Meiji Jingu (明治神宮)

Some historical outing today. After Chinese Yam Cha at a nice Hong Kong Dim Sum in Ebisu, it was foot trekking and train to Harajuku. The first visit to Meiji Jingu near Harajuku. Meiji Jingu is a Japanese Shinto shrine, dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shouken. Emperoro Meiji, who dies in 1912, from the Meiji restoration fame. He supposedly put Japan on the modernisation path.

Meiji literally means "enlightened". So Meiji era means enlightened era. After the emperor's death in 1912, the Japanese diet passed a resolution to commemorate his role in the Meiji Restoration. Upon his death a new tradition of giving the late emperor the name of the era coinciding with his reign was established. Following Meiji, it was Showa and now Heisei. An iris garden in an area of Tokyo where Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken had been known to visit was chosen as the building's location.

Personally, I am unsure if all the Japanese people are revered by the Meiji Restoration, but that is just my personal opinion. Perhaps, just perhaps, they existed more meaningfully or were happier as a civilisation without the influence of American capitalism. After all, Cmdr. Perry did pressure Japan to open itself up with his armada of black ships, something which the Americans are still perpetuating in the world today, until recently.