Shrine in Chiyoda

This was shrine that we stumbled on in a quiet neighborhood in Chiyoda, north of the Imperial Palace. A couple of people came around to worship and a few guys were smoking at an approved smoking area right on the shrine grounds (you’re not allowed to smoke on the streets in public, except for in designated smoking areas. It’s to prevent litter more than anything else, I think. You can still smoke in restaurants, for example). The shrine is surrounded by apartment buildings, vending machines on the corner, wires, shops. Sacred places here are often smack in the middle of everyday life.