The Meiji Shrine is Tokyo’s grandest Shinto Shrine was built nearly 100 years ago to commemorate Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken whose reign occurred during Japan’s transformation from an isolationist state to a modern nation. . The shrine is surrounded by a large forest filled with over 120,000 trees all of which were donated to the shrine from different parts of Japan. While the original construction of the shrine was completed in 1926, the shrine was destroyed during the bombings of WWII and rebuilt in 1958. To make an offering at the main shrine (or any Shinto shrine in Japan), bow twice, clap your hands twice, and then bow again. The surrounding garden (Meiji-jingu Gyoen) is most impressive in June when the irises bloom.