Many thanks for having participated in our tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on May 21. We were so happy to welcome 29, such a many guests from the US, Singapore, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal. It was so nice sunny day which good for a walking tour, not like yesterday, when we had a heavy cold rain. We were devided into 4 groups with 3 or 4 guides each, and it took about 1.5 to 2 hours to take a look around “Meiji Jingu Shrine”, which is one of the biggest shrine in Tokyo and “Harajuku area”, which is one of the busiest place of Tokyo. This shrine is famous for its traditional form of wedding ceremonies. Recently, it has become popular not only among Japanese couples, but also among foreign couples. TFWT tours are always held on Sundays, so you can often see a real wedding ceremony during the tour. After walking around 1 hour, the tour go on outside of the shrine, where is a area called Harajuku. There are so many clothes including the second hands and cosmes , or souvenir shops around Harajuku. We also have many cafes, or animal cafes where you can […]
Thank you for joining the tour. On that day, the weather was cloudy with light rain. We hosted 11 guests from Germany, Singapore, U.K. Switzerland, Italy and USA. Even though the weather was not welcoming us, it was a joyful moment for us to see and learn new things at the Shrine. As promised, group photos and snapshots are posted on this post for the remembrance of the tour. Meiji refers to the Meiji Emperor enshrined and worshipped at the shrine. Jingu refers to the privileged title given to the Shinto shrines that enshrines the imperial figures. There are tens of shrines with Jingu title in Japan. Most notable one is in Ise-city, Mie prefecture, which enshrines Amaterasu Goddess, who created the nation of Japan, commonly known as ISE-JINGU. The official name is JINGU since it was the very first Jingu shrine. Another notable one is Heian Jingu in Kyoto that enshrines and worships Emperor Kanmu who reined between 781 and 806, together with Emperor Komei who reigned between 1846 and 1867, and was the last emperor among those who had resided in Kyoto before Meiji Emperor was crowned and started to reside in Tokyo as Japan’s capital was changed. […]
Thank you for choosing our Meiji Shrine and Harajuku tour on April 16th, 2023. We welcomed 30 guests from USA, Peru, Canada, Australia, UK, France, China, Turkey, Germany, and New Zealand. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. It was a sunny day and really comfortable for the tour. We were lucky as it rained heavily after the tour. The cherry blossom season is over, but we are very happy to welcome many guests. The new semester for students in Japan starts in April. New employees will also start working from April. Everyone is full of hope. A public holiday called Golden Week will be from April 29th to May 7th. Many Japanese are planning to travel as concerns about COVID-19 have decreased. I hope the world economy will be revitalized again. Some guests challenged omikuji, a fortune-telling paper. Unlike most shrines, the omikuji at Meiji shrine has a waka poem written by Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, along with its meaning. A waka is a short poem sung in 31 syllables. One boy wrote a wish […]
Thank you for choosing our Meiji Shrine and Harajuku tour on March 12th, 2023. We welcomed 8 guests from Bulgaria, Canada, Australia, France, and Israel. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. It was a sunny day and really comfortable for the tour. However, we could not see any wedding ceremony at the shrine because today was Butsumetsu, “Buddha’s death” which was the most unlucky day of the six Rokuyo-days. We hope to see it on your next visit. We have found the flag of Ireland and many people who wore green clothes at the Omotesando Avenu. The parade for celebrating St. Patrick’s day on March 17th was held from 13 pm to 15 pm. This national holiday commemorates St. Patrick, the patron saint who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century. This event is held all over the world as a festival to celebrate the arrival of spring. 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 tours […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku tour on Feb. 19, 2023. We welcomed 12 guests from the USA, UK, Philippines, Australia, Austria, and New Zealand. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. Today, “Taian” was the most suitable day for weddings. We were so happy to meet a couple of wedding ceremonies. We could not help but take photos. The bride wore the traditional Japanese headdress, “Tsunokakushi”. It is said that when a woman becomes jealous and angry, horns come out of her head, then Tsunokakushi is used to hide it. “Goshinboku” is a sacred tree where gods dwell and a power spot. Two camphor trees are popularly known as “Meoto Kusu” and are a symbol of marriage, marital bliss, and family safety. It is said that the view from the camphor tree looking toward the shrine is the most powerful in terms of matchmaking power, and it is said to be effective when used as a standby screen for cell phones. We always strive to give high-quality tours. Your feedback is […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on Jan.22nd. We welcomed 7 guests from Singapore and US. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. It was lucky morning to see many Wedding Ceremonies. Meiji Shrine layout was arranged especially for New Years’ first visit of shrine (hatsu-moude) and had a large votive tablet of rabbit. Your feedback is important and helpful to us. If you enjoyed our tour, please considerposting a review on our TripAdvisor/Facebook etc. Your comments will help contributeto higher-quality tours. Once again, thank you for choosing Tokyo Free Walking Tourduring your precious time in Tokyo. In case you happen to be back in Tokyo, pleasejoin another one of our tours. (posted by Sakamoto)
Do you know how to pray at the Japanese Shrine?? Many thanks to 5 guests participating in the tour to Meiji Jingu shrine and Harajuku on Nov. 6th. They came from the UK and Singapore. We split into 3 groups. We totally enjoyed a refreshing autumn day at this shrine, which is located in the middle of the city but surrounded by nature. For more than 300 years, chrysanthemum planting has been a part of the traditional culture of the Japanese people. There are also many of the family with little kids celebrating their coming to age of three, five or seven, which is called “Shich-go-san”. After taking a look around the traditional shrine area, we also enjoyed to go out to the modern city site known as Harajuku area! The next tour will be held on DEC. 18th, 2022. We are looking forward to booking many of you on the following sites: Our website –> https://tfwt.jp/top/meiji-shrine-and-harajuku/ , https://www.facebook.com/TokyoFWT or Tokyo Free Walking Tour at https://www.tripadvisor.jp/ . Thank you.
Hello, everyone! It’s looooooong time no see since the COVID came here for a couple of years… Hope you’ve been wonderful now! Fortunately, we have opened our regular tour again finally! We will reopen our regular tour for Meiji Shrine and Harajuku city strolling on Sunday, Oct. 2nd. [Itinerary] 1. Meiji Shrine Main Gate (Ichi-no-torii) Sake barrels / Wine barrels Oo-torii Main Pavilion (Honden) / Sacred Tree / Votive Tablet Hall of worship (Kaguraden) / Place of worship for cars 2. Harajuku city Strolling Omote-sando street (the approach road for Meiji Shrine) Takeshita dori street (Shopping street) :The birth place of the Japanese Pop Culture. You can also find many vintage fashion clothes and good Japanese souvenirs for your friends and family. Ota Memorial Museum (Museum for the traditional Ukiyoe wood curving printing) Any other interesting photogenic spots! [Duration] Approximately 1.5 – 2 hours Here is the site of the booking for our tour as follows: https://www.supersaas.com/schedule/TFWT/Tokyo_Free_Walking_Tour We’re looking forward to seeing you at the tour. Thank you!!
We could not express how we were deeply impressed to welcome all of you at Meiji-jingu this day. Since it was our very first time to hold a weekday tour at this place, all of our guides were excited. On the other hand, the warning at a relatively high alert of Corona virus made us a bit worry if we could meet any of our guests this day. No matter , We would like to thank each of you from Malaysia, Spain, France, Italy, totally 20 wonderful guests indeed. There is a word called “Ichi-go-ichi-e(一期一会）” in Japanese, whichi means “an oppurrtunity to meet you is one time in one life”. Don’t you think that this word has been created just for us? The precinct was apparently quiet with less people visiting than usual. To avoid crowded areas, we were afraid that we have to skip areas like Takeshita-dori street but could rather spend more relaxed space and time inside the precinct. Some of our guests even tried omikuji or writing their wishes to dedicate them to the shrine. When we reached to the main area inside the precinct, we could encounter some interesting scenes like a wedding couple dressed in Shinzen-style kimono or […]
Thank you for choosing our tours at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on 16 Februrary 2020. We welcomed 4 guests from UK and France. I hope all of you enjoyed our tour and shared with us an interesting conversation of history and culture for a few hours. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached. We always strive to improve our tours for the higher standards, your feedback is very important and useful. If you have a moment, please consider commenting about the tour on our Facebook /TripAdvisor etc. Also, please tell your family and friends about us. You might wonder what is the feature of this tour besides viewing Japan’s traditional Shinto shrine. We always suggest the contrast between such traditional atmosphere in first half of the tour and fancy Harajuku town in latter half. The two are totally different kinds but located next to each other. But there is even more interesting contrast within the Harajuku town. Our guests walk to Takeshita street in Harajuku town, which is known to be youngsters’ fun street with lineup of sweet shops, cloth shops and cafes. So the atmosphere is quite fancy and cute so that children can get easily attracted to […]
