Meiji Shrine

Our first stop on our first morning in Tokyo was the Meiji Shrine, a shrine dedicated to the emperor and empress of Japan. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the imperial family, so we had a very interesting ride over hearing about them. Once in the shrine, we saw the "traditional Japanese" way to recognize sponsors: sake barrels.


The pictures on these sake barrels represent companies who donated money to the shrine. More barrels with the same picture means more money from that company.

Next we saw what I'm pretty sure is the largest wooden Tori Gate in Japan.

On our way in, we spotted a couple getting ready for their wedding ceremony and, in the grand tradition of tourists everywhere, snapped a few shots of them posing for the professional photographer.

The shrine itself was very much like most shrines in Japan: namely, very beautiful. Unfortunately, it was also hot, and I've got a lot of pictures of lovely shrines. So the fan beat out the camera, and I only snapped a few shots inside, including this one:

Sorry about that.
After the shrine visit, we spent some time shopping in the near by manga-infested shops (I've forgotten the name of the street), and then it was off to take a boat trip to Asakusa...