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Japan: Harajuku on a Sunday – Meiji shrine and Yoyogi Park

By Mithun Divakaran
/
May 12, 2016
/
Japan, Travel

Date: 29th March 2015

My morning was spent sighting cherry blossoms aplenty — first at the East Gardens of the Tokyo Imperial Palace followed by a visit to the impressive Shunjuku Gyoen. From Shinjuku Gyoemmae station, I had to get to Harajuku station now.

Harajuku station Takeshita street — I could see the famous Takeshita street from the Harajuku station platform

Omotesando train station crowd Japan — I don’t know if it was because it was a Sunday or not, but it took a while to get out of the station. There was a whole swarm of people going in either direction.

Meiji shrine entrance Japan — First up, a quick visit to Meiji Shrine

Wine barrels Meiji shrine Japan — Along the way were these displays of wine barrels on one side

Sake barrels Meiji shrine Japan — … and barrels of sake on the other side. These barrels of sake and wine (from France) were all gifts to the emperor of the Meiji era

Old sake barrels Meiji shrine Tokyo — I’m sure they’re empty now, but they do make for an impressive display

Meiji shrine torii Japan — It’s nearly a kilometer before you get to Meiji Shrine

Entrance to Meiji shrine Japan — But I got there after nearly 20 minutes of walking

Meiji shrine trees Tokyo Japan — That’s Meiji Shrine — one of the most famous Shinto shrines in Japan

Traditional Japanese wedding Meiji shrine — There was a flurry of excitement when we were witness to a traditional Japanese wedding. The procession was led by two priests, followed by the couple, and finally family and friends.

Japanese wedding bowing Meiji shrine Japan — To be specific, this was a procession of a Shinto wedding

Japanese wedding hall Meiji Tokyo — The procession then moved on to a private hall for further marriage rituals

Unlike Indian weddings, the whole affair was very, very quiet. The only noise came from excited tourists and some Chinese tourists who were quite adamant in following the procession to take photos from a closer angle. If you are thinking about doing the same, please don’t — it’s rude and quite inconsiderate. The guards at the hall eventually had to shoo them away.

Japanese priests traditional dress Tokyo — The priests. There was another wedding party waiting their turn inside that hall in the back.

Meiji shrine open space Tokyo — I walked around Meiji Shrine some more

Wooden Meiji shrine halls Tokyo — Unlike other old temples across Tokyo, Meiji Shrine is relatively ‘new’. It opened it’s doors in 1920.

Wooden doors Meiji shrine Japan — It was time to head back

Meiji shrine forest road Japan — I walked back at a quicker pace

Torii Meiji shrine gate Japan — The Grand Torii

Yoyogi gymnasium Tokyo Japan — Back out again, I walked towards Yoyogi park next. That structure is the iconic Yoyogi Gymnasium.

Rockabillies dancing Yoyogi park Tokyo — I chose to visit Harajuku on a Sunday because it’s when pop culture groups of all kinds hang out at various spots across Harajuku and Yoyogi park

By far the coolest were these Rockabillies — guys dancing to 1960s rock’n’roll.

Rockabilly dancers Yoyogi park Japan — It was such a joy to see an American pop culture that is hardly around even in America!

Rockabilly dancers Yoyogi park Sunday Tokyo — I wondered for how many years these guys have been dancing at Yoyogi Park on Sundays

Here’s a brief video:

Cosplay girls Harajuku sunday Tokyo — There were all sorts of fashion on display — from Gothic Lolita to anime cosplay

Cosplayers Harajuku Yoyogi park Tokyo Sunday — It was all amusing to witness for the ‘regular’ folk

Cherry blossoms Yoyogi park Japan — I went inside Yoyogi Park but had no intention of walking around another park for long. I had seen enough cherry blossoms for today.

Yoyogi park cosplayers posing Tokyo-sunday — Cosplayers were all enjoying the cherry blossoms too

Man cosplay girl Tokyo Japan — Oh, ‘she’ is a he

Anime cosplay Harajuku Yoyogi park Tokyo Japan — I don’t know what characters these youngsters were cosplaying as

I walked back out and walked across a bridge when I heard some thumping music playing in the distance.

Free dance party Yoyogi park — It was an open dance concert

Sunday dance party Yoyogi park Tokyo — Does this happen every Sunday or just because of Hanami (spring) season? None the less, it was cool to see

Spring stage lineup Yoyogi park Tokyo — Seemed like mostly local DJs

Live music Yoyogi park crowd Tokyo — There was another area where a stage was setup playing some trance music

The music got me grooving for a while:

Food stalls Yoyogi park Sunday — It was a festive atmosphere all around

Dogs Yoyogi park Tokyo Sunday — Even the dogs were out to have some fun

Yoyogi park bridge Tokyo Japan — Not a bad way to enjoy the end of the week (and weekend)

Yoyogi road Harajuku Tokyo — I walked back across the bridge

Girls dance practice Harajuku Tokyo — Under the bridge were more youngsters doing all sorts of things, like these two girls practicing a dance routine

Food stalls Sunday Yoyogi park Japan — It was time to leave Yoyogi Park and see what else Harajuku is famous for

Next post(s) in this series:

Japan 2015: Harajuku at night — Takeshita Street

Japan 2015: Visiting Akihabara a second time, because why not?

Japan 2015: Cherry blossoms in full bloom at Ueno Park

Japan 2015: Rikugien garden’s weeping cherry blossom tree

Japan 2015: Getting to Hakone; Lake Ashi sightseeing cruise

Japan 2015: Hakone ropeway; onsen at Hotel Green Plaza

Japan 2015: Ōwakudani sulphur springs, views of Mt. Fuji — and last night in Tokyo

Japan 2015: Getting to Narita Airport — and flying an Airbus A380 for the first time

Previous posts in this series:

Japan 2015: Cherry blossom sightings at Shinjuku Gyoen

Japan 2015: Cherry blossoms at Tokyo Imperial Palace east garden

Japan 2015: Boat ride to Odaiba; giant Gundam statue at DiverCity Mall

Japan 2015: Cherry blossom celebrations by Sumida River

Japan 2015: Denboin garden, near Sensoji Temple

Japan 2015: Shopping in Shinjuku, and exploring Kabukicho

Japan 2015: Nishi-Shinjuku — views from Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building sky deck

Japan 2015: Shibuya – the busiest crossing in the world, and home to a loyal dog

Japan 2015: Ueno Zoo – pandas, a lonely polar bear, and more

Japan 2015: Nakamise street, Senso-ji temple, and Ueno Park sakura at half-bloom

Japan 2015: Nadagiku Shuzo Sake Brewery, leaving Himeji for Tokyo — and my last bullet train ride

Japan 2015: Himeji Castle, and the unexpected air show

Japan 2015: Kyoto Station, and arriving at Himeji by shinkansen

Japan 2015: Kyoto – Monkey Park in Arashiyama

Japan 2015: Kyoto – Bamboo Forest in Arashiyama

Japan 2015: Kyoto – Gion Corner Cultural Show

Japan 2015: Kyoto – Kinkaku-ji and Kiyomizu Dera temple

Japan 2015: Kyoto – Fushimi Inari-taisha, and climbing to the mountain top

Japan 2015: Kyoto – Nishiki market and Teramachi

Japan 2015: Kyoto – Nishi & Higashi Honganji, Shijo street, and Gion

Japan 2015: Riding a bullet train for the first time, Tokyo to Kyoto

Japan 2015: Walking around Akihabara and Ginza

Japan 2015: Going to Akihabara, and spending way too much time in Yodobashi Akiba

Japan 2015: Landing in Tokyo… and using a communal bath for the first time

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Tags: cherry blossoms, cosplayers in tokyo, harajuku, harajuku cosplay, harajuku on sunday, japan, meiji shrine, rockabillies tokyo, rockabilly, tokyo, tradititional japanese wedding, yoyogi park

Mithun Divakaran

http://mithunonthe.net

MithunOnThe.Net is the website owned and run by Mithun Divakaran. Everyone says it's awesome, especially Mithun!

One Comments

Tokyo Fashion
06/10/2016

Nice report on your visit. The people in the park are not cosplayers, they are subculture fashion kids participating in a Sunday event called Harajuku Fashion Walk.

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