Four Seasons at 椿山荘 ![Four Seasons Hotel at Chinzan-so.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFx8uM1t8d7cIShhjpd8MHMbuHsGiKQSmUTgv5rPcpFpmE9ZuCBTk3TxwI5PrHPKtTlZPmFWGtCVhck8MAhkFCV1FuEfAseiiUOiWXsdUWtmCLp0UQtB0vgMIMscs4uB5g4YcjzMqVqA/s320/4-seasons-1.JPG) The Four Seasons Hotel at Chinzan-so in Tokyo's Bunkyo ward is one of Tokyo's most beautiful hotels in that it looks out over the elaborately landscaped Chinzan-So Garden. I went through the Garden with a friend this week, admiring the crafted knolls, ponds, and waterfall, the delightful flower gardens, and the numerous historical objects brought here from all over Japan. Most of the cultural realia is in the form of stone lanterns and carvings, but the Garden even boasts a whole three-storey wooden pagoda taken from a 17th century temple. ![Four Seasons Hotel at Chinzan-so.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cHXRBUN64qBa_xeKzHz1l9zTQUsS0L5P6a3itCZ43swIydpQ1kCNcElEdvt7iUDjc6tONaJWkpZj266Wb0JytU4B8AY7-eCTjCI43PUAMAHd3bfqHduSuO-opCMf8EV02CI-gQnrtjw/s320/four-seasons-2.JPG) After a half-hour stroll through Chinzan-So Garden, taking in the dramatic colors of fall, with the modern lines of the Four Seasons Hotel in the background, we came back out onto the street. But the sightseeing was not over. Walking just ahead of us was an old man with his dog – and his turtle! Probably about 50cm in length, the big, solid amphibian was crawling slowly ahead of its master and his dog, the walk made easier, one hopes, by the special turtle slippers that its master had fitted its back legs with. (Just visible in the photo below.) ![Walking the turtle, Tokyo.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgmxRFl02s8lWx0rpjgoicZCNh3Ta9ixNYKv8T_9OBAWYmSQkYjiI7WJAPdqQbsN0rzUA3DmUbBr-9FT00PzzUHivh03RegV8nHetlNKlMg31UncK632GE3SgsSrpWnJcPOsPucYm6uw/s320/turtle-walk.JPG) The slow pace was perfect for the glorious, fine autumn day that it was, especially with us just having emerged from the calmness and serenity of the Four Seasons' Chinzan-So Garden. We headed back to Edogawabashi Station on the Yurakucho Subway line and made our unhurried way home. |