Some family history...

On Sunday we spent the morning shopping. We went to a big toy shop which made Hamleys seem like a sedate tea party! We then had a picnic in Yoyogi park enjoying the cherry blossom and the open spaces. last weekend the park would have been jam packed full of cherry blossom watchers who would sit down on bright blue plastic sheets on the ground and wait for the first cherry blossom petals to fall. Of course there is some drinking, eating and singing involved during the wait. But as the official cherry blossom celebration has been last week, we found the park quiet and peaceful.
The Meiji shrine is in the centre of Yoyogi park, surrounded by a sacred wood. Whilst walking through the sacred and very peaceful wood there are regular loud speaker announcements, that shatter the peace. The announcements remind you that you are in a sacred wood and you may not wander off the path, play sports, remove fruits or remove animals (?) The Meiji Shrine is Japan's national shrine to the Meiji Emperor and is incredibly popular.

Gate to Meiji shrine
Shrine blossom

Within Yoyogi park there is also a pond which is surrounded by some beautiful blossom trees and some very big fish.

Coi carp

Outside the Meiji shrine we came across a display of wine casks and a sign which explained that the Meiji emperor struck a friendship with the French rulers during the 19th Century and gained a liking for wine. The caskets displayed are of Bourgogne wine (one of the emperor's favourites) which has been gifted to the emperor and now his shrine every year. Jase and I were interested to read this because the name Bourgoigne is found in my Granny's family. (The family story is that the Bourgoignes in our family were Hugenots escaping to the east of London from persecution in France in the 17 or 18th century.)

Bourgogne wine casks