Tokyo, Japan
1 June 2015

Located near the busy Harajuku Station is the Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingū) dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken. Completed in 1920 — eight years after the passing of the emperor and six years after the passing of the empress — the shrine was destroyed during the Second World War but was rebuilt shortly thereafter.

Emperor Meiji was the first emperor of modern Japan. He ascended to the throne in 1867 at the peak of the Meiji Restoration when Japan’s feudal era ended.

*  *  *