Jingu Bashi

The Jingubashi, often called Harajuku Bridge in English, has spanned the Yamanote-line tracks between JR Harajuku station and the main approach to Meiji Shrine since 1920. It was laid out for the opening of the shrine dedicated to the Meiji Emperor, marking the threshold between the city and the sacred forest. The bridge became famous as a social space: from the 1990s, Tokyo's cosplay scene gathered here at weekends, young women and men in handmade Lolita, Visual Kei or anime outfits documented by photographers from around the world. The organised scene largely dissolved around 2010, but the bridge remains the photographed link between Harajuku street style and the quiet shrine beyond.