Two traditional Shinto wedding processions at the Meiji Shrine.
The Yasukuni-jinja. According to Shinto belief, the souls of all Japanese war dead are enshrined here. (Carrier pigeons are honoured, but not enshrined). A beautiful, peaceful site. Controversial, too. Included in those war dead are hundreds of convicted war criminals, responsible for some of the most appalling atrocities of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. So when politicians come and pay their respects at the shrine (as will likely happen this coming weekend), the Chinese and Koreans are less than impressed…
Senso-Ji and surrounding market. Located in Asakusa, it is Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple. The two fellows on the right-hand side of the second-last row are statues of mischievous raccoon-dogs, in the small shrine built to appease them and stop them running rampant in the temple grounds. Such an approach may be of interest to folks in Toronto…