Tokyo: Part 1

Imperial Palace, Tokyo

My Shinkansen hurtled silently towards the pulsing metropolis of Tokyo. I stepped off, admired the stealthy nose of the bullet train, and set off into the city. Only a stones throw away is the royal palace and vast gardens, which are largely off limits. I took the compulsory stroll around, able to glimpse only a corner of the palace itself, styled much like Japans many castles.

My buddy Tim who is now living in Tokyo was laid low by a dodgy fish curry the night before, so I had the day to myself. My self designed walking tour took me from the palace grounds, across the moat and to the national gallery. I’ve seen a little of Japanese art now and I am most impressed by both the power and subtleties some artists can express in a single brush stroke. The best lines seem so natural that they can bring to life a stem of bamboo, a flowers petal, or a swan’s neck so effortlessly.

Judo at the Budoukan

I continued through more Kitanomaru park to the Nihon Budoukan, indoor martial arts centre, which by chance was holding a judo tournament which I watched for a while. I then wandered over to Japan’s most controversial shrine, Yasukuni Jinja, dedicated to the 2.4 million Japanese War dead since 1853.

Former Prime Minister Kozumi raised the ire of Asian neighbours for his annual visits here on the anniversaries of Japans defeat in WW2. The shrine commemorates Japans fallen soldiers, but since 1979 has also enshrined 6 class-A war criminals. China and Korea understandably feel this is grossly insensitive given the atrocities those war criminals inflicted on millions of their citizens in WW2. I found the shrine itself fairly unremarkable, except for the peculiar throng of Japanese trying to take a photo of the year’s first cherry blossom with their cell phone’s cameras.

Shinjiku Streets

I arrived by subway in the skyscraper suburb of Shinjuku, and found myself completely lost by all the lines and exits. So a grabbed a crepe and took my time before feeling my way back onto the map. As night fell on the conglomeration of department stores and the streets lit up I made my way to my chosen accommodation for the night

This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 4:27 am and is filed under Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.