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Japan trip
Day 2 - 7th June - Imperial Palace East Gardens, Tokyo (Part 1)
I decided to start the day (and my grand trip) with the only part of the Imperial Palace that is open to the public year-round: the Imperial Palace East Gardens.
Japanese schoolkids have school on Saturdays. This is very sad. No wonder they kill themselves.
Anti-suicide gates at some subway stations
Japanese train conductors have a lot of saliva. Even when there's already a pre-recorded announcement about the next station, they like to talk for a long time (in keeping with the Japanese tendency for verbosity). Maybe this is why you're told not to talk on your mobile phone on the train - you won't miss the sound of the human voice.
Park east of the Palace proper (or at least outside the moat)
Funky pond
Okay, so this sort of toilet sign is not just used in the Baltics
Map of the gardens
Otemon Gate
Moat, with modernity in the background
"The following acts shall be prohibited within the Gardens:
1) To hold athletic games
15) To create hideous noises"
'You see the tree over there? Go over there and touch it and come back.'
Apparently Kendo training doesn't count as an activity that creates hideous noises
I heard one ang moh commenting that in the Tokyo subway 20-30% of the people are reading, but in Beijing no one is.
Blue Flowers
Doshin bansho Guardhouse
You can read the description yourself
This seemingly empty space is in fact extremely important (see the plaque?): "Every Japanese knows that this corridor was the locus of the unfortunate event when Lord Asano Takumino-Kami Naganori attacked and wounded Lord Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka in 1701. Cf. The Story of the Forty-seven Loyal Ronin."
If you are Japanese and do not know about this corridor, please leave a comment.
More flowers
Path
Remains of the base of the Tenshudai Donjon
Unimpressive view from the Tenshudai Donjon
Shiomizaka slope
Suwanochaya (Tea pavilion). You can read the sign if you want.
Ninomaru garden
Carp
More reminders of modernity
Horde and even bigger horde
Flowers
Shiomizaka slope again
Lamp post
Big bird in Japan
The definition of a manicured lawn
A sea of grey. The vast empty space is probably the Emperor's way of saying: "Haha, I have lots of prime land in the centre of Tokyo!" and asserting his power and wealth
Tantalising glimpses of the palace
Bridge to the palace
But no entry
One of the non-negligible handful of White/Asian couples. I was trying to figure out how many were local and how many were tourists. The girl here had an American accent.
Exiting the palace grounds
"Sakuradamon Gate": Gate stone
Birds resting by the riverside on a structure that seems built for them