Sometimes it’s nice to get out of the city and see some trees — it’s especially nice when said trees are actually in an enormous park inside the city. Because let’s face it, that’s just so much easier.
There’s a pretty huge park near the Shibuya district in Tokyo called Yoyogi park. The park itself is quite nice, especially with the fall colours doin’ their thing.
And though you technically have to leave the park to get there (it has its own separate entrance), you can’t go to Yoyogi Park without visiting the Meiji Shrine.
It’s a serene enclave in the middle of the park (well, as serene as a place can be that’s swarming with tourists) and it’s absolutely worth seeing — though I will admit that whenever I visit a place like this with people legitimately praying, I feel a bit like a gawking interloper.
You can also pay 500 yen to have a wish tied to this sacred tree. I passed, though maybe I just missed out on having my dreams come true like a chump.
Interestingly, right in the middle of my visit, a wedding procession (I’m assuming) came marching out, wearing very traditional garb.
At first I felt a bit awkward taking pictures of these strangers, but then everyone else started doing it, so yeah, I snapped some photos. They started it.