As you can imagine, this means I went there. But it wasn’t an overly fantastic trip, I must say. Only a small few sections of the palace grounds were open to guests and to add to that the day was rainy and miserably cold. But I do have just a few pictures to add to this quick post especially to make up for the fact that I haven’t put up pictures in quite awhile. Despite the fact that the place was lacking in buildings (as long in the past there were many more there) the things that remain are quite astonishing.
Actually the trip worked out very well for us. The head of the group organized us beforehand so that a large group could go with a large discount. There were about twelve of us and we arrived greeted by a rather extravagant tour guide with an umbrella that’s hard to miss. He spoke perfect English and knew his stuff well about the palace area. I put a picture here because you really just have to see him to believe it.
I was thinking around the end of the trip there and realized that this was the first actual palace/castle I had ever been to. Sure I’ve been around America time and time again and have seen some pretty significant sites, but never an actual castle right before my eyes. Much less a castle probably as old as the US itself. In the following two pictures: the entryway to the main area of an old castle which is no longer standing (beside me to the left is a reception hall, the largest building on the property) and a view of the moat which is surrounded by some very beautiful landscaping including a pine tree which looks like a giant bonsai. The stones in the walls are huge – some the size of cars! It was a thrill to just touch them and think of their years of history (though many now are quite new). Also, on a side note, the primary composition of them is volcanic rock and many of the originals would have been shipped all over from various parts of Japan by Daimyos paying homage to the Shogun.
The last picture here is of the main entrance to the actual palace grounds. I tried to make it look nice by shooting over the railing around the moat.
Hope you’ve all enjoyed these pictures! More to come, I promise! Today I’m off to Asakusa. I’m hoping and expecting there might be a festival going on today. If not the place will be heavy in preparation for the New Year.
Writing from Koganei, Tokyo, Japan | December 27, 2008
