One of the reasons I like Urban Fantasy so much is that it’s right there in front of us every day. So much of our landscape is associated with magic and mysteries. My father read Kipling’s Just So Stories to us kids around the kitchen table after dinner on Sunday nights. I’ve wondered about how things came to be ever since.
This is the Shoe Shrine in Takao Park, outside of Tokyo. It is one of the loveliest and most charming parks I have ever been to, but no one there speaks English, and other than asking for biru, my Japanese is limited. However, the intent of this shrine is universal. No woman could but admire such devotion. Doesn’t it make you curious about why someone dedicated this shrine to shoes? I’ll bet it’s a good story.
Makes me wonder if some day there will be a shrine to happy little toasters. Or microwaves.
