We took the train to Harajuku to have our lunch.. There are plenty of interesting shops in Harajuku, but unfortunately they are not my type.. We went to La Pausa, for some pasta.. almost cost me 1,000yen.. Saw lots of Africans along the streets, soliciting, exactly what I have no idea..
We then walked to Meiji Jingu, which is near the Harajuku station.
The area was quite quiet, as it was a weekday.. The path was nicely sheltered by the trees from the sun.. The path was covered by small granite stones..
We went to the Meiji Royal Wardrobe exhibition at one of the annex building.. With our student pass, we managed to get the student discount and paid 200yen instead of 500yen. With the usual 'no-camera-allowed' rules being upheld, we could only see the clothes, suits, shoes, make-up kits, kimonos, and traditional palace wardrobe.. and not take any pictures.. One thing that I realised is how petite and thin both the Emperor and his Consort were.. As the main Treasure Museum is only open on weekends, we had to keep our tickets for the next visit within 30 days..
There were rows of sake jars along the path. These were sake donated to the Meiji Shrine.. Most of them have very interesting, intricate and not to mention very traditional designs on them.
We then proceed on to the main Shrine..
This is at the front of the main entrance into the shrine compound. This kind of structures can be seen in almost all shrines in Japan. Often then not, there will be a cleansing area for the devotees to cleanse themselves before entering the shrine compound.
The main shrine is surrounded by walls and there are several site doors.. The main door has 2 side doors, very much like the temples in Asia.. The compound with the shrine is very big and very clean. It takes a few minutes to walk from the main door to the main shrine. There were some tourist in the vicinity.. Judging from the rowdiness and loud-talking, it is not difficult to gauge where these people actually come from.. Once again, it reinforced my judgment of that country's citizens, especially the 'new' rich..
Worshipers can buy wooden tablets, at 500yen a piece, from the shrine and write down their prayers and wishes and hang it up in the shrine. Here, the racks surrounds a huge tree at the right side of the shrine compound.. Many languages were used, including Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese, French, etc..Some are serious, some are light-hearted..
I didnt buy any prayer tablets or amulets as I think I do not need to request special 'attention' from HIM... yet.. :) There are plenty of more urgent requests from other more needy persons for HIM to attend to..
After the visit to the Shrine, we walked around Harajuku. Realised that there are lots of brand name shops around the area.. Nike, NB, GAPS, Adidas, Decks, Nine West, Tag Heuer, Muji, etc.. No wonder Harajuku is one of the shopping hot spots in Japan.. especial for the young.. and young at heart..
To view more photos taken here, visit here.
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