Meiji Shrine (Day 6)

Now before I start off my blog for this posts, I just wish to inform my readers that Day 6 will consists of 5 postings as for this day, we covered a lot of grounds throughout Tokyo. Hope you guys will enjoy the coverage that's being posted so far. Do leave some comments if there's any hiccups or ideas you wish to share.

The train stopped at the Harajuku Station (原宿駅) where dad forced me and mom to exit the train quickly. One thing I found out about the JR Yamanote line is that either you leave the train quickly or else you will overpass the station you intend to stop. Dad told me that Harajuku is the place where you will see all the weird Japanese people with their fashion (either you want to see a barbie doll or a durian punk), you can find it here. However, due to the reason it's the weekday and school are in session, I told my dad that it will be advisable to go back on the weekends.

Instead of turning left to the Harajuku streets, we turned right to head towards the Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) covers a vast area of 700 000 square-meters of land where the area is covered by an evergreen forest. The land coverage itself is huge, wait until you make your way into the shrine, which is located right in the middle of the forest.

Meiji Shrine is a Shinto Shrine. The construction of the shrine began in 1915 and completed in November 1st, 1920. The Shrine, is build to dedicate to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji (明治天皇) and Empress Shōken (昭憲皇后). When Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and Empress Shōken in 1914, Japanese people wished to pay their respects to the 2 influential figures and that's the reason that the Shrine was built.

Meiji Shrine was destroyed in the World War 2's Tokyo Air Raids. It was then rebuilt through public fund raising effort and compeleted its construction in October 1958. This place is packed with tourists from around the world and normally it is flocked with tourists in the morning hours.

The grounds consists of two areas, the Naien and the Gaien. The Naien, or the inner precinct/garden, centred on the shrine buildings, which include a treasure museum that houses articles of the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. The Gaien, or the outer precinct/garden, which includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery that houses a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor Meiji and his consort. It also includes a variety of sports facilities, including the National Stadium, and is seen as the center of Japanese sports. It also includes the Meiji Memorial Hall, which was originally used for governmental meetings, including discussions surrounding the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in the late 19th century.

What we did was to visit the Naien area only, minus the treasure museum. Walking to the shrine is a long tedious walk, but with all the lush greens, great scenery and calm environment; serenaded by the chirping sound of birds and rustling leaves, taking your mind off from the busy life of Tokyo, it was all worth it.

There were several of these Torii (鳥居) wooden gates erected along the way. These Japanese gates are commonly found only at the entry of a Shinto Shrine.

There's also a display of Nihonshu (日本酒) or known as Japanese Sake which is used to offer to the gods. Donated by major companies from around the world (no kidding!) for prosperous business and good luck, no wonder there's so many barrels being displayed.

That's the main Torii before entering the Shrine.

Before entering a Shinto Shrine, stop over the Chōzubachi (手水鉢) for self purification. How to do it? First take the wooden dipper with your right hand and fill it with water. Pour the water over your left hand. Then take the dipper in your left and pour water over your right. Third, pour some water from the dipper into the cupped palm of your left hand. Rinse your mouth with this water, spitting it back out into the palm of your hand. Tough, but you'll get used to it like I did. Where did I learn this? From the internet. Hehe!

As I made my way to the main shrine in the center, suddenly something caught my eyes, as well as many tourists eyes. A Japanese traditional wedding. Meiji Shrine is famous for active Shinto wedding proceedings which can be seen on the inner ground of the shrine. This is an amazing sight to see with the bride in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono (Uchikake), shrine maidens, Shinto priests and the women wearing gorgeously crafted kimono. During my visit, there were 2 wedding proceedings that took place that morning.

Now the Shrine area is a huge place. The materials to make the shrine are mainly plain Japanese cypress with copper plates for the roofs. A few pictures from the outer shrine area.

How to make your worship at the Shinto Shrine? If you watched Japanese films or Anime, probably you might have learned a few things or two from there. Make your way to the Inner Shrine. Throw your coin in to the sasenbako (offerings box). Then ring the suzu (bell) firmly a couple times, but in Meiji Shrine they don't have a bell. Take a step back, bow twice, then clap twice. Spend a few moments in prayer, if you like. Then bow again. Simple right? Do it the Japanese way and the locals will have a respect for you.

Once done, I headed out of the inner shrine to tour about the outer shrine grounds. On the left, there's a big tree with many Ema's (絵馬) being placed. These small wooden plaques were written by worshipers as a prayers or wishes. What made me surprised is that I can find ema in many languages, as tourists from around the world leave their own wishes and prayers. Ema's can be purchased at 500Yen a piece at the Shrine giftshop.

I made my way to the Shrine giftshop to purchase a few Omamori (お守り). It's Japanese amulets usually made of cloth and encloses papers or pieces of wood with prayers written on them which are supposed to bring good luck to the bearer on particular occasions, tasks or ordeals. Omamori are also used to ward off bad luck and are often spotted on bags, hung on cellphone straps, in cars, etc. for safety in travel.

The Meiji Shrine visit took almost an hour or so as walking to the Shrine already takes a quarter of the visiting time. However, the visit to the shrine is worth it as it's one of the most beautiful shrine that Tokyo has to offer. I end my post with a few pictures taken from inside the shrine. Will blog again soon.