sounds like peter wrote that!

i’ve been in tokyo
i’ve been in harajuku
but
i’ve never
not even once
been near the meiji
shrine

was almost there
on new years day
2005
but we
decided not to go
as there
would be too many
people there.

its unlikely that
i would be in kanto
any time soon
either
how
unfortunate

I love Meiji Jingu !!!!

i didn’t now about 流鏑馬. Sounds great ! What day is 文化の日？Sometimes in November, right ?

Las time I was in Tokyo, there was a Noh play in Meiji Jingu. Unfortunately, it was completely booked weeks in advance, and I couldn’t get a ticket…

Meiji Jingu is also a good place to see traditional weddings, and the beautiful kimonos the brides wear. Though I’m not sure i would be too happy to have tourists taking souvenir pictures at my wedding…

Is that Gozilla in the last seconds of the dialogue?

I’ve been to Meiji-jingu on 七五三 once. That was quite cool seeing all those kids dressed up in cute kimonos with all generations of their family snapping pictures.
I love Meiji-jingu a green oasis in the city especially during the sweltering summer heat.

せっかく is a really useful word! i never realized it until recently. but my impression is it carries some emotional weight, so it’s good if you’re trying to show your special someone that you went of your way for them

keep this word in mind for White Day, guys!

I have a picture that my grandparents took in 1949 of one of the tori gates, although I’m not sure if it is Meiji Jingu or not. It looks like it might be. My grandparents met in Japan (neither was Japanese though) after World War II. They were both contractors that helped in the restoration after the war. I have got to get the full story from my Grandma… I’d like to plan a visit to see some of the same sights that they did based on the pictures I have, although looking at something from 1949 will be very different from the way it looks now.

I have only scanned in a couple of these pictures so far. You can see them here: http://flickr.com/photos/bloritsch/sets/72157600167743133/

I don’t know if it will work, but this is the one I was referring to in particular:

Honestly, I do not know. I’m not even confident that all the rolls are only for their time in Japan. My grandma traveled all over the place before she meet my grandpa. Most were in boxes with the year 1949 printed on them, but many were just lying about. I’m going to do my best to print them traditionally, but the negatives are deteriorating which is a great shame. The stuff they used to make negatives with is not archival, and they weren’t stored in the best of conditions.

My personal goal for when I visit Japan (date unknown) is to try and retrace at least some of their steps and see how much things have changed. If anyone can recognize where these pictures are from, please let me know.