For Tokyo’s residents, the lush 170-acre (69-ha) grounds of the Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu) are a welcome green lung in the heart of this hectic city. As the capital’s most important Shinto shrine, it offers visitors a tantalizing glimpse of an older Japan. Take a stroll through its beautiful grounds, stocked with some 120,000 trees, learn more about the imperial family through the artifacts on display in the museums, and soak up traditional temple life.
t Admiring the huge wall of empty sake barrels, marked with the name of the breweries they were made in, at the entrance to the shrine
Experience Western Tokyo
t Visitors performing harai (ritual cleansing) before approaching the shrine
Originally built in 1920, the Meiji Shrine was destroyed during World War II in an air raid, but was rebuilt in 1958. Controversially, the shrine was rededicated to Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), rather than a kami (spirit), contravening the imperial family’s reuninciation of divinity in 1946. At the Treasure Museum and its annex, visitors can see items belonging to the imperial family, including gorgeous kimonos, lacquerware, and furniture. Don’t miss the shrine’s inner precinct (Naien), said to have been designed by Emperor Meiji for his wife. Here, a teahouse overlooks a pond stocked with water lilies and carp. To the right of the pond, a path leads to the beautiful Minami-ike Shobuda (iris garden), containing over 150 species.
Guiding Spirit
One of the most striking sights at the Meiji Shrine is the huge wall of sake barrels. While the barrels on display are empty, they are loaded with meaning. Sake is supposed to facilitate the connection with the gods and in the oldest Japanese texts “miki,” the old word for sake, is written with the characters for “god” and “wine.” Shinto shrines pray for the brewers’ prosperity and, in turn, the breweries donate sake for the shrines’ rituals and ceremonies.
Picture Perfect
Here Comes the Bride
Fortunate visitors may catch a glimpse of a traditional Shinto wedding taking place at the shrine. Take a picture of the bride in her magnificent wedding kimono (from a respectful distance), as she shelters under a red parasol accompanied by a procession of priests.
Experience Western Tokyo
THE MEIJI EMPEROR
Having succeeded to the throne in 1868 at just 14 years of age, the Meiji Emperor set out to modernize Japan. During his reign, the Diet was founded, the industrial revolution took place, and the country emerged victorious from conflicts with China, Korea, and Russia.