Friday 4 December 2009

Autumn leaves @ Meiji Jingu inner garden

These are photos from Sunday, taken at the Inner Garden of Meiji Jingu.  We wandered through the back streets from Gaien Mae through the streets back streets of Omotesando where there is an eclectic mix of Tokyo government housing, green 'living city' space, upmarket boutiques and cafes, salons and the ever ubiquitous drink vending machines, through vibed Harajuku where anything goes particularly if it makes people look twice  - Alice in Wonderland outfits, fluffy green ugboots,  school uniforms, foreigners dressed as samurai.  People in their teens and twenties hang out in Harajuku - there is lots of cheap chic or pseudo chic, Hiro equates it to a market in HK or BKK without the acrid smell.  I think he's missing something though....
But anyway, I digress. We walked to Meiji Shrine Inner garden which is next to Yoyogi Park, between Harajuku and Yoyogi stations.  The chaotic hubub of outside disappeared walking through the gates.  The 500yen (AUD $6) entry seems to keep the numbers in the park to little more than a steady trickle - despite the fact it would have been one of the best days of the year in there.  It's one of perhaps two remaining parklands in inner Tokyo that have nature in a somewhat natural form.  It is defintely constructed, but it's more like walking through a park of nature trails rather than through a garden.  I guess in autumn, when the leaves are the focal point this may especially so.  In the summer time focus shifts to the colour in the iris flower beds which are surrounded by lush greenery. 
The photos are a bit disappointing, but you get that, the battery on the camera was almost flat which seemed to stop the focus working properly. That said though, you can still get some sense of the park.






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