The Imperial Palace

Yesterday I had the day off from school. I didn't want to sit around and waste time like I did on my previous holiday so, along with Stephanie, who was also looking to doing something touristy, I found somewhere to go.

When we arrived in Japan, the school gave us a packet with some touristy brochures, including a set of these maps with self guided tours. We decided to do the one around Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace.

Tokyo Station is sort of the Grand Central of the city. It was built in 1914, patterned off of the Central station of Amsterdam. It is built out of beautiful red brick and looks very old-style European. Unfortunately, the station sustained heavy damage during Allied bombing in WWII, including the destruction of several beautiful domes that used to ornament the roof.

The Imperial Palace (map) or Kokyo, is the official residence of the Emperor of Japan, Akihito. What is now the Imperial Palace used to be Edo Castle, which was built in 1457. It served as the military capital of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period (1603-1867). In 1869 during during the Meiji Restoration, the Emperor regained power and began to rule from what became known as the Imperial Palace.

This palace, like Tokyo Station was bombed during WWII. Unfortunately, it was completely destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1968. This is clearly visible when visiting, everything looks very new, not at all like it would if it were the original 549 structure.

The Palace grounds incorporate large Japanese gardens, high walls and wide moats. Visitors are not allowed inside the inner areas of the complex where the actual Palace and main buildings are located. Stephanie and I were able to visit the East Garden and to walk around and see the main gates, the Nijubashi bridge and the East Garden. Unfortunately, I do not have a camera and so was unable to take pictures. The pictures in this post are all of the net. However, Stephanie, made up for me by taking lots of pictures which she will be posting on her blog sometime in the near future. I hope to do some more commentary on our trip once I get those photos.