Meandering: Downtown

It has been a while since I last posted here. Too long really. The holidays did keep us busy...more so than I had anticipated really. Still, that is not much of an excuse. I will try to be a bit more punctual in the future. It would also help if I took my camera on our daily outings instead of just on special trips. Several of you have asked me what it is like just to function in the city and having a camera handy would facilitate relating that experience.

But that will wait for another day. This time out, I wanted to relate our experiences on a trip into the heart of the business district, during which we stopped by the Kite Museum and the Imperial Palace Gardens. We were there some time ago; around the end of November I think. Egads! Sorry...

The trip itself was a breeze as we just took our local subway to our destination. Gotta love the metro. One thing that concerned me about living here was the so called urban lifestyle: living in an apartment, using public transit, etc.. I really thought both of these would distract from my enjoyment of the experience. Not so as it turns out. We are finding our location so advantageous what with being close to five different subway lines that getting about is not an issue despite not having a car. Couple that with convenient store locations like having four grocery stores within a five minute walk and really there are no issues of concern.

Back to the outing. As I said getting there was not a problem, but since the stations in the area are rather large and mostly underground, navigating to the correct exit was a bit difficult. For that matter, after we emerged from our subterranean lair we were a little turned around also. Easy to do here I am afraid.

Our first stop was the Kite Museum. It is a bit hard to find as it is on the 5th floor of a rather nondescript office building. Angela knew that a popular restaurant was on the ground floor and once we found that we were good to go. Up the small elevator we went and when the doors opened we were immediately confronted by...

The museum is quite tiny actually, but what it lacks in space it makes up for in confusing splendour. The displays cover all available walls and also the ceiling with an amazing cacophony of colour, wood, paper and drooping string.

Many varied kite designs from throughout Japan hung throughout. There are several pictures from competitions around the world as well from the many kite festivals. Those showing giant kites requiring many people to launch were very cool. I also enjoyed those kites constructed into unusual shapes. For example, Angela is rather unaware of the giant squid looming behind her.

The only downer from the visit was that my relative gargantuan size has been my undoing once again as the extra large t-shirt I picked up from the place is too small. Another present-by-default for Angela. Grrrr.....

After a quick lunch nearby we strolled down Eitai Dori (roughly Eitai Street) in the direction on the Imperial Palace. As it turned out, it was a pretty sizeable stroll. Not much to note about it to be honest as, this being a business area in the city it is just skyscrapers and concrete. We went by Tokyo Station, one of the main hubs in the rail system but did not bother to venture in as we were on a mission. Some other time no doubt. One curiousity about the area is that a bridge nearby marked the originating measuring point for distance in the country during the last Shogun period. It was also the starting point of the main road connecting the Shogun's palace (where the Imperial Palace is now) to Kyoto where the Emperor used to be housed.

Eventually we arrived at one of the western entrances to the Imperial Palace grounds.

The area is generally divided into two; one reserved for the Imperial family (accessible to the public a few times a year) and the gardens themselves. The entire complex is surrounded by a moat. Here are a few pictures from the small footbridge you see above.

When foreign ambassadors present their papers to the Emperor, they have the option to arrive at the grounds in a car or by horse-drawn carriage. I know I would select the latter myself.

Substantial wooden doors guard the entrance.

Once through, you need to pass by a security booth where you are given a numbered disc which must be returned when you leave. Nice and simple way of keeping track of folks. Unfortunately for this visit, we discovered that closing time was a mere 30 minutes from when we entered, meaning we had to just pick a direction and hope for the best. The remaining bits of the grounds will have to wait for another trip.

Overall, I would say the trip was interesting. Those grounds that we did see were rather lacking in flowers, etc. per se and consisted more of paths and fields. What I did enjoy were the walls themselves. They are sizeable and rather pretty. I did not see any evidence of concrete, making me wonder if any was used in their construction. More investigation on my part is required. Several of the structures stretch back to the 1600's, including this base to a castle keep that no longer exists. Love the tree though...

If you had visited this spot 500 years ago, the stone wall would have been part of the bottom layer of a ascending structure. Each layer would have its own wall and at the top would have been a building. Just climbing up this first "layer" was imposing enough though.

The time to leave arrived far too soon and we departed the grounds from one of the northern exits. Walking to the subway station, I took this picture to help capture the truly impressive nature of the outer walls.

Finally, while loitering at the station I was amused by this diagram by the washrooms.

Not sure why one would need a floor plan for a bathroom. I would think everything was self-evident. Nice to see that there is a handy "You Are Here" notice though (in red at the bottom).

That's it for that trip. As I mentioned, I will try to be a bit more frequent with these postings and also to show more of the day to day trips that we take. I think that would prove more interesting .Adios for now...