Tokyo Temple Adventure

I've been attempting to go to the Tokyo temple since I started traveling to Japan, and yesterday I finally succeeded. I finished work ~2:00 (for a change), and decided to head to the temple. When I logged on to the internet, I found that lds.org has a new map interface, which no longer seems to know about my Japanese congregation, so I no longer had directions to the temple. I did however get the address from LDS.org. Once I had the address, I had to figure out where in Tokyo it was located. None of the usual map services recognized the address. I finally found a web site called 'diddlefinger' that found the address. If you click on 'Panoramio' and/or 'satellite' you can see the temple under the green arrow and a picture from the street.

You'll notice if you clicked on the map-link above, that just to the west of the temple, is a train stop called Hiro-O (pronounced hero-oh). I next went to my favorite English train finder program and put Yokosukachuo as the start, Hiro-O as the destination, and 'unreserved' as train-type. Out popped my route and train times! At 4:30 PM I finally set out. I walked across the street to 7-11 (7i in Japan) to get cash. As I put my card in the machine, my cell phone rang. My co-worker said I needed to meet him, right then, in the hotel lobby to discuss some serious issues that just came up. I promptly returned to the hotel figuring temple trip attempt #10 was now over. After 45 minutes, though, I was on the road again. I hopped on the train and made it to the temple in 1 hour 40 minutes, just as the sun was setting. Usually temples are easy to find because they tower over everything in the area. Drive 495 in Maryland and you can't miss the D.C. Temple. In Tokyo, this is not the case. The temple is the same height or smaller than all the buildings, so I didn't know if I was in the right place until I was nearly next door and saw Moroni sticking out through the trees.

I entered the temple, and of course, no one spoke English. After attempting to ask if there were English sessions, I gave up and just showed him my recommend. (I have no clue what he may have thought I was asking for...) He then went and found a patron who spoke limited English and helped out.

Do you know your pant, shirt, shoe, and neck size in centimeters? I do now. After some trial and error, they got me some white clothes that fit. I then went to the service with headphones that provided English translation. (The headphones also had Spanish and various Asian languages you could hear by spinning the dial.) There were ~40 Japanese and two other Americans at the session. I felt the Spirit of the Lord very strong as we were being taught, and left the Temple very uplifted.
Afterward, I got some dinner nearby and made it home at 10:30 PM, ending my great Tokyo Temple Adventure!

Rob