Having welcomed 10 guests from US, Canada, Israel, Malaysia, we conducted the Meiji Shrine tour in 4 groups. As it gets warmer day by day, more visitors seem to pay a visit to the shrine.
After the tour I walked around the area where we do not go on our tour. I have never walked farther into the north area of the shrine, which is the backside area from the main hall where there is the treasure house. The area and the path to the place is serene and different from the approach to the main hall.
Our tour features the comparison of serenity of the site of the shrine and the bustling area of the town just outside the sacred place, but the route of the tour goes along the approach to the mail hall with the flow of many other visitors. Even though our tour does not take you to a kind of hidden place, if you seek more tranquility after the tour, we recommend you walk on the passage in the forest. But there is one thing we would like you to know when you walk this passage. Please note you are forbidden to enter the forest off from the designated paved road. This man-made forest is well taken care of so that it can grow naturally by themselves. Going through the forest takes you to the lawn-covered area in front of the treasure house building. You could spend the time relaxing on the lawn and surrounded by the trees. You will find yourself in the oasis of Tokyo here.
I wrote three weeks ago that the spring and cherry blossom season were just around the corner. It is now the peak time of cherry blossom in Tokyo and other places, but in the former half of this week, it seems to begin to fall. Even when it falls, Sakura shows it another beautiful face and make us enjoy it to the end with its “Sakura fubuki”, or snow-fall-like scene of Sakura petals. We hope you have a chance to see the scene too.
