Leap Day let its presence be known in Tokyo with a sudden snow shower that blanketed the city. I went around and took some photos and videos of certain spots. In the past several years, snowfalls in Tokyo have become somewhat rarer than in the past.





Ota Dokan (1432-1486)

Ota Dokan was a samurai leader of the 15th Century who built the first castle in Tokyo then known as Edo. He died at the hands of his master who had been deliberately misled that Ota was disloyal. His death occurred during the early part of the Sengoku Period (1476-1573) when treachery and murder was commonplace.





Buddha of Tenno-ji Temple of the Yanaka Area





Golden Kannon Statue of Zenshoan Temple





Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336)





Kusunoki Masashige was a samurai lord during the transitionary period from the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate to the rise of the Ashikaga Shogunate. He is remembered for his loyalty to the Emperor Godaigo. Against his better judgement, Kusunoki followed the Emperor's orders to march against their former ally Ashikaga Takauji at Minatogawa. There he died in battle and later Godaigo was forced to go into exile.





Yanaka Cemetery





Nijubashi - Imperial Palace









The Tomb of Tokugawa Yoshinobu









In Yanaka Cemetery is the grave of the last Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837-1913). Yoshinobu surrendered his power as Shogun to Emperor Meiji in 1867 thus ending over 600 years of military rule in Japan.













Sake Shop Museum

Yamanote Train pushes through the snow





Benzaiten Shrine - Ueno Park





Kan'ei-ji Temple - Ueno Park

Tomb of Shogi-Tai - Shogun soldiers who died here in 1868

Saigo Takamori (1832-1877)





Saigo Takamori was arguably the last true samurai who rebelled against the Meiji Government in 1877 and died before the samurai class as a whole was abolished. Due to his popularity, he was posthumously pardoned in 1889 and his statue in Ueno was built in 1898.