Since most museums are closed on Mondays,  we spent the morning at Meiji Shrine in Harajuku.  The shrine is a little ways into a beautiful wooded area, an amazingly quiet and peaceful place in the midst of Tokyo.

Before praying, you can purchase a good luck charm to write your wish on, then hang it here:

Monday afternoon we attempted to go to a bonsai museum in Ichigaya.   While becoming lost looking for this museum, a very kind lady and her daughter came by and offered help. . .and while the guidebooks we have read say Japanese people try to be very helpful, we had no idea they meant this helpful!

This kind lady walked us to the museum, and, after discovering it was closed, she became very concerned about  what we were going to do today.  Since we wanted to see bonsai, she suggested Bonsai Village in Oomiya. . . and  then escorted us all the way there. . .which it turned out was about 45 minutes and 3 train station transfers away!

Although we were not allowed to take pictures inside of Bonsai Village, this is just outside one of the gardens: