Tokyo

Standing at the Gates of Peace and Love

It was a beautiful day in Tokyo today so after some business meetings we left Harajuku and made our way to the Meiji shrine or Meiji jingu in Japanese. It is an expansive and beautiful place.The trees and tori, towering over us, are amazing. The birds and flowers are blooming and all in all it is a beautiful place to be.

Spiritual enclave of the Emperor Meiji dynasty — Tori entrance, Meiji shrine, Tokyo

We entered by the main gate and before us was the massive tori in the photo above. It was a little funny to me there was actually a sign telling people they are welcome to come and pray but no other funny business is allowed. If you know why they have this sign please leave a comment and start a discussion. I am curious about it. By the way. Please forgive my poor cell phone images. Next time I will try to do better.

We followed the winding path, seeing visitors from all over the world coming and going. People from the U.S. and France, Russia. I even met a couple from India. Of course there were many Japanese there and also Taiwanese, Koreans and Chinese. It was beautiful to see people from all over Asia and the world in such a peaceful setting. It gave me hope for a future world filled with peace rather than a world filled with war and tyranny.

We prayed and I immediately felt better. Like a new day awakening before me. We stopped and looked at the offerings Meiji shrine offers to its visitors. Various Meiji charms, talisman and fortunes.

Follow the Way of Empress Shoken

After discussing with Usagi, I decided to take a poem that is written by Emperor Meiji or Empress Shoken as my spiritual guide for the day.

A priestess hands you a wooden cylinder that contains long narrow sticks, each with a number on it. The number correlates to the poem you will get. You shake the cylinder and in a moment a stick pops out. The priestess read the number, in my case 6 and she gave me the poem. Mine was written by Empress Shoken.

Ever downward water flows,

But mirrors lofty mountains;

How fitting that our heart also

Be humble, but reflect high aims

Empress Shoken

In Japanese kanji the poem reads:

Takayama no kageo utushite yuku mizu no

Hikiki ni tsukuo kokoro tomogana

A Meiji jingu priest offers a further interpretation:

A down-flowing stream still reflects the

image of the highest peaks above.

Let your heart, in a similar manner, be humble but reflect high ideals.

It is a beautiful poem that reflects ideals everyone, everywhere should try to maintain. Imagine our world if people lived by this creed. It would be a beautiful place to raise our children, safe from all the problems people face today. With the Empress’ words we can make our own lives a better place and better hopefully for our friends and family. I am thinking to send this post to Barack Obama and Vladamir Putin and all the members of the United Nations and ask them to please consider their people when making their decisions. Our world leaders seem to have forgotten their own peoples. Instead they think of money and their own financial gains.

When you come to Tokyo take a few hours to explore Meiji Jingu. You can find more information Here.

First Sakura – 2014

Spring has finally come to this cold place. Families are out and about, children run and play and enjoy the warm sun and the air is filled with the sweet smell of sakura trees blooming and showing their flowers for the first time since last spring.

Usagi and I spent the day strolling through the neighborhoods of Asakusa and Akihabara, visiting shrines and temples and praying for Japan and for our families.

This is my first time to be in Japan during a glorious spring. I have usually come to stay in the fall and winter and could never understand fully, the attraction for Japanese and for visitors from around the world, the draw, the need to see and bathe in the beauty that are sakura.

We spent part of the afternoon, after visiting the Imato (maneki-neko) shrine in Asakusa we walked across busy streets and crowded passage ways until we made our way to the Sumida gawa (Sumida river). The trees you see here line the river in a park that stretches on for miles. The photo above shows the world famous Tokyo SkyTree which is just on the other side of the Sumida.

Because we know not everyone can be here who wishes to be we have made some nice wall papers for your computer as a gift of friendship and love to visitors to our site. Please download them and enjoy them. If you like them, please share them with your friends and family.