A break in the rainy season (TSUYU) : Tour report of Meiji Shrine and Harajuku Tour on July 2nd, 2023

On behalf of our guides, I just wanted to send a few words of gratitude. Thank you for
joining our tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on July 2nd. We welcomed 35 guests from USA, Canada, India, Israel, Australia, Spain, Turkey and Denmark. The group was divided into five teams.　I hope all of you enjoyed our tour in the wonderful weather, which is a break in the rainy season. We’ve posted group photos and snapshots so that you can look back on the fun times we had.

(Team A)

(Team B)

(Team C)

(Team D)

(Team E)

Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, who are enshrined in Meiji Shrine, left a lot of traditional　 31-syllable Japanese poems. We can find some poems in the precinct. For instance, there is a panel which displays 2 poems during our tour.
In addition, some of their poems are listed in Paper Oracle or “Omikuji” in Japanese. Omikuji usually indicates good or bad fortune, but the one in Meiji Shrine shows the poems written by both of them and tell us the guideline for humanity and morality.

For instance, the left gold one written by Empress Shoken says,
おこたりて 磨かざりせば 光ある玉も瓦に ひとしからまし
(If just neglected, And never polished to a glow, Even precious jewels, Would remain resembling, Dull roof tiles made of clay)
I don’t have enough space to explain others, so please join our tour and ask your guides !!

We always strive to give high-quality tours. Your feedback is very important and useful
to us. If you have a moment, please consider posting comments about the tour on our
TripAdvisor /Facebook etc. Your remarks will certainly help us improve and continue
developing our tours. Also, please tell your family and friends about us. Next time
you’re in Tokyo, please come to another one of our tours. Once again thank you very
much.
(Posted by Toyo)