the Sententious Vaunter: Imperial Palace East Gardens

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Imperial Palace East Gardens

Day Three of Tokyo:

They say all good things must come to an end. Miss H and Miss J had been in Tokyo for only 36 hours, and yet, on the morning of August 2, it was time for them to leave. So, with our hearts in our toes, we packed up and checked out of the lovely, wonderful Sotetsu Fresa Inn (where Miss H and I sat up until 3 a.m. talking and laughing and reveling in being engaged). We had breakfast at Subway (they have marvelous tuna or egg sandwiches for about $3). I escorted the ladies to Kyobashi Station and helped poor Miss H lug my 50-pound suitcase down the steps. She had graciously volunteered to fly that monster back to Korea with her rather than have me lug it all over creation during my Japanese jaunt. The least I could do, I figured, was help her carry it to the station. I bounced it down the final set of steps, the train arrived, Miss H blew me a farewell kiss, and suddenly the both of them (my fiancée and our great friend and camerawoman) were on their way back to Seoul. And I was once more alone in Tokyo.

Well! I wasn't down in the dumps for too long. I still had two days in Tokyo to play around with. I had already stowed my stuff in Kyobashi Station's convenient lockers (large and medium-size lockers for 900 yen total, or about nine U.S. dollars). So I was set to go. First stop? The Imperial Palace Gardens.

I walked right by the Godzilla statue I'd seen the first day near Hibiya Park and kept going west. I was in the Chiyoda district now, where Tokyo's Imperial Palace—the official residence of the Japanese emperor and his family—is located.

Now, I knew I wouldn't be able to go into the palace itself. The main complex is only open to the public on special occasions, such as Emperor Akihito's birthday. However, one part of the grounds is open to the public year-round, mostly: the East Gardens. That's where I was bound. Take a look:

I'm no expert in moats, but this seems pretty impressive by any standard. Full of tasty-looking carp, too.

Now this fellow is Kusunoki Masahige, and he's a rather famous samurai from the 13th century. He served the emperor who most certainly had the coolest name in Japanese history, Go-Daigo. Kusunoki became very famous and revered because Go-Daigo told him to do something extremely stupid and he did it because, you know, Bushido. Anyway, the great samurai died in a hopeless battle against his sovereign's enemies, and during World War II, he became a sort of spirit guide for kamikaze pilots. Sacrificing one's life for one's emperor, geddit?

Needless to say...keep off the grass.

There are several famous things in this picture. Number one is the main palace gate there off to the left. Leading up to that gate is Nijūbashi, whose name translates into "Double Bridge." (It was called this 'cause back in the olden days it was made of wood and further reinforced with wood, so...yeah. There ya go.) And in the background above the bridge...that's the IMPERIAL PALACE!!!