Destroyed in an air raid in 1945, reconstructed and it’s indistinguishable from the original, this is the Meiji Shrine. Dedicated in the memory of Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress ShÅken. Meiji shrine is conveniently located right next to the Harajuku station. As you exit the station, turn left and walk about 30 meters till you reach the JR bridge, a free zone where performance artist and youngsters dress up as their favourite manga and anime characters. Turn right and you’ll be greeted by this giant torii. Welcome to Meiji Shrine!
Visitors are greeted by Japan’s largest torii (11 meter tall), built from 1600 years old Japanese hinoki cypress tree transported from Alishan mountain in Taiwan.
Barrels of sake (nihonshu) along the side of the path into the shine. These sake barrels were donated to the shine.
Big barrels of sake. Can I take this home?
Meiji Shrine is in a 700,000 square meters forest area which consist of over 365 different species (approximately 120,000 trees), mostly donated by people from all over Japan.
The cleansing area before entering the shrine.
The second torii.
The entrance to the main courtyard.
Door decoration made of copper attached to cypress wooden door.
The main courtyard.
Prayers left by visitors at the side of the central sanctuary.
The wooden prayer card.
Prayers.
A traditional shinto style wedding procession. Priests and maidens leading the procession through the main courtyard in a quiet manner.
The wedding couple dressed in their traditional wedding attire. Visually dazzling!
The traditional.
The modern.
Another wedding procession.
Saturday afternoon is where most weddings takes place here.
Led by the priest and maiden, the wedding party walks out from the central sanctuary.
The maidens.
The priest.
