Another animal that was much more common in that areas was spiders. I don't know how venomous or dangerous they are, but their size and webs were pretty big. The paths around the garden were clear of webs and such so I think the staff makes sure there are no accidents.

A friendlier insect buzzing around was the tonbo, dragonfly. It zipped around the ponds teasing the koi fishes. They were still a bit annoying as they liked to stay in your face.

There was also a renovated model of an old tea house with a view of the south pond, but no one was allowed to enter.

Last time I was here I saw lots of huge Japanese crows and hoped I could take a few photos but they were nowhere to be seen. I thought they would've been good for my blog.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere despite the temperature, but there were so many tourists around the area talking so it didn't feel that calm as I had hoped. But it is definitely worth a visit to have a look if you are passing through.

When I finally reached the well there was a long line of tourists waiting to be the next one to take a photo of the well and drink from it or at least dip their hands in it. The whole spectacle took away the spirit of a magic well, like if people were queueing to get a golden egg from the goose. But hey, it is a tourist spot, it should be expected. I took a quick photo and looked at the poor well being milked for what it's worth.

Expenses

• Ticket to Kiyomasa's well 500 yen