imperial palace

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Later in the afternoon, having temporarily giving up in our search for ‘Lush’ and the Melt Banana, we decided to head over the Imperial Palace and gardens in the center of the city. After exiting the subway we first walked through Hibiya Park, which is just outside of the Palace walls. It was a very calm and well kept park, with the mood broken by speeches being heard over loudspeakers in an open air stadium in one corner of the park. We headed over to the stadium to see what was going on, and observed a protest of some kind. Banners were being held up, and music was playing. Most participants were wearing brightly colored vests. It seemed all very well organized, and peaceful. Continuing on our walk we reached the outer wall and moat surrounding the grounds of the Imperial Palace. The scale was massive. A bridge spanned the moat and led to a traditional gate, which led to another massive path that led around an inner wall. A lengthy stroll around this second gate eventually led to a path leading up to a gate for the inner wall, but was blocked off and guarded. A group of tourists gathered near the closed off gate, as in the distance, over the inner wall, the very edge of a palace building was visible. The Imperial Palace is still being occupied by the royal family, and so is only open to the public one day out of every year, New Years Day. At this site we asked a local to take a picture of the three of us, our revenge for the many Japanese tourists which ask the same favor of us. Continuing our walk around the grounds we came upon groundskeepers individually trimming each branch on the garden’s trees. This is the type of care and respect that I have seen in all areas of the city.

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