Our trip to Tokyo was not just seeing the Emperor and spending money I don’t have. We also went to the Meji Shrine to say our New Years intentions. Believe me, this year among all others- I need that!
After a nice little sleep in and a big breakfast at my behest, we set off for Harajuku and the Meji shrine. On the way, I was reminded of the biggest difference between me and the S.O. How we approach train travel, in Japan-is 180 degrees apart. Me, I would have taken the Hibiya line to Ebisu then changed to JR and gotten up to Harajuku rather quickly. However because you have to change between the Tokyo Metro and the JR line, it costs more, specifically 180 yen more. Now to the S.O.’s way of thinking, that is unacceptable. Even if it does save about 15 minutes of transit time and either way we still have to change to another train. I’ve yet to be able to convince her that time has a value unto itself.
SO…….. we rode the Hibiya line, IN THE OPPOSITE direction of the way we need to go, to Kasumigaseki ( the site of the Um cyanide gassing by the way), where we changed to the Chiyoda line so we could ride to YoYogi Koen. Which is one enormous dog leg. Check the map if you don’t believe me. Fortunately, I had my Halberstam book in my backpack to read.
When we arrived at the entrance, which is right across the Harajuku bridge ( the one where the Goth girls hang out on Sundays) we were greeted by some Western Christian evangelists, with the reassuring news that we were all going to hell for entering the shrine:
The signs say in Japanese (from left to right):
After death, meet judgement.
Eternal life through Christ.
Christ’s blood purifies sin.
So we got that going for us. Lets go inside!
In the previous picture I really felt sorry for the two little girls who were stuck holding signs. What the picture does not show is the poor boy, who could not have been more than 10 holding a sign down by the Shinro Bank and The Gap. 15 years from now when he goes postal and guns down a whole church full of people, he’ll note how he was cheated out of seeing Japanese friends, looking at cute Japanese girls and playing video games-all so he could be drafted into the service of the Lord. They even had a speaker that was reading a Gospel tract in Japanese. Sadly, it was mostly ignored as the folks scrambled to get in the gate and join the herd heading to the shrine:
This is the Tori gate leading to the shrine. Emperor Meji considered himself a modern man-who felt Japan needed to adopt the ways of the West-much like Ataturk after him. And thus he liked Western wine:
At most shrines there are rows of Sake barrels, which are offerings on behalf of something or someone. These are casks of wine sent to the shrine by wineries in France to observe an anniversary of the Meji shrine or something like that.
Then it was up to the Shrine to say our intentions. we had to wait awhile before we could get up to the front. The whole time I was standing there-as one of the few Gaijins in the herd- I was thinking of the yellow signs and the whole “graven idols”prohibitions in the book of Moses. Tell me that was comfortable! (See Chaplain Crumpton-you thought I was sleeping through your sermons!).
However it was important to the S.O. and thereby, contrary to popular belief, it was important to me. I have no idea what she wished for-all I wished for was to find a good job that kept me here in Asia!
After that we moved on down the return path. There were places to write out your New Years intentions-with a suitable donation of course.
Since it is the year of the rat-lots of people drew rats ( or more properly cute mice) on their placards. The best one I saw was a rat smoking, with the intention written to quit smoking. It was pretty funny.
If you don’t want to pay the money for a placard, you can write your intention on a piece of paper.
So there you have it. With all due respect to my yellow sign bearing friends out side the gate, I think they have it all wrong. This is a fine tradition and one the US could probably use. Its a formal way to acknowledge there is a power beyond all of us, see some of the beauty that is Tokyo, and respect the history of the country.
If you guys can’t understand that- well I’ve got this book by Christopher Hitchens you need to read.
Happy New Year!