Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) Tokyo

10th May 2009, we visited the Meiji Shrine at Harajuku area. It's a nice walk in from the main road, with shaded tress and wide pebbled pathway. You're greated by a gigantic torii gates which mark the transition from the sacred to the profane. Torii gates are found all over Japan where a shrine exist. I will show you more photos of different torii gates along the way.


Before reaching the main shrine, there is a display of sake offering outside the shrine. Sake is used for purification in Shinto rituals. Each year, sake supplier will donate buckets of sake to the shrine, and these here show the empty container of the sake containers donated. They also have a row of wine barrels there which was not there 4 years ago when I last visit.

In each shrine, it's a popular to get your fortune read, buy a charm, or write your wishes to the gods. For fortune read, it will cost you Y$100, and if you don't like the fortune given to you, you can tie it up and let the wind blows it away :) If you are the proactive type, you can spend Y$500 to write your wishes in one of these wooden blocks, and tie it up for the Gods to read, and wait for your wishes to come true :) But what I like best about Meiji Shrine, are the gigantic trees surrounding it that give it a certain spiritual feel to the place.


If it's your first time to Meiji Shrine, and especially on a weekend, you would think you're extremely lucky if you manage to catch a wedding ceremony taking place there. But the truth is, a few weeding ceremony are held there each weekend, and it is a common sight there. But still, to capture that moment in a photography is still very special.

Directions:
From Shinjuku Station, take the JR Yamanote Line to Harajuku Station (Y$130). Exit via Omote-Sando Exit and the extrance to the shrine should be on your right.

Ref:
Meiji Shrine
Torii Gates 鳥居
Sake 酒
Shinto 神道