Meiji Jingu is a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji
and his consort, Empress Shoken. Located in Tokyo's
Shibuya City, the grounds cover a total area of about
175 acres. Most of the main structures, including the
original shrine buildings, were destroyed by the fire-bombings
of World War II, and were rebuilt and restored in 1958.
Meiji
Jingu Shrine Video Clip (3.6 meg Realmedia file)
The best of Japanese shrine architecture comes together
at the Meiji Jingu shrine. The Main Shrine is built
with Japanese cypress, an optimal wood for construction.
Because it is highly water-resistant, it is unpainted
and used in its natural state at the Shrine. The Torii
(Shrine Gate), also made of Japanese cypress, is one
of Japan's largest at a height of 12m and a span of
9.1m from post to post. The Shrine roofs are clad with
copper plates that are highly durable and noted for
their beautiful green oxidation.
The 175 acres that comprise the shrine grounds holds
some 120,000 trees of varying species that were brought
there form all corners of Japan.
The shrine grounds are a real oasis of both nature
and history, smack dab in the middle of modern Tokyo.
The entrance to the shrine gounds is flanked by a massive
Torii gate made of cypress wood. The wide gravel path
that you follow under the front Torii gate is nearly
1/4 of a mile long as winds around a first a 90 degree
left hand turn where you pass under an even larger Torii
gate, then a right hand 90 degree turn, further down.
By the time you make all these turns and get to the
main shrine grounds, the sounds of the city have entirely
melted ito the distance.
By the time you reach the main shrine you can hardly
belive that you are in Tokyo. The place is surrounded
by huge ancient trees, and the songs of birds and insects
fill the air. Its tranquility and proximity to both
Shibuya and Shinjuku make it a very popular oasis for
residents of Tokyo.
The shrine itself is like no other in Japan. The large
courtyards exude a sense of space, and this coupled
with the surrounding abundant greenery really put one
at peace. People tend to walk a little slower here,
enjoying the beauty, both natural and manmade, that
surrounds them.
Meiji Jingu is a really popular place for weddings.
There is a continuous stream of wedding processions
each Sunday. After spending only 2 hours there I saw
no less than 4 wedding processions. The bride and groom
shuttling over to the courtyard for photos. Then the
whole group moving on to another part of the shrine
grounds for a group portrait.
The photo sessions for the bride and groom were very
interesting. The brides each changed clothes no less
than 3 times and had anywhere from 3 to 5 attendents
fixing here hair, adjusting her obi, or folding and
creasing here kimono "just so" as the groom
waited of to the side in his single set of clothes.
After a while I kind of felt sorry for the grooms. All
the buzz was around the bride, and here he was standing
off to the side, totally ignored. After the attendents
would spend a good 10-15 minutes adjusting and posing
the bride, they would them motion for the groom to step
into the scene.....Snap, flash, click, buzz, whirr,
the pictures would them be taken. After the fireworks,
the groom was once again shuttled off to the side to
make way for another change in clothes and requisite
primping and adjustment session for the bride.
In addition to being a very popular spot for weddings,
there are also many festivals that take place at Meiji
Jungu shrine. One of the more uique is held in mid-October,
and is called Ningyo Kanshasai (Festival to Thank Dolls).
People from all over Japan send dolls here after the
dolls ahve lived out their natural lives as childrens
toys and are no longer needed. The dolls are displayed
around the courtyard, and a ceremony is held to bless
them for their hard work. The dolls are then disposed
of. Kind of strange, but this could shed a little light
on the mystery why Japan is such a "throw away"
society.
If there are even ancient festivals about throwing
out stuff, maybe the "throw away" mentality
is not something new tied to Japans post WWII rise to
economic might, but rather something rooted much deeper
to the psyche of this culture.....either that or it's
the fact that most peoples houses here are nearly as
small as your average costco shopping cart, and they
just don't allow for storage of anything not absolutely
necessary....call me simplisic, but my money is on the
latter explination.
That's it today folks.
Tune in next time for another episode of "Wow,
I didn't know that about Japan!"
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And just in case you are interested, you can check
out the animated link button below for 44 more pictures
I took at Meiji Jinugu shrine.
