Tokyo - Meiji Jingū - Provenance of the Bourgogne Wine for Consecration
By gaining the good and rejecting what is wrong,
It is our desire that we'll compare favourably
With other lands abroad.
- Poem by Emperor Meiji
The Meiji period was an enlightened period during which a policy of "Japanese Spirit and Western Knowledge" was adopted, to learn from the best of Western culture and civilization while keeping Japan's age-old spirit and revered traditions. Emperor Meiji led the way in promoting modernization by embracing many features of western culture in his personal life, such as shearing his topknot and donning western attire, and in many other aspects of daily living. Among these departures, His Majesty set an example by taking western food and in particular enjoying wine with it.
The barrels of wine to be consecrated at Meiji Jingu have been offered by the celebrated wineries of Bourgogne in France on the initiative of Mr. Yasuhiko Sata, Representative, House of Burgundy in Tokyo, Honorary Citizen of Bourgogne and owner of the Chateau de Chailly Hotel-Golf.
Meiji Jingū (明治神宮), or Meiji Shrine, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shōken. After the emperor's death in 1912, the Japanese Diet passed a resolution to commemorate his role in the Meiji Restoration. Construction began in 1915 in the traditional Nagarezukuri style, made primarily of Japanese cypress and copper. Formally dedicated in 1920, completed in 1921 and its grounds officially finished by 1926. Until 1946, the Meiji Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines. The original building was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids of World War II, and the current reconstruction was completed in October, 1958.
Emperor Meiji (明治天皇, Meiji-tennō) (born Mutsuhito (睦) in 1852), or Meiji the Great, was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. He ascended to the throne at the peak of the Meiji Restoration, which restored power the emperor ending Japan's feudal era. Emperor Meiji married Empress Shōken (昭憲皇后, Shōken kōg), also known as Empress Dowager Shōken (昭憲皇太后, Shōken-kōtaigō), born Ichijō Masako (一条勝子) (1849 - 1914) in 1869. They presided over a time of rapid change in Japan, as the nation rose from an isolated, pre-industrial, feudal shogunate splintered into decentralized domains to become a political, social and industrial world power.
Meiji Shrine is located in a 700,000- square-meter evergreen forest filled with 120,000 trees of 365 different species donated from regions across the entire country. Entry is marked by a massive torii gate, after which the shrine is composed of two major areas. The Naien is the inner precinct, which is centered on the shrine buildings and includes a treasure museum, built in the Azekurazukuri style, that houses articles of the Emperor and Empress. The Gaien is the outer precinct, which includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery that houses a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor and his consort. It also includes the Meiji Jingu Stadium, which opened in 1926 and is the home field of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and the Meiji Memorial Hall, which was originally used for governmental meetings, including discussions surrounding the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in the late 19th century. Today it is used for Shinto weddings.
Tokyo - Meiji Jingū - Provenance of the Bourgogne Wine for Consecration
By gaining the good and rejecting what is wrong,
It is our desire that we'll compare favourably
With other lands abroad.
- Poem by Emperor Meiji
The Meiji period was an enlightened period during which a policy of "Japanese Spirit and Western Knowledge" was adopted, to learn from the best of Western culture and civilization while keeping Japan's age-old spirit and revered traditions. Emperor Meiji led the way in promoting modernization by embracing many features of western culture in his personal life, such as shearing his topknot and donning western attire, and in many other aspects of daily living. Among these departures, His Majesty set an example by taking western food and in particular enjoying wine with it.
The barrels of wine to be consecrated at Meiji Jingu have been offered by the celebrated wineries of Bourgogne in France on the initiative of Mr. Yasuhiko Sata, Representative, House of Burgundy in Tokyo, Honorary Citizen of Bourgogne and owner of the Chateau de Chailly Hotel-Golf.
Meiji Jingū (明治神宮), or Meiji Shrine, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shōken. After the emperor's death in 1912, the Japanese Diet passed a resolution to commemorate his role in the Meiji Restoration. Construction began in 1915 in the traditional Nagarezukuri style, made primarily of Japanese cypress and copper. Formally dedicated in 1920, completed in 1921 and its grounds officially finished by 1926. Until 1946, the Meiji Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines. The original building was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids of World War II, and the current reconstruction was completed in October, 1958.
Emperor Meiji (明治天皇, Meiji-tennō) (born Mutsuhito (睦) in 1852), or Meiji the Great, was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. He ascended to the throne at the peak of the Meiji Restoration, which restored power the emperor ending Japan's feudal era. Emperor Meiji married Empress Shōken (昭憲皇后, Shōken kōg), also known as Empress Dowager Shōken (昭憲皇太后, Shōken-kōtaigō), born Ichijō Masako (一条勝子) (1849 - 1914) in 1869. They presided over a time of rapid change in Japan, as the nation rose from an isolated, pre-industrial, feudal shogunate splintered into decentralized domains to become a political, social and industrial world power.
Meiji Shrine is located in a 700,000- square-meter evergreen forest filled with 120,000 trees of 365 different species donated from regions across the entire country. Entry is marked by a massive torii gate, after which the shrine is composed of two major areas. The Naien is the inner precinct, which is centered on the shrine buildings and includes a treasure museum, built in the Azekurazukuri style, that houses articles of the Emperor and Empress. The Gaien is the outer precinct, which includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery that houses a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor and his consort. It also includes the Meiji Jingu Stadium, which opened in 1926 and is the home field of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and the Meiji Memorial Hall, which was originally used for governmental meetings, including discussions surrounding the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in the late 19th century. Today it is used for Shinto weddings.