Timeless Japan 2019

Tokyo City Tour DAY 3

TIMELESS JAPAN 2019

Breakfast and proceed for city tour of Tokyo visiting the Meiji Jingu Shrine, drive through the Imperial Palace Plaza which comprises the moats and spacious plaza between the east side of the Imperial Palace and the Marunouchi office buildings. On either side of the road through the middle of the plaza stretches lawn with pine groves. On the north side of the plaza stands a fountain commemorating the marriage of the Emperor and Empress. To the south is a bronze of Kusunoki Masashige, a 14th-

century samurai loyal to the emperor. Sensoji is the oldest and most impressive temple in Tokyo. The main hall was first built in 645 to house a tiny golden statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, that had been repeatedly hauled up in fishing nets despite being thrown back into the river. The statue was enshrined in the main hall where it ostensibly remains today -- a sight too holy to be seen. The temple was destroyed in the air raids of March 10, 1945, and the present building is a 1958 reconstruction.

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