Our days in Tokyo start and end the same every day, on a train. Today was an easy train day, it only took one to arrive at Tokyo Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace is where the emperor of Japan lives. The emperor (who has been in office since 2019) is also the head of the Shinto religion, and is a direct descendent of the sun goddess Amaterasu. His roles are ceremonial and symbolic, much like the royal British family.
The palace is surrounded by huge moats, giant block walls and beautifully manicured gardens. Since the palace sits directly in the middle of the largest urban city in the world, surrounded by traffic and towering buildings, it looks a little out out of place albeit beautiful and very convenient to visit.
Right next to the palace is Tokyo station. The station was built in 1914 (a modern building in its time) it also historic, and looks a touch out of place among the now modern architecture. This is Tokyo’s busiest train station. More than 500,000 people use this station every day.
And then there is us, the tourists who aren’t exactly blending in (going with the theme of the day). An elderly Japanese woman actually hugged Eric because of his height.
Oh man! Beyond awesome! Hysterical about Eric. Photo #9 with the old and new reflected in the lake. Wowsers. What an incredible post. I feel almost there.
Thank you! Japan is the best.
We were only in Japan for a little under 7 weeks, but your pictures make me “homesick”.
Wonderful photos!
Wow. Seven weeks! That’s amazing. You must have seen a lot!