The Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine established in 1920 after the deaths of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. The area had been a field and was planted with thousands of trees to create a cool, shady oasis in the center of Tokyo.
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| First Torii gate |
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| Frank reading the rules, such as not bringing your horses inside. |
We met with a priest, who did an amazing job of explaining about the shrine, it's history and Shinto in general.
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| Even priests like sake |
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| The sake barrels are donations from the breweries |
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| Blue skies, green trees, and Torii gates |
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| Looking towards the main shrine |
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| Married trees |
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| Family reading ema |
After taking us on a tour of the buildings, we went inside to see a video about the shrine and talk about Shinto. It was extremely interesting and informative to have such an opportunity.
One of the best parts was when we were led into the Kaguraden for a blessing. This was a longer, more involved ceremony than the one we had in Dazaifu, including shrine maidens performing a dance, though we were not the only ones involved. Still, it was a wonderful experience.
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| Kaguraden (the hall itself is closed) |
Being blessed makes people hungry, so we headed out in search of food.
Being so close to Harajuku, we couldn't resist the chance to walk down Takeshita Street to see all the crazy shops.
Had a salad and sandwich for lunch, then we moved on to our next stop of the day.
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