May 6, Sunday ( ♫♫♫♫Happy Birthday to me ♫♫♫♫)
Well the sun is shining again today, although it is partly cloudy. Today I’m going to visit the Meiji Shrine, a MUST SEE site in Tokyo.
Now that took courage ! Unfortunately, when I visited a site in Kyoto, I found out that Yosinobu Tokugawa commited hara kiri after giving up power; to him even if it was the right decision, it brought shame to him and his heritage.
I finally reach the area where the Shrine is located, and there are wedding ceremonies being performed.
A wedding party
The bride sitting demurely at the back of the crowd. That is the groom with the traditional wide coat over a grey skirt.
I enter through the gate and come into the main courtyard. Everything is built of wood and left to its natural colour.... all except the ends of the beams which are painted white. They give everything a lace effect.
The main doors in the gate
Another wedding photo shot
The bride is smiling !
The shrine looks like many others, but inside is a covered courtyard where ceremonies are performed. We are not allowed to take pictures of the inside. There was a wedding ceremony just starting !
Leaving the shrine by yet another Torii Gate on the north side, leading to the museum
A huge open grass area outside of the forest
Lots of people out for a Sunday picnic
There is also a martial arts school on the grounds
Kind of reminds me of Central Park large lawns in New York City
At the entrance of the museum in Meiji Park
The museum building is quite new, and as you can see, no basement ! It is on earthquake proof stilts.
Some of the martial arts students out having fun on the lawns.
A sculpted bush. What does it look like to you ?
I see a person, crouched down (legs on the right, head to the left, curved arms in the middle)
A lot of turtles vying for positions on a few rocks beside the pond.
A view of the pond
I'm walking back toward the shrine, through this beautiful quiet forest. The wind is strong and the branches overhead are swaying. This is a shot looking straight up to the sky.
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY !
Leaving the small path and on to the larger one
Back into the courtyard
where the wishing boards are located. You write down your wish on a board (which you have just purchased) and hang it on the wall as part of the ritual.
Oops.... well I thought I had a picture of the water well here, but I don't. You've seen some on previous posts however. The beginning ritual is for you to wash your hands and rinse your mouth before entering thre shrine (same as for Buddhism in Japan). You take the dipper, fill it with water with your right hand, pour water over your left hand, repeat with other hand, add water in the dipper again and put some in your clean hand (can't remember if it has to be the right or left one) and sip the water to rinse out your mouth. Whatever you do, don't spit it back into the dipper, or the well. You can now enter the shrine. All of them have an area where you can put money in. This is how you make a wish at a shrine: Bow, throw coins in the container, clap your hands twice (this is to get the attention of the gods), bow again, make your wish. No idea if it works or not since I won't find out until I get back to Ottawa, safe and sound, after a nice trip around the world.
Workers weeding the iris garden
A small pavillion in the Gyoen
The well on the grounds that is the source of the water in this part of the park
And it was the end of the azalea growing season, so not much to see as far as flowers were concerned. Even the pond “where the Empress used to love to fish” was in need of some TLC.
I then headed back to the same metro station (C-03 & F-15) for a short ride to (F-13, S-02, M-09) and switched from the F to the M line, proceeding to M-10, the stop to visit the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.
At the entrance to the park, they have conveniently placed a "YOU ARE HERE" sign, as well as an indication of where the Metro station is located.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Another huge lawn area for picnics and games. This is the "English Landscape Garden" an extensive lawn that makes it look like Central Park in New York.
This is another MUST SEE area in Tokyo. Unfortunately when I got out of the metro station and entered the park, there were huge dark grey clouds moving in. I had just purchased my entrance ticket and had just walked into the garden when there was an announcement on the loud speaker; unfortunately only in Japanese. The people who had settled down for picnics started packing things up, some people headed out of the park, but others just went to seek shelter in one of the many pavilions and tea houses throughout the gardens.
I happened to be beside one shelter, so I ducked under there with about 30 other people. The rain came down but then stopped, so I continued my journey through the gardens.
The "Japanese" gardens
The view from the pavillion
Same view during the rain storm !
The rain stopped almost as quickly as it had started, and although the sun didn’t quite make it back out, I was able to continue my visit of the gardens. This park dates back to the Edo Period when it was in private hands, it then became an experimental farm, a botanical garden, and an Imperial Garden in 1906 when it was re-designed by Henri Martine, a French horticulturist. In 1949 the garden was opened to the public and is now managed by the Ministry of the Environment.
A walk through the gardens
The paths are now full of puddles but the greens are amazing !
Japanese Traditional Garden: with a stream winding its way along the length of the garden, with pavilions & tea houses and beautifully sculpted bushes.
One of the Tea Pavillions in the park
Azalea Hill ! Isn't this beautiful ! And no one around to have my picture taken on my birthday !
Another quiet area in the park, where the large trees are covered in moss
French Formal Garden: beautifully symmetrical garden with roses and sycamores.
One of the rare roses that has already opened. Most of the bushes only show tiny rose buds.
Yulan Magnolia Tree
Close up of the flower
As you can see from the pictures, it is a true gem of a garden.
I had to rush through the gardens because at 4 pm they announced that they were closing the gates at 4:30. I still had 1/3 left to see so I had to skip some of the paths. Unfortunately, it also meant that I had no time left to try to visit the “Outer Garden of Meiji Shrine” which is in a different location from the Meiji Shrine, but would have been on my route back to the hotel.
I walked back to the metro station and this time had a straight ride to the Tokyo Station (M-17) which is only a few blocks away from my hotel. Unfortunately, the M Line is on the Marunouchi side of the Station and I had to get to the Yaesu side. It took me half an hour to walk through the station; that’s how BIG it is. To top it off, I had to cross on the level where all the shops and hallways were jammed with people doing some shopping on a Sunday afternoon. By the time I got back outside it was raining again. No umbrella ! It wasn’t supposed to rain today according to the weather reports ! Japanese weather forecasters don’t seem to be any better than the ones we have. I got back to my hotel soaking wet once again. IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO RAIN ON MY PARADE !
There was no way I was going back out for a birthday dinner. I ended up having a bowl of Japanese noodles (bowls where you just add boiling water and VOILA a complete meal). My birthday dinner will have to wait until I get to Kyoto tomorrow. I did however buy myself a nice pastry while I was walking through the station.
I think I deserve a little something sweet for my 58th birthday ! (♫♫♫♫ Happy Birthday to me ♫♫♫♫)
Well the sun is shining again today, although it is partly cloudy. Today I’m going to visit the Meiji Shrine, a MUST SEE site in Tokyo.
An easy metro ride away.
“Meiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the divine souls of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) and his consort Empress Shoken (1850-1914). Emperor Meiji ascended to the throne in 1867, when Japan was facing unprecedented conditions such as the opening of the country to the world after its long isolation and the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Emperor Meiji took the initiative to promote friendship with other countries and to introduce western civilization and developed technology from overseas while preserving Japanese identity. Thus, he laid the foundations of modern Japan. He was also the first emperor in history to go on frequent visits to places throughout the whole country to observe the way of life of the people. He lived a simple and frugal life, sharing the joys and sorrows of the people. In just half a century Emperor Meiji achieved the establishment of a constitutional government, industrial development and fulfillment of education, all of which contributed to the modernization of Japan. After both the emperor and the empress died, the Japanese people wanted to commemorate their virtues and to venerate them forever, so they donated 100,000 trees from all over Japan and from overseas and they worked voluntarily to create this forest”. The forest is now more than 90 years old and the trees are tall and majestic.
“Meiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the divine souls of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) and his consort Empress Shoken (1850-1914). Emperor Meiji ascended to the throne in 1867, when Japan was facing unprecedented conditions such as the opening of the country to the world after its long isolation and the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Emperor Meiji took the initiative to promote friendship with other countries and to introduce western civilization and developed technology from overseas while preserving Japanese identity. Thus, he laid the foundations of modern Japan. He was also the first emperor in history to go on frequent visits to places throughout the whole country to observe the way of life of the people. He lived a simple and frugal life, sharing the joys and sorrows of the people. In just half a century Emperor Meiji achieved the establishment of a constitutional government, industrial development and fulfillment of education, all of which contributed to the modernization of Japan. After both the emperor and the empress died, the Japanese people wanted to commemorate their virtues and to venerate them forever, so they donated 100,000 trees from all over Japan and from overseas and they worked voluntarily to create this forest”. The forest is now more than 90 years old and the trees are tall and majestic.
The Torii Gate at the entrance to Meiji Park
The tall trees towering over this wide path
A small brook meandering through the forest
Ah.... the sake barrels. Every Shinto Shrine has them. The shrines were the sites for celebrations, so sake had to be on hand. Every year, barrels were donated by the breweries. These unfortunately are all empty and just for show !
Now this is different. At this shrine there are also barrels of wine from the Bourgogne region of France. Sake barrels wrapped in straw: “offered every year to the enshrined deities by members of the Sake Brewers Association, which has made offerings of sake for generations.”
Here is one of the barrels
The Inner “Grand Torii Gate” is the largest in Japan modeled exactly after the original built in 1924; it is built of 1,500 year old cypress from Taiwan. Height 12 meters, Diameter of each piller 1.2m, Length of crosspiece 17 m, distance between the 2 pillars 9.1 m.
A reproduction of a painting showing the Emperor and Empress arriving at a function.
“The
House of Tokugawa had led the government as shoguns for generations, but taking
into consideration the state of the country, the 15th shogun,
Yoshinobu Tokugawa, restored political power to the Imperial Court in October
1867. This brought to an end the
Tokugawa Shogunate that had lasted for 265 years.” 
The tall trees towering over this wide path
A small brook meandering through the forest
Ah.... the sake barrels. Every Shinto Shrine has them. The shrines were the sites for celebrations, so sake had to be on hand. Every year, barrels were donated by the breweries. These unfortunately are all empty and just for show !
Now this is different. At this shrine there are also barrels of wine from the Bourgogne region of France. Sake barrels wrapped in straw: “offered every year to the enshrined deities by members of the Sake Brewers Association, which has made offerings of sake for generations.”
Here is one of the barrels
The Inner “Grand Torii Gate” is the largest in Japan modeled exactly after the original built in 1924; it is built of 1,500 year old cypress from Taiwan. Height 12 meters, Diameter of each piller 1.2m, Length of crosspiece 17 m, distance between the 2 pillars 9.1 m.
A reproduction of a painting showing the Emperor and Empress arriving at a function.Now that took courage ! Unfortunately, when I visited a site in Kyoto, I found out that Yosinobu Tokugawa commited hara kiri after giving up power; to him even if it was the right decision, it brought shame to him and his heritage.
I finally reach the area where the Shrine is located, and there are wedding ceremonies being performed.
A wedding party
The bride sitting demurely at the back of the crowd. That is the groom with the traditional wide coat over a grey skirt.
I enter through the gate and come into the main courtyard. Everything is built of wood and left to its natural colour.... all except the ends of the beams which are painted white. They give everything a lace effect.
The main doors in the gate
Another wedding photo shot
The bride is smiling !
The shrine looks like many others, but inside is a covered courtyard where ceremonies are performed. We are not allowed to take pictures of the inside. There was a wedding ceremony just starting !
Leaving the shrine by yet another Torii Gate on the north side, leading to the museum
A huge open grass area outside of the forest
Lots of people out for a Sunday picnic
There is also a martial arts school on the grounds
Kind of reminds me of Central Park large lawns in New York City
At the entrance of the museum in Meiji Park
The museum building is quite new, and as you can see, no basement ! It is on earthquake proof stilts.
Some of the martial arts students out having fun on the lawns.
A sculpted bush. What does it look like to you ?
I see a person, crouched down (legs on the right, head to the left, curved arms in the middle)
A lot of turtles vying for positions on a few rocks beside the pond.
A view of the pond
I'm walking back toward the shrine, through this beautiful quiet forest. The wind is strong and the branches overhead are swaying. This is a shot looking straight up to the sky.
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY !
Leaving the small path and on to the larger one
Back into the courtyard
where the wishing boards are located. You write down your wish on a board (which you have just purchased) and hang it on the wall as part of the ritual.
Oops.... well I thought I had a picture of the water well here, but I don't. You've seen some on previous posts however. The beginning ritual is for you to wash your hands and rinse your mouth before entering thre shrine (same as for Buddhism in Japan). You take the dipper, fill it with water with your right hand, pour water over your left hand, repeat with other hand, add water in the dipper again and put some in your clean hand (can't remember if it has to be the right or left one) and sip the water to rinse out your mouth. Whatever you do, don't spit it back into the dipper, or the well. You can now enter the shrine. All of them have an area where you can put money in. This is how you make a wish at a shrine: Bow, throw coins in the container, clap your hands twice (this is to get the attention of the gods), bow again, make your wish. No idea if it works or not since I won't find out until I get back to Ottawa, safe and sound, after a nice trip around the world.
"The inner garden, or Gyoen, predates the newer forest. It first belonged to Lord Kato and later to Lord Li, during the Edo period. In the reign of Emperor Meiji it passed into the Imperial Estate." It took me a while to find it since the pathway that went to it only had indications in Japanese, but I wanted to visit it because of the iris gardens. Unfortunately, it is too early in the season and there were no flowers out yet.
Workers weeding the iris garden
A small pavillion in the Gyoen
The well on the grounds that is the source of the water in this part of the park
And it was the end of the azalea growing season, so not much to see as far as flowers were concerned. Even the pond “where the Empress used to love to fish” was in need of some TLC.
I made my back to the Café/ Restaurant/ Souvenir area which I had passed on my way in and had a much needed lunch. Today I went Japanese and had one of their rice dishes accompanied with delicious miso soup, pickled vegetables and a melon soda.
I then headed back to the same metro station (C-03 & F-15) for a short ride to (F-13, S-02, M-09) and switched from the F to the M line, proceeding to M-10, the stop to visit the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. 
At the entrance to the park, they have conveniently placed a "YOU ARE HERE" sign, as well as an indication of where the Metro station is located.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Another huge lawn area for picnics and games. This is the "English Landscape Garden" an extensive lawn that makes it look like Central Park in New York.
This is another MUST SEE area in Tokyo. Unfortunately when I got out of the metro station and entered the park, there were huge dark grey clouds moving in. I had just purchased my entrance ticket and had just walked into the garden when there was an announcement on the loud speaker; unfortunately only in Japanese. The people who had settled down for picnics started packing things up, some people headed out of the park, but others just went to seek shelter in one of the many pavilions and tea houses throughout the gardens.
I happened to be beside one shelter, so I ducked under there with about 30 other people. The rain came down but then stopped, so I continued my journey through the gardens.
I had just made it to the Japanese Traditional Gardens when the skies darkened up again. I ducked under a nice pavilion to sit and take some pictures and while I was there the deluge arrived, as well as thunder, lighting and hail. I must admit however that it was quite spectacular, and at least I wasn’t alone under the pavilion. (I found out on the news later that evening that there had been a tornado about 60 km north east of Tokyo and there had been quite a lot of damage and injuries from it. I guess we were lucky to just get the storm.)
The "Japanese" gardens
The view from the pavillion
Same view during the rain storm !
The rain stopped almost as quickly as it had started, and although the sun didn’t quite make it back out, I was able to continue my visit of the gardens. This park dates back to the Edo Period when it was in private hands, it then became an experimental farm, a botanical garden, and an Imperial Garden in 1906 when it was re-designed by Henri Martine, a French horticulturist. In 1949 the garden was opened to the public and is now managed by the Ministry of the Environment.
A walk through the gardens
The paths are now full of puddles but the greens are amazing !
Japanese Traditional Garden: with a stream winding its way along the length of the garden, with pavilions & tea houses and beautifully sculpted bushes.
One of the Tea Pavillions in the park
Azalea Hill ! Isn't this beautiful ! And no one around to have my picture taken on my birthday !
Another quiet area in the park, where the large trees are covered in moss
French Formal Garden: beautifully symmetrical garden with roses and sycamores.
One of the rare roses that has already opened. Most of the bushes only show tiny rose buds.
Yulan Magnolia Tree
Close up of the flower
As you can see from the pictures, it is a true gem of a garden.
I had to rush through the gardens because at 4 pm they announced that they were closing the gates at 4:30. I still had 1/3 left to see so I had to skip some of the paths. Unfortunately, it also meant that I had no time left to try to visit the “Outer Garden of Meiji Shrine” which is in a different location from the Meiji Shrine, but would have been on my route back to the hotel.
I walked back to the metro station and this time had a straight ride to the Tokyo Station (M-17) which is only a few blocks away from my hotel. Unfortunately, the M Line is on the Marunouchi side of the Station and I had to get to the Yaesu side. It took me half an hour to walk through the station; that’s how BIG it is. To top it off, I had to cross on the level where all the shops and hallways were jammed with people doing some shopping on a Sunday afternoon. By the time I got back outside it was raining again. No umbrella ! It wasn’t supposed to rain today according to the weather reports ! Japanese weather forecasters don’t seem to be any better than the ones we have. I got back to my hotel soaking wet once again. IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO RAIN ON MY PARADE !
There was no way I was going back out for a birthday dinner. I ended up having a bowl of Japanese noodles (bowls where you just add boiling water and VOILA a complete meal). My birthday dinner will have to wait until I get to Kyoto tomorrow. I did however buy myself a nice pastry while I was walking through the station.
I think I deserve a little something sweet for my 58th birthday ! (♫♫♫♫ Happy Birthday to me ♫♫♫♫)
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