Thursday, April 23, 2015

Japan {Meiji Jingu Shrine}.


Our first stop on our first day was Meiji Jingu Shrine which is part of the Shinto religion dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.

Almost the entire shrine is made of Japanese cyprus and copper.

This is the main torii {gate} to the Meiji Jingu Shrine.

The shrine is located in Shibuya which is pretty much the heart of Tokyo. You are in a huge city one minute and then after a short walk down this pebble path and you are in a huge forrest of trees with no signs of the big city around.

{photo credit: HERE so you could see the location of the shrine in respect to the city}
Amazing!!!

The architecture is amazing.



The first thing we did before entering the shrine was to wash our hands with the pure water {sound familiar?!}. So symbolic.

"Ritual cleansing of the hands and mouth"

Lauren and Tagg.

I cleansed my mouth too!

Sleepy Pete.

More architectural details.

Within the shrine there was a place for visitors to leaving wishes and prayers for others {again sound familiar}? Every religion is similar is some way!


Their kanji {writing/ characters} is so beautiful.


I loved this guys broom.

These are barrels of Sake each donated to the Shrine by different countries each year.


And these are barrels of wine donated as well.


Cool lights.
There was a wedding going on and we tried to get in!  It didn't work!!
The shrine was a very cool introduction to Japan and their religion.

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