Meiji Jingu Shrine, Tokyo

Meiji Jingu: 70 Hectares of Forest in the Middle of Tokyo

Meiji Jingu receives three million visitors on the first three days of January, making it the most-attended Hatsumode (first shrine visit of the New Year) in Japan. The queue on January 1 can mean a three-hour wait to approach the prayer hall. This fact is worth knowing not as a deterrent but as a context: Meiji Jingu on an ordinary weekday morning before 9am is a completely different place, one of the most genuinely peaceful 45 minutes available in central Tokyo.

The shrine was completed in 1920, twelve years after the death of Emperor Meiji, whose reign oversaw Japan’s transformation from feudal isolationism to industrialised world power. It was destroyed in the air raids of 1945 and rebuilt in 1958 to the original design. What surrounds it is a secondary-growth forest of 70 hectares, planted at the time of the original construction with 120,000 trees donated from across Japan and Korea and chosen to eventually become self-sustaining without human maintenance. A century in, the forest is achieving this.

Enter from the south gate off Harajuku Station, walk under the 12-metre torii gate made of 1,500-year-old Taiwanese cypress, and the city disappears within two minutes. What replaces it: gravel underfoot, light filtered through tall trees, occasional birdsong. This experience is unusual in any city. In central Tokyo it is remarkable.

The Shrine Complex

The main sanctuary sits across a large open courtyard. The architecture is restrained Shinto style: undecorated cypress and copper roofing, which makes it a deliberate counterpoint to the elaborately painted Buddhist temples elsewhere in the city. Remove your hat before approaching the prayer hall.

The sake barrel display near the main torii is one of the most-photographed elements: rows of decorated wooden casks donated annually by brewers from across Japan. Directly opposite, a collection of Burgundy wine barrels represents the counterpart tradition, because Emperor Meiji was known to appreciate French wine, an unusual personal detail for his era and one that says something about the Meiji period itself.

The Treasure House (Homotsuden) displays personal belongings and photographs of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, including a state carriage and the empress’s writing desk. Admission JPY 500. Worth 30 minutes if you want the biographical context; easily skipped if you don’t.

The Iris Garden (Gyoen) adjacent to the shrine grounds is at its best in mid-June when roughly 150 varieties bloom across the formal garden. Entry JPY 500. Outside of iris season it is a pleasant but unremarkable walk.

Harajuku Immediately Outside

The south exit deposits you at Harajuku Station. Takeshita Street is the teen fashion street famous for crepe stands and elaborate clothing, worth five minutes of curiosity. Omotesando, one block east, is the serious architecture and upscale shopping boulevard, lined with keyaki trees and buildings by Tadao Ando (Omotesando Hills), SANAA (the Tod’s building), and Toyo Ito. Cat Street, the informal lane between Harajuku and Shibuya, has better vintage clothing shops and independent coffee without the tourism pressure.

Eating Near the Shrine

Harajuku Gyoza Lou on Meiji-dori does pan-fried and steamed gyoza only, has been there for decades, and does it extremely well. A full meal costs around JPY 1,000.

Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience in Omotesando is a tea house on the fifth floor designed with serious care. A tea ceremony experience costs around JPY 2,500 and takes 45 minutes. Worth it if tea interests you at all.

For a proper dinner, Daikanyama and Nakameguro (one and two stops south on the Yamanote line) have the best restaurant density for the money: ramen, yakitori, Japanese Italian fusion, and enough variety to make the 15-minute walk from Harajuku worthwhile.

Practical Notes

Meiji Jingu opens at sunrise (around 5am in summer, 6:40am in winter) and closes at sunset. The Yamanote line stops at Harajuku Station (south entrance) and Yoyogi Station (north entrance). The shrine is free; the Treasure House costs JPY 500.

Shichi-Go-San (November 15, when families bring children of ages 3, 5, and 7 for blessings) and cherry blossom season (late March to early April) are the other very crowded periods. On any other weekday morning, arriving before 9am, the shrine operates at a pace that makes it the most useful antidote to Tokyo’s sensory density available in the central city.

Photography is permitted throughout the forest and grounds. The prayer hall has a sign prohibiting photography during active worship; follow it.