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Hanazono Shrine's Secret?
honestly i think that torii might just be a modern addition from the 90s when they redid the stream area. i lived in shinjuku for two years and asked a shrine worker about it once, he said it was put up for aesthetic reasons not any deep spiritual thing. the real secret at hanazono is the inarizushi stand on the east side, open only till 11am, old lady runs it solo
imo the smaller torii prob marks where the old urabe family residence used to be before the shrine expanded in the meiji era. my japanese history professor mentioned it once during a walking tour around shinjuku, said the urabe were a shinto priest clan that maintained that specific stream for purification rituals. if you go back near dusk the light hits the wood grain in a way that reveals faint kanji carvings on the left pillar, i noticed it by accident last autumn
not everything at a shrine has a deep history, some stuff is just practical. that torii probably marks where the old path used to go before they reshaped the garden in the 70s. if u want the real hidden gem at hanazono, check out the tiny fox statue near the back wall, it's got a little red bib that gets changed every month by a local family
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.