We made our way on the metro to Otemachi station and walked to the Kikyomon gate of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, ready for our 10am tour. We presented our permit and made our way to a briefing session.
The first building we saw was the Fujimi-yagura, a watch tower. It is one of the oldest parts of Edo Castle. We were amazed at the stone wall constructed around it which was 14.5 metres high.
We thought the Seimon-tetsubashi bridge was very nice.We stood on the bridge and looked across to the city.
This bridge was originally made of wood but replaced to be made of iron. the Japanese love this bridge and commonly call it “Nijubashi”. The Guard took a liking to James and gave him his hat to wear and then agreed to line up on the bridge with him for a photo.
We walked back across the plaza in front of Chowder Hall of the Imperial Palace. On special occasions eg., New Year’s Day and the Emperor’s birthday, the Emperor, Empress and Imperial family members stand on the balcony and greet people standing in the plaza.
The Guards took us around to the guest entrance for the State Banquet hall.
The gardens are beautifully manicured and we adored the autumn leaves. Yamashita-dori Street showcased beautiful hedges, even camellia hedges similar to ours at home.
After the tour we had a quick explore of the East Gardens, before making our way to the city. We found a shopping complex called Kitte so popped in to buy some postcards and stamps and have some lunch. The complex was beautifully decorated for Christmas, ah!, we’re dreaming of a white Christmas holiday.
On our way to Ginza we spied a most adorable Mickey Mouse statue made of bread products.
We can operate the train ticket machines and navigate very confidently around the transport system. For our next journey, the destination was to be Akihabara, which is a part of Tokyo that is known for its electronics stores. We spent hours at Yodobashi and enjoyed a delicious dinner within the shopping centre complex.
We will back to see more of the Electric City another time.
We feel very comfortable in Japan, there seems to be great pride held by the Japanese people.