Meiji Jingu in Harajuku is a famous tourist spot – and it’s not even far from the station – but I only got around to visiting today. It takes less than an hour to walk around, and I’ve been to Harajuku so many times, yet somehow the chance never came up.. Probably because it’s a date spot -_-
The way in
Most of the visitors are couples on dates and foreign tourists. You can’t really tell from the photos, but there was construction going on all over the place. Meiji Jingu gets most crowded over the New Year holidays, so I guess they’re fixing things up ahead of time.
A giant torii
There were lots of torii this size. Too bad I couldn’t fit the whole thing in with a 31mm lens. Not that Pentax is ever going to give us a full-frame body, though.
The path
For a weekend, this is pretty quiet. Maybe because of the bad weather?
Shrine buildings
The shrine’s main hall
The shrine courtyard and a side gate
It’s huge, but I bet it fills up fast whenever there’s an event.
Seating
The main hall
The calm atmosphere feels very Japanese. It’s nice having such a peaceful place so close to a busy part of the city like Harajuku. Compared to Tokyo, Seoul seems short on parks. We do have the Han River and hiking trails, though..
Shrine scenery
Near the exit
They were also holding a traditional wedding, but I didn’t take pictures. Neither the groom nor the bride was all that striking..
The view from the exit
Wine barrels I shot on the way back
The one in the middle is Romanée-Conti. Price-wise that’d be a few hundred million won.. But since it isn’t kept in an underground cellar, it must have gone completely off, so there’s no way it could be sold.. The wines next to it are no slouches either, right up there with Romanée-Conti. (What a waste, somehow.)
I soaked up the quiet, traditional Japanese atmosphere.. but I’m so used to places like this by now that I don’t think I’ll drop by again unless there’s a special event.
Besides Meiji Jingu, today I also went to see a musical, since an acquaintance kindly gave me a ticket. It was an avex musical at a place called the Aoyama Theatre.
This place..
The venue itself is nothing special, but Ami Suzuki had the lead and there were lots of songs I knew, so I really enjoyed it.
Midway through, a song by one of my favorite singers came on and caught me off guard..
So Yuko Ando was with avex.. I had no idea.. And while we’re at it, de de mouse, mondo grosso, Ai Otsuka and others are avex acts too.
A quick stop in Shibuya for some abura soba.
This is the large size. Everyone I went with praised it. It’s the kind of flavor Koreans would like. That said, it’s so different in style from regular ramen that it’s hard to recommend to people who haven’t had much ramen. When you’re tired of the usual styles, it tastes really good.
When I think of ramen shops worth going to in Shibuya, what comes to mind is Daijin for tsukemen, Yasubee, Santouka, abura soba, Dotonbori Kamukura Ramen, and Ichiran. There’s also Menya Musashi, and a few local shops, but they’re not my style, so I don’t recommend them. It got chilly starting today, and it really hit me that ramen season is back. I’m getting nice and chubby.. but it tastes so good, I’ve got to keep going ^_^