The Meiji Shrine south gate – or is it?
Meiji Shrine gate just an illusion as undercover repairs proceed
By KAZUHIRO NAGASHIMA Asahi, July 22, 2016
At first glance, the south gate of Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine, which is currently undergoing extensive renovation, doesn’t look out of the ordinary.
Although the gate is shrouded to hide the work, a giant mesh screen has been erected in front offering a full-scale color image of the Taisho Era (1912-1926) gate in all its glory.
It took three months to produce the sheet, which measures 14 meters in height and 20 meters in width. “We want to work on the construction without it being noticed by anyone,” said the head of the Shimizu Corp. construction crew that was commissioned to carry out the restoration. “To make it discreet, we chose a cloudy sky for the background instead of blue skies.”
The south gate of the historic Shinto shrine was constructed in 1920. The restoration of its copper-sheet roof and cleaning of the woodwork is expected to continue until the end of August. The restoration of the shrine’s east and west gates will be carried out as well.
The renovation at the Meiji Shrine complex is scheduled to continue through October 2019.
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For a short video (less than a minute) showing the compound inside the south gate, see here.
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