My first real day of touring Tokyo was a bit of an exhausting one because I walked most of the day from site to site. After visiting Asakusa Temple, I used the subway only two times, the last to make it back to Ebisu. After I went to Tokyo Station, I looked at my city map and saw that I was very near the Imperial Palace. My hosts had mentioned that it would be a lovely tour of the gardens, so I headed over (but should have taken note that after 4:30pm, one cannot enter for a tour of the grounds). The huge empty parking lot should have been a sign that I was too late, but I approached the guard station and was told that the last tour had already been admitted.
Alas, I decided to take a walk to find a bit of a scenic space to mark that I had been in the vicinity (I had hoped that the next day after touring in the Shibuya area--Meiji Shrine and Harajuku Street--that I would be able to return for a nice walk here! Alas, the next day's flooding downpours would prevent that idea!).
This is just one little corner of the grounds of the Imperial Palace, which is located on the former site of Edo Castle and is the residence of Japan's Imperial Family.
"Edo Castle used to be the seat of the Tokugawa shogun who ruled Japan from 1603 until 1867. In 1868, the shogunate was overthrown, and the country's capital and Imperial Residence were moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. In 1888 construction of a new Imperial Palace was completed. The palace was once destroyed during World War Two, and rebuilt in the same style, afterwards." (Japan Guide.com)
The light for my shots at this hour of day was really quite bleak because it was the rainy season in Japan, and while this day was mostly overcast, the next day produced an oppressive downpour while at Meiji Shrine. After this visit, I went just another block over to discover a wonderful modern water sculpture garden with various fountains and stepping paths.
@linnypinny it was such an interesting pop of green space in the middle of Tokyo. Tokyo is a marvelous city. While it seems like many other "big" cities of the world, it's green spaces have such tranquility.
