Our first stop was Asakusa, which we had been told was a top place to visit if you only have a short amount of time in Tokyo. Can I hear "tourist trap"??? We followed a walking tour guide in a book that we had picked up at the Times Destinations show in London last year which unlike Nakamise Shopping Arcade is worth a visit.
However, at the end of the shopping street, the dedicated tourist is rewarded with the sight of the Asakusa Karinon Temple complex which is made up of a huge temple (currently being refurbished so we have no idea what it really looks like), a major shrine and a complex of other temple-like buildings with multiple Buddha and small-god shrines. As with all such buildings, I was struck by their beauty and a little jealous that these people had such an uplifting environment where they go to make their prayers known to their gods. Don't get me wrong here, I appreciate the freedom and flexibility of Christianity which allows us to pray to God in all situations and in any place, but sometimes if I'm praying to God on a bus or in a crowded canteen, I can't help wondering if I'm being irreverent...The rest of the walk was a bit of a write-off as well so with a little trepidation we headed for Roppongi. I liked Roppongi, though not enough to take any pictures (sorry), it was a beautiful, modern construction complete with everything the dedicated ex-pat would want. After a coffee, it was off to Takeshita Dori street which was allegedly the favoured hangout of the teenage fashionistas and goth princesses. Clearly 1:30 pm was a little too early for them so it was off to the second religious place of the day - Meiji.
Now we were really lucky with the Meiji shrine. It was a beautiful but warm day which made the walk in the woods to reach the shrine particularly pleasant.Along the way, there were several "gates" that the visitor had to pass through. To give you a idea of the size of some of these gates, here is one which shows me standing at the base of one of them. This one was made from "Japanese cedars" which were apparently donated by a pious Japanese person.
The shrine itself is not a religious place as perhaps you or I would consider. There was no god that was being worshiped in its complex, rather it commemorates one of the Emperors of Japan who ruled during the Meiji period from 1868 to 1912. Not so long ago!
The word Meiji means "enlightened rule" and this is how the Emperor saw himself. He ended the previously held feudalistic rule and ushered in a way whereby Japan started its move towards a democratic way of government where people of all classes could be involved in the governance of the country. Many of the policies and institutions that he set up are believed to be the springboard for much of Japans swift growth and modernisation, a feature of Tokyo which we have certainly observed.
At the shrine itself we were again very lucky. Friday it seems, is a very good day to get married as we saw not one, but two weddings taking place. At least we assumed that they were weddings... They were very beautiful though when we saw the help that the bride needed to get up stairs in her costume, we did wonder a bit about the practicality of those garments :) At least you don't have to 
wear them everyday anymore...!This beautiful guest (right) is taking a photo while wearing a kimono and is a great example of your modorn Meiji Japanese person who embraces modernatity jet still hold on to the traditions of the Japanese people.
The rest of the shrine complex was also beautiful. We visited the gardens which were supposed to be awash with the colours of lilies and azaleas however September really isn't the month for gardens... Perhaps a few weeks earlier we would have caught some late summer flowers and in a few weeks time we would catch the autumnal bursts of colour but right now, everything was green. We had to be satisfied with these colourful fish...
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