Day 19 - Sunday November 12, 2017 - Meiji-jingu
Meiji-jingu
Posted on Sunday November 12, 2017
Yesterday, when we went to Shinjuku-Gyoen, it seemed like half of Tokyo was there. Today we’ll go to Meiji-jingu, where the other half will probably be….
First, a few stray photos, starting with a couple from yesterday’s visit to the Shinjuku-Gyoen gardens.
One thing that has struck us during this visit is the tendency to ‘over-package’ everything. We occasionally buy a box of Meltykiss (yes, Japanese naming can sometimes be a bit strange), small chocolate sweets about the size of the top segment of one of your fingers (so not overly large). The sweets come in a somewhat oversize box which, when opened, disgorges 14 individually packaged sweets. Somehow, the packaging should be a lot simpler…
The GPS blue dot on the maps below shows where the apartment is, in relation to Tokyo in general and Shinjuku in particular. The Shinjuku Gyoen gardens are just to the south-east of us and Meiji-jingu to the south; also, the satellite images of both.
After breakfast, we took the JR Yamanote line two stops south to Harajuku and walked down Takeshita-dori. This is supposedly the hip/happening/trendy young things street though there wasn’t much of that at 10 am on a Sunday morning. We walked as far as Meiji-dori and then turned right, where there supposedly was a Starbucks so, time for a coffee break.
We carried on, turning right back up Omotesando to (more or less) complete a loop. We then crossed over (over the railway lines) to the beginning of the approach to Meiji-jingu.
The Meiji-jingu shrine is in the middle of a forest so it’s a pleasant walk to get there. As expected, we were not alone. First, through the big Torii gate (so stop and bow as you begin to transition from the profane to the sacred) and then follow everyone else…
A pleasant walk through the forest and you arrive at the sake barrels, so you know you’re getting closer. Another Torii gate or two along the way before (if you want to do it properly) you perform Temizu at the water basin on the left. Lots and lots of people around, including long lines to approach the shrine itself to offer prayers. We gave that a miss and carried on, intending to walk on so that we could exit eventually at the north end of the forest (we came in at the south).
As we carried on north through the forest there were far fewer people, as most (like us) enter at the southern Harajuku/Omotesando end and then exit that way again. Once we left the forest, it was a short walk up to Yoyogi station, from where it’s just one stop on the JR Yamanote line back to Shinjuku
Time for lunch so we headed over to Takashimaya and up to the 13th floor again, this time in search of soba noodles for lunch. We found the place we wanted and had only a few minutes wait before we were seated, this time by the window. Lunch was very good – simple but good – and then back down to the food hall in the basement to get something for dinner and for breakfast tomorrow.