Japan Guide
Tokyo
Meiji-jingū
Tokyo's premier Shinto shrine is a memorial to Emperor Meiji, who died in 1912, and his empress Shōken, who died in 1914. Meiji-jingū was created as a symbol of imperial power and Japanese racial superiority. Rebuilt in 1958 after its destruction in World War II, the shrine remains the focus of several festivals during the year. The most important of these, Hatsu-mōde (meaning "first visit of the year to a shrine"), is held on January 1 and attracts three million visitors – traffic lights have to be operated within the shrine grounds to control the crowds on the day.
The most impressive way to approach the Inner Garden is through the southern gate next to Jingū-bashi, the bridge across from Harajuku's toy-town station building, complete with mock-Tudor clock tower. From the gateway, a wide gravel path runs through densely forested grounds to the 12-metre-high Ō-torii, the largest Myōjin-style gate in Japan, made from 1500-year-old cypress pine trees from Taiwan. To the left of the Ō-torii is the entrance to the Jingū Naien (daily 8.30am–5pm; ¥500), a traditional garden – said to have been designed by the emperor Meiji for his wife – which is at its most beautiful (and most crowded) in June, when over one hundred varieties of irises, the empress's favourite flowers, pepper the lush greenery with their purple and white blooms.
Returning to the garden's entrance, the gravel path turns right and passes through a second wooden torii, Kita-mon (north gate), leading to the impressive honden (central hall). With their Japanese cypress wood and green copper roofs, the buildings are a fine example of how Shinto architecture can blend seamlessly with nature. Address: Harajaku 
www.meijijingu.or.jp