Yoyogi Park

We’d lunched in Yoyogi Park, the 70ha forest in central Tokyo featuring 100,000 trees donated from all over Japan. At the heart of the park is a Shinto Shrine Meiji Jingu in which the souls of Emperor Meiji and his consort Empress Shoken are enshrined as human Kami. Emperor Meiji ruled at a time of ‘Japanese Spirit and Western Knowledge’ (1868-1912) - he shaved his topknot and took western food and wine. Sake and wine barrels face each other on the path to the shrine in the spirit of world peace.

The Emperor and Empress excelled in writing Waka which are traditional poems of 31 syllables in the pattern 5-7-5-7-7. They composed 100,000 and 30,000 Waka respectively expressing their feelings towards the world, country and people as well as ethical thoughts. Since opening in 1920 the park has had a chequered history.Read more