Walk through the forest to Meiji Jingu

Meiji Jingu is the Shinto shrine of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, set in a forest of about 70 hectares in Shibuya, between Harajuku and Yoyogi, in the middle of Tokyo. It is open every day of the year from sunrise to sunset, free of charge, and the walk in along its wide gravel paths is the quietest hour the city offers.

What the experience is

The shrine was dedicated in November 1920, eight years after the death of the emperor who opened Japan to the modern world. The site had been an iris garden that the emperor and empress liked to visit. The forest around it looks ancient but was planted: about 120,000 trees of 365 species, given by people from all over Japan when the shrine was founded, and left to grow into a wood that now regenerates by itself.

The original buildings were destroyed in the air raids of the Second World War, and the present shrine, built mainly of Japanese cypress under copper roofs, was rebuilt by public subscription and completed in 1958. The approach passes under great wooden torii and along the walls of sake barrels offered by brewers, to the main hall, where visitors wash their hands and mouth at the font, bow, clap and bow again. Wishes are written on wooden ema plaques and hung around a sacred tree.

Good to know

The gates open with the sun, as early as 5:00 in summer and 6:40 in mid-winter, and close in late afternoon, as early as 16:00 in December; arrive at opening to have the paths almost to yourself. Some facilities inside keep shorter hours, mostly 9:00 to 16:00. The south entrance is a minute from Harajuku Station. On New Year’s Day the shrine holds its first rites of the year and is at its busiest.

Sources: Meiji Jingu; Meiji Jingu, how to visit; Wikipedia, Meiji Shrine.