These pictures were taken on March 7, 2006.
To visit the Imperial Palace grounds, we needed to make a reservation (free) on the Internet in advance. Otherwise, the only other day that the palace grounds are open to the public are on the Emperor's Birthday on December 23. The tour was about 1 hour long.
The meeting centre where we were given information about the tour.
The first building we see as we enter the palace grounds.
Most of the people who signed up for this tour were old people. Everyone was quite orderly as evidenced from this neat line.
Yes, even the Emperor needs gas, seems like he couldn't afford to upgrade his since the 60s or 70s...
Our orderly tour group. Notice how everyone is walking along one straight line!
Remnants of Edo Castle.
Good ol' Japanese police *looking out* for crime on bikes inside the heavily guarded palace grounds.
Building of the Imperial Household Agency, the bureaucracy that controls the royal family:
View of Central Tokyo from the palace grounds.
Helicopter landing on a government building. Liftoff, landings happened 3 or 4 times while we were there. Must be carrying some black-suited LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) drone somewhere...to an airplane bound for Washington D.C.?
The Imperial Palace building, like everything built during the 60s, it is a forgettable piece of architecture. The roof doesn't even have any detail to it! It looks like some generic fake Japanese style convention centre in somewhere gaudy like...Las Vegas.
The square in front of the palace was quite large. On the Emperor's Birthday on December 23, the Emperor and his family would appear on the balcony in front of large crowds.
The main entrance to the palace?
The balcony where the royal family greets the public on the Emperor's Birthday.
You can get a sense of the size of the square from this viewpoint.
Walking towards the official main gate of the palace.
Crossing the bridge to another section of the palace grounds.
View of Central Tokyo from the bridge.
The bridge of the Imperial Palace that *all* the tours bring you to take pictures with, only this time, its on the other side looking out at the commoners.
Heading back out of the palace grounds through the back entrance.
Passing a moat.
Administrative buildings?
View of Tokyo from the unrestricted outer palace grounds.
And for those that keep demanding pictures of me, here it is!
2 comments:
Haven't seen you post in a while, glad to see you're still updating. Great pics. In the last picture, do I see a smile? That's like a first.
Very interesting pictures. Palaces in Japan appear to be built somewhat similar to chinese ones, but they have their own flavour. Mmmm, for a one hour trip, there sure are lots of sights to view!
DaYvid
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