Well, at last we come down to it, the last major sight we’d see in Tokyo, The Meiji Jingu, or Meiji Shrine.  Built to remember the Meiji Emperor, who as you recall, opened up Japan to the rest of the world in the mid 1800s, it occupies a large portion of Yoyogi Park, which is just south of Shinjuku.

You know you’re in for a change when you enter the park, and the buildings and noise disappear into a tall thick forest, with a huge wooden torii beckoning you down the wide path.

On down a way, you’ll find a huge wall of sake barrels displayed, along with another rack of barrels (whiskey?) but the trees.  The trees here are absolutely majestic.  You’ll continue on this path for quite a way, until you reach the entrance to the shrine itself, which is comprised of a large open courtyard, with gates on 3 sides and the inner shrine on the other.

If you’re lucky, as we were, a wedding party might make its way from one side to the other.  That was quite a sight, and its nice to see that some things haven’t changed in countless years.  Once you’ve taken in the sights of the shrine itself, you’ll wander either further into the park (not today) or back towards the park’s cafe and gift shop.

We stopped there for a breather, picked up some more souvenirs, then headed back out to the entrance.  A few of the cosplayer types had started to gather, but there were more foreigner observer types gathered on the opposite side of the bridge to watch.  Whatever.  I think this scene has about been washed out like the Akihabara scene has….

Well, instead of going directly back to the hotel, the Mrs. has the bright idea to wander us around the streets by the station in search of food.  Holy crap, I’ve never been so crowded by pretentiously-trendy teenage types in all my life.  Simply amazing.  Then we take a brief wander down some oppositely uncrowded streets before I remind her that the station is back thataway.

Finally we’re back at the hotel for a break.  And a nap, I think we’ve deserved it.

Dinner that night? Well, if memory serves we woke up from the nap a bit too late, like way too late.  The only thing open was the KFC up the road, so I broke my rule (yet again) of no western food, although only slightly, as I had a teriyaki chicken twister.  Does that count?

Tomorrow would find us getting out of the city, to the glorious Mt. Takao…

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