Living in Tokyo, I often forget that I am close to lots of famous places. Living in South-West Tokyo, I forget that I am close to the a few of the major tourist spots in Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku).

Harajuku is famous for a few things: Meiji Shrine and Cos Players. I happened to go to Harajuku on a great day: National Foundation Day. It is said that the first Emperor of Japan, Emperor Jinmu, was enthroned 2668 years ago on the 11th of February. This meant lots of people at the shrine and people celebrating the creation of Japan.

With the forced resignation of the Japanese emperor’s deity status at the end of World War II, topics concerning the emperor, nationalism, etcetera are a bit politically sensitive. The people mainly participating in the festivities were members of Japan’s Ultra Right Wing, who can normally be seen in black vans with loudspeakers blaring imperial music and saying things that even Japanese can’t understand.

The shrine is literally a 2 minute walk from Harajuku station. After walking through the shrine and taking a little bit of video, I knew I needed to come back at another time by myself so I could explore all of the nooks and crannies. It is hard to believe that such a structure could be in the middle of Tokyo. You look around and all you see are trees instead of the usual buildings in the concrete jungle.

At the entrance there is a huge Torii that seems to have weathered quite well over the years. A Torii marks the entrance of sacred space, so in theory you are supposed to purify yourself before entering by washing your hands and mouth, but today with the amount of people I didn’t see anybody doing it. I’m not sure that my words can do it any justice so I will supplement them with a photo.

Literally across the street and a block away from the shrine is the other main drag in Harajuku where all of the kids go and dress up. This street was so packed it was unbelievable. Before coming to Harajuku I was under the impression that the Cosplayers were quite original in their fashion. As it turns out it is all readily available in sets at a marked up price much like Emo kids clothes and Hot Topic. I should have known better. Again though, I will need to go back on a better day by myself so I can take more photos and videos.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how Japan can mix old and new. At times they have the best and the newest technology (cellphones, televisions, cars, etc…), but at others they seem so far behind the times , especially for the 3rd largest economy in the world, that central heating or air is mostly non-existant in Japanese homes in favour of kerosene room heaters. In this case you have people celebrating ancient Japanese culture and tradition in once place and directly across the street you have the newest in Japanese pop culture.

Below is a short video of some of the festivities at the Meiji Shrine.