visiting the temples

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Visiting the temples

Josh, Mason and I were all tired after the party so we ended getting up a little bit later than planned. Because we slept in past eleven o’clock we had missed the breakfast banquet which meant we had to eat out. After some Tamagoyaki (omelette) and followed by some rice pudding we were ready to see some Japanese Shrines. The group planned to see three different shrines today but, seeing that we woke up late we would only have time for two. It took forever to go anywhere because the streets were packed with people dancing around the streets some dressed in dragon costumes, and others just having fun and dancing. Two hours of crawling progress, we finally arrived at the first shrine. The Meiji Jingu Shrine was the most amazing shrine/temple I have ever seen. It was so beautiful and you could not hear any of the noise from the streets because of the 700,000 square meter dense forest between the shrine and the streets. We toured around the shrine for a little longer than we expected, it was so interesting to see the different rooms of the shrine because in some people were praying and in others they were learning martial arts. By the time we left the Meiji Jingu Shrine it was six o’clock, too late to visit any others. Disappointed at not being able to see all three of shrines, it was still a great day. We got to see one of the most amazing shrines in the world and had fun dancing with the Japanese people celebrating the New Year. To catch up on the sleep we lost last night, we ate at the hotel and went to bed early.