The most popular shrine in Tokyo is most likely Senso-ji in Asakusa, but in this article we take you for a walk to the other major shrine in Tokyo, Meiji Shrine.
Even though located close to the very busy JR Harajuku Station, when you walk from the station to the path leading to the shrine, you enter a forest. Walking this path, it takes from 5 to 10 minutes to the shrine. First, we enter through the famous Torii Gate. This is a popular spot to take a picture.
(From Flickr)
In this forest, there are as many as 120,000 trees, of 365 different species. The reason for it is that Meiji Shrine was built to respect Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken, and the Emperor really liked nature.
When you have walked for a while, you will encounter a wall of sake on the right, and a wall of wine on the left. But what is the story behind this? The first two pictures have the sake and the third and fourth the wine barrels.
Quite a sight, isn’t it? The Emperor wanted to adopt the best of Western culture while not giving up on the Japanese traditions. Therefore, he liked to eat western food and drink wine. The barrels have been offered by wineries of Bourgogne, France. As for the sake barrels, they are a gift from Meiji Jingu Nationwide Sake Brewer’s association. These sake and wine barrels at display are empty, but actually shrines receive sake donations from brewers for the rice wine used in Shinto rites and festivals.
Then, let’s walk further! There are three Torii Gates between the entrance and the shrine, and this one is the last one.
If you are lucky, there might be a wedding ceremony going on. The next photo is taken just after the gate. Here we are, at the Meiji Shrine!
There is no admission fee to the shrine grounds. However, remember to check the opening hours since Meiji Jingu opens with sunrise and closes with sunset.
More information
http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english/
Map:
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