Meiji Shrine and Harajuku

The Chrysanthemum and the tour of Meiji Jingu Shrine and Harajuku, 17 November 2024

Meiji Shrine and Harajuku

Thank you very much to the guests who participated in the tour of that day.

On that day we hosted 26 guests from Singapore, Canada, Germany, Italy, USA, Australia, and Russia.

It was a very warm day despite the middle of November. We 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 time we shared on the day.

During the tour, we could view chrysanthemum flowers exhibition and traditional Shinto wedding which in fact pleased our guests.

You might wonder why so many chrysanthemums are exhibited at the shrine. Chrysanthemum is the emblem of Japan’s imperial family and the national symbolic flower. You can see the emblems on the top of Torii gate at the shrine.

Chrysanthemum is also featured as a symbol of Japanese personality as described in the book “The Chrysanthemum and the sword” by American cultural anthropologist, Ruth Benedict right after the second world war ended. Japanese way of carefully arranging chrysanthemums in contrast with the militarism was the theme of the book.

Chrysanthemums are indeed regarded as Japan’s aestheticism.

So it was a great opportunity for the guests to learn and directly view the very essence of Japanese honor and beauty. We hope more of foreigners come to join our tours and learn that.

Your feedback is important and helpful to us. If you enjoyed our tour, please consider posting a review on our TripAdvisor/Facebook etc. Your comments will help contribute to higher-quality tours. Once again, thank you for choosing Tokyo Free Walking Tour during your precious time in Tokyo.

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(Posted by Masa)