Cousin Travis hits Tokyo

Here is my 15 year old cousin, Travis Tarrant. His parents graciously sent him to Tokyo for two weeks. This is his first trip outside of the continental United States. Sometimes you just need to start off a day of sight seeing with a chocolate milkshake from Starbucks. We went to Mejii Jingu--a nearby Shinto Shrine to have a look.




Here's Travis at the main gate to the shrine.




This is the inner courtyard of the shrine. We happened to catch the end of a Japanese wedding procession, but didn't take photos out of respect. The bride was in full wedding kimono regalia and an attendant held a huge orange umbrella over her to shade her from the sun.

Here's the votive area. Instead of lighting a candle and saying a prayer, you purchase a wooden votive to write your prayer upon. These were written in all different languages. Thus began the tour of Travis.