Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park

Published: 06.09.2019

Smokers have to stay behind the fence :P

the large torii on the main path to the shrine - the entrance to the realm of the gods

Washing area for (spiritual) purification before entering the shrine

Here you can buy wooden plaques called Ema for making wishes...

...and here they are hung up. When the walls are full, the Ema are cut off and burned, so that the wishes rise to the sky with the smoke

French wine barrels consecrated at the Meiji Shrine (Emperor Meiji also started eating Western dishes - and apparently also enjoyed drinking wine ;)

Sake barrels donated to the shrine by local breweries (under Emperor Meiji, there was an industrial boom)

the lake with illuminated fountains 20 minutes later

when you want to take a selfie and the flash surprises you 😅

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Admittedly, in the end, the proximity to the Meiji Shrine park grounds and Yoyogi Park was probably the decisive factor in choosing the cozy 5.5m² apartment... Somehow I didn't want to live too far away from the forest or at least from the green ;) so of course I went for a walk in the park right after moving into the room!

The Meiji Shrine

Just a 7-minute walk from my apartment is the entrance to the Meiji Shrine - which feels almost like the entrance to another world. Just between traffic and buildings, a few steps later you find yourself in the jungle. Through the tall trees, you can occasionally catch a glimpse of the top of a skyscraper, and you can't hear any city traffic either - partly because of the immense noise of crickets and birds. The path winds through the dense forest, past a meadow where couples and groups enjoy the evening, over a bridge and past a museum. When I'm in the middle of the forest, a speaker announcement suddenly echoes through the forest - which of course I don't understand a word of. Is it important? Is someone being sought? Is it a safety warning? Are the gates about to close? ...Shortly afterwards, the mystery is solved when the announcement is repeated in English: the shrine will be closing soon. Since I'm approaching the shrine area now and there are still many people around, I ignore the announcement for now and take a quick look at the shrine itself.

The Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the Japanese Emperor Meiji and his wife Shoken. Emperor Meiji was the first modern emperor who opened Japan to the West at the end of the 19th century.

The huge torii gate marks the transition from the world of humans to the world of gods. In addition to tourists, there are also some Japanese people who pray in front of the shrine and bow at all sorts of things. But I don't have much time to look around here in detail, as a small Japanese security guard is already running across the square and commanding people with demonstrative glances at his watch.

*Torii at the entrance to the park grounds*

Yoyogi Park

Directly south of the Meiji Shrine is Yoyogi Park, on the southern edge of which are the Olympic venues for the 1964 Games. The park is one of the largest in Tokyo and has picnic areas, playgrounds, nurseries, a dog park, illuminated (!) paths for jogging and walking, and a lake with fountains.

Since the sun currently sets at 6 p.m. here, I was in the park at dusk - and I ended up on a bench overlooking the illuminated fountains. The atmosphere there was simply beautiful, and the temperatures were also (finally) pleasant :)