samurai – TaB

The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace of Japan…distinct from THE Imperial Gardens because those are immediately around the current Palace, and are off-limits. And what you do get to see is utterly magnificent, and huge — I was there nearly three hours and didn’t see everything.

The gardens are in layers. Inside this wall (surrounded by a moat) is layer 2, with its own lawns and trees. There are 3 sets of wall and moats like this.

A guardhouse just inside the south gate. It was manned by the crème de la crème of samurai.

This marks the site of the corridor in which one lord insulted another, leading to an execution, and the revenge of the 47 Ronin.

Of COURSE the palace has its own orange grove.

A mysterious stone opening…in the middle of what used to the shogun’s palace. Nothing AT ALL to see here.

Imagine that this entire area was covered in sumptuous building.

This was the Honmaru Goten Palace of the Shogunate, until everything burned down in 1877.

My first full day in Japan, I visited a university friend who’s been teaching English since 2002. He lives in Shizuoka Prefecture, and we met up in Kategawa, 90 minutes south of Tokyo by train.

This is what Japan’s “countryside” looks like, and this area grows mostly buckwheat. However, industry is never far away – my friend teaches Yamaha employees at the local plant.

Tag: samurai

Photos of #Japan : The East #Imperial Gardens, #Tokyo

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Photos from #Japan : #Kategawa Castle and Shrine

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