Out after 10 Years (8): Meiji Jingu

Emperor Meiji is credited for modernizing Japan. He imported western culture and technology and kept Japanese culture, preserved and valued. He is admired a lot in Japan and although he died in the old Japanese capital, Kyoto, there's a big shrine in Tokyo for him: It's called Meiji Jingu and is located in the western part of Tokyo in Shibuya. Tokyo is divided into 33 boroughs. This place is a big forest in the heart of the city, so dense that if someone took you there blindfolded and then took it off, you wouldn't believe you still were in a very populated city. 

Emperor Meiji in his younger age in Western attire. He also grew beard as was not and still is not customary in Japan.  

The reality is that this dense forest did not exist at the time the shrine was planned to be build. This is the volunteer work of many admirers of the emperor. This shrine, like many sacred places in Japan has its rules and guarded by people. It also gets tourists, so you need to be there early. Photography of the main shrine is forbidden. It is protected and served by men and women in traditional Japanese custom. Japanese people go there to pay their respect. The ritual is long but the short version of that, which is expected from tourists, if they are willing to do that, is:

1) Deposit money in the provided box

2) Bow twice.

3) Clap your hands twice

4) Bow once deeply, again.

5) Say your prayer. 

I'm not religious but I'm respectful of all the religions and I get along with everyone from every religion and faith as long as they don't force me to join them or start an awkward and useless argument about how good their religion is or topics like that. I almost followed the rituals at Meiji Jingu but accidentally and unknowingly dropped three Quarters in the provided box! So, I don't know what the monk's reaction would be, when he sees that. Photography of the main shrine is forbidden as usual, but tourists take selfies and pictures of almost everywhere that they can. 

(Photo, top: One of the gates in Meiji Jungi. These gates are called Torii and are seen as an entrance gates into shrines and temples. Japanese, stop, bow and enter the gate from the sides, not in the middle. This is surprisingly a rare photo as many are not seen!)