April
27, Friday
It's raining today so it will be another day to rested and worked on my blog.
April 28, Saturday
It is sunny when I finally wake up today from a dream when I’m still young and very active.
What dream? I am young and still active !
I take advantage of the sunshine and take off to make my way on foot to the Imperial Palace. I found out that no one gets to visit the Palace where the Emperor and Empress live. It was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt in the same style. Looked newer than that from a distance. You are limited to one area in the south-west corner of “Kokyo Gaien” the larger outer gardens of the Imperial Palace, and the north-east corner which is the “East Gardens of the Imperial Palace”. It is a long walk to get from one to the other, but I take in the sights as I go.
I arrive at the moat that surrounds the Imperial Palace Grounds
A map of the Imperial Palace Grounds. Only have access to the two darker green areas.
In Kokyo Gaien Park: “Statue erected in 1897 of Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura shogunate and is remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty.”
The famous Nijubashi Bridge ( or Double Bridge) and official entrance to the Imperial Palace Grounds. It is closed all year except for two occasions when the people of Japan are allowed in to see the Emperor and Empress on their balcony. (Just like the Queen Elizabeth wave from Buckingham Palace.)
A glimpse at the palace through the trees above the moat walls.
Swans in the moat
Near this other gate into the Imperial Palace Grounds. No admission here either, I am directed to keep going around the corner to another gate.
These are granite sidewalk tiles running along the moat between the gates.
I finally reach the Ote-mon Gate over the moat to enter the East Gardens. This is the part of the grounds which used to contain Edo Castle, an ancient historic site.
Ote-mon Gate
Dolphin was a roof finial on one of the old buildings of the Imperial Palace. It dates back to 1657. The building was destroyed during the bombings of WW2.
Have you noted the wall in the background ! Yvette: Does this remind you of the Inca walls in Peru ? The likeness in eerie …. doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo !
Map of the East Gardens. I've just entered from the south side, at the bottom of this picture.
There are a series of three walls which circled the Imperial City of Edo. This is the first one after the moat.
They are huge, and again..... look very much like the Inca walls of Peru.
Banshos (guardhouses), like the one you see on the other side of the wall, were occupied by Samurai who kept constant watch of who was entering through the "Ote-mon gate".There is another bansho up the hill from this one, guarding the next gate “Hyakunin-bansho” into the citadel above.
This is a map of the Ancient Imperial City of Edo. Notice the red circle on the map. It is the Nakanomon Gate that you will see below.
They even used the same couplers |><| that keep the stones together. They were made of brass here, but I forget what they were made of in Peru.
These are HUGE walls. This is the Nakanomon Gate.
The walls in these pictures have recently been restored (2005-2007) since they were badly deteriorating and there was fear that they would fall. They are in fact part of the “Former Edo Castle”. During the “de-construction” work, engineers were able to determine how they were built. “The Nakanomon Gate built with stones larger than those used in other stonewalls in Edo Castle and by employing a technique called “nonozumi where rows of stones are horizontally laid on top of one another. The Nakanomon Gate stonewall consists of stones weighing around 35 tons.”
This wall has not been reconstructed
You can see that some stones were replaced at some point and don't necessarily match.
Purple flower magnolia tree
Gorgeous colours in the trees and this part of unkept lawn.
Flowering prune tree
The formal lawns. Actual site of the ancient Edo Castle.
This is the site of the old Edo Palace; all that is left now is a huge expanse of lawn and one of the guard towers. "Tenshudai" the remains of the main tower that was part of Edo Castle. “The first Tenshukaku donjon of Edo Castle was constructed in the time of the 2nd Tokugawa Shogun Hidetada in 1607, and it was completed under the 3rd Shogun Iemitsu in 1638. Standing 58 meters tall it had 5 stories outside and 6 stories inside; the highest donjon ever built in Japan and symbolized the authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was burnt down in the conflagration of 1657, only 19 years after completion, and it has never been reconstructed.”
A view of the lawns, and former castle site, from the top of "Tenshudai"
The bottom of Tenshudai
Japanese Iris, I just love these flowers !
Siomi-zaka Slope, connected Honmaru (Inner upper citadel) with Ninomaru (second lower citadel). It was restored between 2002 and 2005.
The East Gardens are beautifully done and most of the stone walls have been rebuilt. I make my way down to the lower gardens, outside the walls. There are so many people around taking pictures of the flowers and trees. Most are locals, just out for a stroll on this bright sunny day.
Pics Suwano-chaya Tea House, Ninomaru Formal Garden
Beautiful azalea bushes, all grown together in multicolours, and trimmed into nice round forms. I wonder how many gardeners they need to keep all of this tidy?
“Kobori Enshu, a garden designer representative of the early Edo period (1600-1868) made this garden. It was later ravaged by fire but its plan was preserved and the garden wonderfully restored when the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace opened to the public.”
The pond area and rockery
I make my way back to the main entrance and back towards the Ginza. I’ve walked for almost 4 hours and I’m ready for something to eat. Doesn’t seem to be anything in sight as I walk back towards my hotel.
Past the moat one more time.
Wadakura Fountain Park, adjacent to Kokyo-Gaien park.
Sure wish I could soak my sore feet !
There are no English channels available on TV and although I’ve tried watching a few news programs and talk shows, I do not understand much of what is going on. Finished rereading a Sue Grafton book and I’ve pretty much decided to buy one of the electronic book readers for the rest of my trip. Much lighter than paper books.
It's raining today so it will be another day to rested and worked on my blog.
April 28, Saturday
It is sunny when I finally wake up today from a dream when I’m still young and very active.
What dream? I am young and still active !
I take advantage of the sunshine and take off to make my way on foot to the Imperial Palace. I found out that no one gets to visit the Palace where the Emperor and Empress live. It was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt in the same style. Looked newer than that from a distance. You are limited to one area in the south-west corner of “Kokyo Gaien” the larger outer gardens of the Imperial Palace, and the north-east corner which is the “East Gardens of the Imperial Palace”. It is a long walk to get from one to the other, but I take in the sights as I go.
I arrive at the moat that surrounds the Imperial Palace Grounds
A map of the Imperial Palace Grounds. Only have access to the two darker green areas.
In Kokyo Gaien Park: “Statue erected in 1897 of Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura shogunate and is remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty.”
The famous Nijubashi Bridge ( or Double Bridge) and official entrance to the Imperial Palace Grounds. It is closed all year except for two occasions when the people of Japan are allowed in to see the Emperor and Empress on their balcony. (Just like the Queen Elizabeth wave from Buckingham Palace.)
A glimpse at the palace through the trees above the moat walls.
Swans in the moat
Near this other gate into the Imperial Palace Grounds. No admission here either, I am directed to keep going around the corner to another gate.
These are granite sidewalk tiles running along the moat between the gates.
I finally reach the Ote-mon Gate over the moat to enter the East Gardens. This is the part of the grounds which used to contain Edo Castle, an ancient historic site.
Ote-mon Gate
Dolphin was a roof finial on one of the old buildings of the Imperial Palace. It dates back to 1657. The building was destroyed during the bombings of WW2.
Have you noted the wall in the background ! Yvette: Does this remind you of the Inca walls in Peru ? The likeness in eerie …. doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo !
Map of the East Gardens. I've just entered from the south side, at the bottom of this picture.
There are a series of three walls which circled the Imperial City of Edo. This is the first one after the moat.
They are huge, and again..... look very much like the Inca walls of Peru.
Banshos (guardhouses), like the one you see on the other side of the wall, were occupied by Samurai who kept constant watch of who was entering through the "Ote-mon gate".There is another bansho up the hill from this one, guarding the next gate “Hyakunin-bansho” into the citadel above.
This is a map of the Ancient Imperial City of Edo. Notice the red circle on the map. It is the Nakanomon Gate that you will see below.
They even used the same couplers |><| that keep the stones together. They were made of brass here, but I forget what they were made of in Peru.
These are HUGE walls. This is the Nakanomon Gate.
The walls in these pictures have recently been restored (2005-2007) since they were badly deteriorating and there was fear that they would fall. They are in fact part of the “Former Edo Castle”. During the “de-construction” work, engineers were able to determine how they were built. “The Nakanomon Gate built with stones larger than those used in other stonewalls in Edo Castle and by employing a technique called “nonozumi where rows of stones are horizontally laid on top of one another. The Nakanomon Gate stonewall consists of stones weighing around 35 tons.”
This wall has not been reconstructed
You can see that some stones were replaced at some point and don't necessarily match.
Historical facts also came to light from this work and they were able to confirm that this part of the wall and gate were built between 1604 and 1636. The Great Fire of Meireki destroyed Edo Castle in 1657. It was rebuilt almost immediately but again destroyed by a great earthquake in 1703. (Remember this date ! It comes up again when I visit Mount Fuji.) The Castle was again restored.
There are actually three series of walls before you actually enter what used to be the grounds of Edo Castle.
My walk took me on to the upper gardens where I found a variety of trees and flowers.
Purple flower magnolia tree
Gorgeous colours in the trees and this part of unkept lawn.
Flowering prune tree
The formal lawns. Actual site of the ancient Edo Castle.
This is the site of the old Edo Palace; all that is left now is a huge expanse of lawn and one of the guard towers. "Tenshudai" the remains of the main tower that was part of Edo Castle. “The first Tenshukaku donjon of Edo Castle was constructed in the time of the 2nd Tokugawa Shogun Hidetada in 1607, and it was completed under the 3rd Shogun Iemitsu in 1638. Standing 58 meters tall it had 5 stories outside and 6 stories inside; the highest donjon ever built in Japan and symbolized the authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was burnt down in the conflagration of 1657, only 19 years after completion, and it has never been reconstructed.”
A view of the lawns, and former castle site, from the top of "Tenshudai"
The bottom of Tenshudai
Japanese Iris, I just love these flowers !
Siomi-zaka Slope, connected Honmaru (Inner upper citadel) with Ninomaru (second lower citadel). It was restored between 2002 and 2005.
The East Gardens are beautifully done and most of the stone walls have been rebuilt. I make my way down to the lower gardens, outside the walls. There are so many people around taking pictures of the flowers and trees. Most are locals, just out for a stroll on this bright sunny day.
Pics Suwano-chaya Tea House, Ninomaru Formal Garden
Beautiful azalea bushes, all grown together in multicolours, and trimmed into nice round forms. I wonder how many gardeners they need to keep all of this tidy?
“Kobori Enshu, a garden designer representative of the early Edo period (1600-1868) made this garden. It was later ravaged by fire but its plan was preserved and the garden wonderfully restored when the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace opened to the public.”
The pond area and rockery
I make my way back to the main entrance and back towards the Ginza. I’ve walked for almost 4 hours and I’m ready for something to eat. Doesn’t seem to be anything in sight as I walk back towards my hotel.
Past the moat one more time.
Wadakura Fountain Park, adjacent to Kokyo-Gaien park.
Sure wish I could soak my sore feet !
I'm almost back to the street near my hotel when I spot a Starbucks ! OH YES. An ice capucino please, and I'll have a slice of quiche to go with that.... oh and one of those pastries as well !
I haven’t eaten any Japanese food yet; I’m letting my
stomach re-establish itself to regular food. I also found a small neighborhood grocery
store just past the Starbucks: fresh raisin buns and bananas for
breakfast, Knorr instant soups, apples, crackers and cheese. Oh yes. And a bottle of white wine.
I spend another few hours updating my blog and sorting
through photos. There are no English channels available on TV and although I’ve tried watching a few news programs and talk shows, I do not understand much of what is going on. Finished rereading a Sue Grafton book and I’ve pretty much decided to buy one of the electronic book readers for the rest of my trip. Much lighter than paper books.
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