Meiji Shrine

Saturday, March 21st--Today, we wanted to go out and see Meiji Shrine, but Raymond had a mock negotiation that he had to do for one of his classes.  He thought that they might be done around 2 p.m., so we had plans to meet in front of Harajuku Station (which is right next to Meiji Shrine) around 2:30 p.m.  Unfortunately, I got there pretty late with all of the kids.  Raymond wasn't there, though.  Harajuku is the station used for Takeshita Dori--where all the teens hang out in their costumes.  There are always huge throngs of people at that station, and we waited and watched the crowds as they went by looking for Raymond in his suit.  We waited for about 15 minutes, and then decided that he must still be in class.  It had been almost an hour since we had planned to meet.  Disappointed, we went onto the shrine without him.
Meiji Shrine is HUGE, being about 200 acres!  This is arguably Tokyo's most famous Shinto shrine.  It is different from many others in that it is not flashy or colorful.  It is made up of a very large forested area surrounded by bustling streets and tall buildings.  You can see the kids under the very large torii gate that is at the entrance to the shrine.  The 40-foot-high torii gate at the entrance is made of 1,500-year-old cypress, and there's a second one like it closer to the shrine itself. 
We had come to this shrine when we saw the parade of portable shrines on National Foundation Day.  There were thousands and thousands of people here on that day, though, so we just focused on the parade and planned to come back another day to see the rest of the shrine. 

There are large gravel paths that one walks on to get to the shrine.  You have to walk a little way through the forest on these paths before you come upon the shrine.  We had already walked this path on National Foundation Day, though, so we decided to go another way.  The different way went past Emperor Meiji's iris garden.

We turned off of the gravel path and onto this smaller one.  There was still forest on either side, but now we also had bamboo rails to walk through.

The forest is made of over 100,000 trees, which were donated from all over Japan and overseas.  The trees were planted 90 years ago by over 110,000 volunteers.  It has a feeling of peace and serenity as you are walking through it. 

We came to a large pond.  This is Empress Shoken's favorite fishing spot.  The bridge was built by order of Emperor Meiji so she could have a nice place to fish and relax. 

As we walked further on, we came to Emperor Meiji's infamous iris garden.  We had heard of this garden, but just envisioned a small plot of land with some irises growing.  Nothing special.  We were wrong!  The iris garden covered almost the entire bottom of the ravine, and meandered through it like a snake.  There was a small bamboo fence on either side of it.  The irrigation was interesting to look at also.  The irises are flood irrigated, and it was neat to figure out the system of how water is brought to this very large and impressive garden.  (I am a farm girl, after all.) 

The irises are just barely coming up out of the ground, but somehow it was still beautiful.  We loved walking through Emperor Meiji's beloved iris garden.  There was just a special feeling at this place. We could easily see why he loved it so much! 
     
We bemoaned the fact that we wouldn't be able to see this place at the end of May when the irises would will be blooming!  Oh, how we wish we could see it!!  It would be simply breathtaking!!!  Since we all really loved walking through it and really want to see it in its full splendor, I pulled a picture of it when the irises are blooming off of the internet.  This is the same spot as where the kids are in the above picture.  Wow. 

The next place we went to is the Kiyomasa-ido Well.  This is a dear spot for Emperor Meiji and his wife.  They used to come to this spot often and drink from the cool waters of this well.   There was a line of people waiting to go down and wash at the well, along with a security guard.  The Kiyomasa well is said to have been dug by a feudal warlord named Kato Kiyomasa, whose family, according to the shrine, had a mansion in the area during the Edo period.

The water gushes out of this well all year round.  It is known for the superiority of the water's quality.  It is said that this well is a power spot where one can experience positive energy.  We had also heard that this well is magical and will bring good luck to anyone who washes in it.

The security guard was there to make sure that the water stayed pure by not letting anyone drink from the well.  Instead, we were to go down one at a time and wash our hands.  Some people also washed their arms and faces with the pure water.  (Nathan in the picture)  We didn't have an experience where we felt any positive or magic energy, but the water did feel very pure and clean to the touch.

After we all washed in the well, we moved on to the main shrine.

The kids under the second torii gate.  These torii gates are so simple compared to the red toriis that we are used to, but somehow the simplistic nature of them make them very beautiful.

Just beyond the torii gate, we saw a wedding procession.  Both times we have come here, we have seen a wedding.  But, this is a very popular spot to be married.

As the red umbrella that sheltered the bride and groom proceeded in through the shrine's main gate, we fell in with the crowd of people behind them and went through the gate as well.

Japan's symbol of the chrysanthemum can be seen all over this shrine.  You can see it on the gate's large doors.....

....as well as in the detail of the lanterns that are hung.

Here is the view of the main gate to the Meiji Shrine if one is looking from inside the courtyard.

 

The kids in the middle of the large courtyard.  

This shrine is dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji and his wife the Empress Shoken.  While their souls are enshrined here, their tombs are actually in Kyoto.  (The emperor passed away in 1912 and the empress passed in 1914.)

Emperor Meiji was the emperor who took control over Japan when the Shogun era ended.  He was only 15 years old at that time.  He ruled over a very pivotal era in Japanese history.  He had to help the Japanese people cope with the transition from being ruled by the Shogun to once again being ruled by the Imperial family.  He moved the capital of Japan from Kyoto, which had been the capital for around 1,000 years, to Tokyo. 

Most importantly for our family, he oversaw the opening of Japan's borders to the rest of the world under the threat of Admiral Perry.  He ushered in the modernization of Japan.  He allowed foreign people and new ideas to once again enter the country.  Many centuries before, Christian missionaries were coming to Japan and were having success.  When the Shogun era began to pick up speed, the Christian movement was seen as threat and many of those who had converted were executed.  The borders were closed and Christianity ceased to exist in this country for hundreds of years.  When Emperor Meiji opened Japan's borders to the rest of the world once again, not only did trade begin, but Christian missionaries were once again able to come and proselyte.  In 1994, Raymond came to Japan as a Christian missionary.  He lived here for two years and loved Japan so much that it became a part of him.  Since his return to America, he had a strong desire to return and bring his family so that we could experience this incredible and amazing country as well.  When we heard of this opportunity to come to Japan for a semester of law school, Raymond worked hard to get the grades and the finances to make this semester possible for us.  And, here we are!  Words cannot describe what this experience has been for our family.  And, it was all possible because of these keys points in Japanese history and Emperor Meiji's modern view for Japan.

When we were here for National Foundation Day, this courtyard was jam packed with people and we could hardly move.

We walked back to Harajuku Station and went home.  Raymond had just barely returned home as well.  He got to Harajuku about 5 minutes after we gave up on trying to find him.  He went through Meiji Shrine on his own, looking for us the whole time.  We were actually in the courtyard of the shrine at the same time, but given the massive size of it and the numbers of people, he didn't find us.  We also missed him on the large gravel pathway because we took the different route to see the iris garden and the well.  All well!