Tokyo Neighbourhoods: Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park

For almost three centuries, the Tokugawa shogunate founded by Ieyasu Tokugawa ruled Japan whilst the Emperor was marginalised.  This changed in the mid-19th Century when the last Shogun lost the support of the feudal lords and resigned.  The Emperor took charge again.  Recognising that Japan had slipped behind the western powers, he opened up Japan to foreign trade, technology and know-how.  It was he who presided over the industrialisation of Japan, and the renaming of "Edo" as "Tokyo".  The Meiji shrine was erected in memory of the Emperor and his Empress and is meant to "enshrine" their spirits.

Bonsai

Today, the shrine remains very much a key centre of Japanese religious life.  Indeed, when we were there we saw no less than four separate activities taking place at the shrine!


First, there was a chrysanthemum exhibition, featuring also bonsai bonsai plants.  The Chrysanthemum is always associated with the Imperial Family - a specific variety is the Imperial flower, and the Emperor sits upon the Chrysanthemum throne.  So it was most appropriate that there was yet another chrysanthemum exhibition to visit here.  In addition, there was also a selection of bonsai plants to be admired.  Personally I much preferred the bonsai exhibitions as the miniature landscapes displayed far more Creative flair and imagination compared to just viewing gigantic chrysanthemum flowers.

Sake from distilleries throughout Japan

Second, to commemorate the Meiji Emperor’s birthday on 3 Nov,  every year, major producers send a special gift of their best produce to his shrine, in hopes of continuing future prosperity. This is displayed in a small corner of the shrine area (I presume there are more but they select only a portion to display).  I was quite impressed by the number of sake bottles on show!  Of course there were other products exhibited but none of them made such a convincing display.

Dressed in her best kimono

Third, we saw lots of little boys and girls dressed up in their traditional clothing, looking ever so sweet and cute.  I was wondering what it was - on checking up it is a "shichi-go-san" or "3-5-7" festival, so named because children of these ages are meant to visit the shrine as part of their "growing up" rituals.  Accompanied by their parents and sometimes their grandparents, the children
walk into the shrine, to get a blessing - a candy representing longevity and health.  The families don't need to go to the Meiji shrine in particular - any shrine will do.  Technically the festival is on Nov 15 (3+5+7) but families do go to the shrine even a few weeks beforehand, presumably to beat the crowds.  All dressed up in their best clothing, the children looked as they were having a good time, getting their photos taken, playing with their balloons etc etc.  I'm afraid to say that we did go around "stalking" the especially cute ones, to take their photo!

Fourth, we saw a wedding procession!  Not entirely unexpected, as I had read earlier that the shrine is a preferred location for couples to solemnise their weddings.  So we came to the shrine hoping to see a wedding.  This, to be honest, was my highlight of the day.  Earlier on,  I had seen the Shinto priests just outside the main courtyard of the shrine talking to two women who must have been the mothers of the bride and groom.  Then, as I was busily trying to catch a photo of a cute kimono-clad kiddie, the bridal procession marched in.  Dressed in traditional clothing, the bride and groom walk in behind the priests, accompanied by their entourage.  Everyone looks quite stern and serious.  They walk into the shrine, ignoring the gaping tourists around them.  After a few minutes (presumably after the appropriate rituals are completed) they return to the courtyard.  Just before the exit, the Shinto priests stop, exchange bows with the couple before making their way out.

To me, the Meiji shrine visit really gave me an insight into the spiritual heartbeat of Japan.  It is a "working shrine", one where the spirit of the great Emperor Meiji continues to be venerated and thanked for helping to bring about modern Japan.

We went for lunch thereafter (at Heiroku Sushi) but made our way back to walk around Yoyogi Park. It's one of the restful green lungs of this busy city - where Tokyo residents spend time with family and friends in the peaceful environment of the park.  An elderly bunch of Elvis imitators were gyrating near the entrance, and we walked past a group of men playing frisbee, girls chatting under a tree, a poodle club (and owners) meeting and so on.  We reached a little lake in the middle of the park where the trees around were just beginning to show their autumn colours.  It was a lovely end to the day.

Autumn colours in Yoyogi Park

I've been visiting Japan every year from 2014 to 2017 and with each visit here, I am slowly learning more about the rich and distinct Japanese culture, history and society.  This is a society which appreciates beauty and nature, believes in the pursuit of perfection, and filled with an ancient pride and spirituality which makes it distinct from all others.  Can't wait to see what my 2018 visit has in store!

In the meantime, all photos from this Tokyo trip here.

Tokyo Neighbourhoods: Ginza and Tsukiji Market

Tsukiji Market

 If you have not visited Tsukiji market, you have not visited Tokyo.  Due to the problems found on the site of the “new” Tsukiji market, this famous fish wholesale mart had not yet shifted at the time of our visit, so we decided to take a trip and see the old market before it was torn down. The other reason is of course that we went to find the freshest, yummiest sashimi to tuck into.

Now if you read all the websites, they give you lots of advice on how to get there - the need to get there at the truly unearthly hour of 3am in the morning, bring warm clothing because it is pretty cold in the market etc etc.

Within the inner market

None of this was relevant to us as we were not so fanatical as to make the 3am trip to the market.  Insteadwe went there after the wholesale market is opened to visitors, after 10am.  The area itself is a cavernous place, and at this point in time it had mostly emptied out, with the remaining stallholders mostly just cleaning the place up.  But I could see why there was a need to redevelop - shops cramped together; the floor was uneven and the lighting dim.   Big styrofoam boxes line the narrow lanes between the stalls and every now and then we have to get out of the way as a little electric vehicle transports yet another load of boxes out of the market.

We walked around the stalls but quickly returned to the outer market.  It was still in operation - here is where tourists can buy themselves some yummy seafood, which is what we did.  But it was a bit late so we did not have much to choose from.  I have to admit that I had a much better food experience my previous visit to Tsukiji, with my Japanese-speaking colleague.  We had our fill then of Uni, grilled shellfish, prawn sashimi, all washed down with some crab soup.

Outer market - selling tuna

Nonetheless, it was still quite interesting to walk around the small buildings and shops.  One stall was selling freshly cut tuna, from a gigantic fish - half of it had already been cut and sold.  I wondered how long this gigantic fish had been swimming around in the ocean, until some fishing boat had hauled it in and brought it here for sale.  I don't think I am going to stop eating tuna but somehow the sight of the fish reminded me that we should also not eat to excess, and neither should we waste.  Anyway, I bought my lunchtime sushi from another stall.

Famous Wako building

After eating our sushi, we walked over to Ginza.  Technically this should have been in the “shopping neighbourhoods” post but then it would have been a really long post.  Ginza is the most exclusive shopping district in Japan.  You can read all about what to see and do in Ginza here.

The famous 4-chome intersection in Ginza is in fact where all the famous stores are - Wako, Mitsukoshi, Ginza Place (where the Nissan car gallery is) etc.  We went to Mitsukoshi, where we were delighted to find a quiet and restful oasis  - Mitsukoshi has a whole floor worth of space to rest, have a meal or cup of tea whilst looking at the roof tops of the surrounding buildings.

From here, we could see Mikimoto pearls - where Melania Trump had visited just two days earlier.  Ah yes, we visited Tokyo the same time as Donald Trump..... probably that also accounted for the helicopters flying around overhead too.

Ginza Place - opposite Wako

We didn't buy anything from Mitsukoshi, although we did wander around the store and visited its Food Hall in the basement (great temptation, but I did not succumb).

But we did manage some purchases at Uniqlo!  The Ginza Uniqlo is Uniqlo's flagship store - it is the largest in Japan with its 12 floors.  However, much of the merchandise was repeated across floors so I was not as bowled over by the selection as I had hoped to be.  Also, because it was selling more wintry clothing, my choices were further limited.  But, since there were some quite sweet baby clothes, I got some for my cousins who just gave birth.

I would not say that I’m a Ginza shopper - I immensely preferred the buzz around Shibuya, for example and the more affordable range and variety around Shinjuku station.  But I’m happy to come here just for a short visit, to complete my Tokyo shopping experience.