Tokyo Part 8: Meiji Shrine

I visited Meiji Shrine back in the summer of 2010, but there was a dance performance going on. That was really cool to see, but I wasn't able to walk around and really see the place very much, plus my camera was almost dead then. So this was my first time to walk around and be able to take more pictures.

Meiji Shrine is behind Harajuku Station. The entrance is pretty much right at the end of Omotesando Street. Harajuku is such an awesome area of Tokyo. There's crazy Takeshita street, beautiful Omotesando street, Meiji Shrine, and Yoyogi Park all right next to each other. It's hard to believe that they're all in the same area!

After passing through the first torii gate you have to walk a little while before you get to the shrine, but it's a pleasant walk with a lot of trees.

In one area there was a display with a LOT of chrysanthemums. The bonsai were amazing!

Many of them were little scenes. So much attention to detail!

I was excited to see a wedding! Well, not the wedding ceremony, but still cool!

Those guys were taking down banners. I'm not sure if that's something they do everyday or if the banners had been up for a special occasion.

I saw many little girls at the shrine getting their pictures taken. I think it was because Shichi-Go-San is coming up soon.

There was a spot where many people were writing their wishes on wooden plaques called ema.

That one is a wish to pass the Kanji Kentei, a kanji test. I liked the random drawing of a cat. :) 

By the time I got back to Harajuku Station it was almost 4:00. I had less than hour until I left, but I didn't want to just go pick up my luggage and leave. So I decided to go to Shin-Okubo to buy the Big Bang light stick and maybe eat Hotteok.

 Harajuku Station is so cute! It's so small compared to many other stations in Tokyo.

I already posted about eating hotteok in my previous Shin-Okubo post so I won't say too much. But it was delicious!!! Because of that I missed the train at 4:54 and took one at 5:08 instead. So I got home an hour later than I had planned on (I guess the switches between trains were longer) but it was so worth it.

It had been a really good weekend in Tokyo. The weather hadn't been the prettiest, but it hadn't been cold. I was very comfortable in long sleeves without a jacket. I had done many fun things including the cat cafe and karaoke. But that last day with Rikugien, a bit of shopping, and Meiji Shrine had been the best. The weather had been amazing that day and enjoying hotteok in the sunshine was the perfect ending to my weekend. :)