Cheap Thrills in Tokyo: Stroll at the Emperor's Palace

One of the cheap thrills I really enjoy while in Tokyo is walking. The place where I am staying is called Roppongi - it's really a very commercial, very cosmopolitan place (esp. at night). Government offices are also concentrated in this area.

But Roppongi is also near the Imperial Palace - by subway train, it only takes 5 stops. But I like walking, so my friends and I walked - 45 mins to an hour - to reach the Palace.

Some historical facts: In 1456, Dokan Ota build his palace in a mud flat, where an old fort once stood, at the age of 24. The castle was finished in 1457, the generally accepted Tokyo's birthdate. Fast forward to one hundred years - in 1590, Hideyoshi, the de-facto ruler of Japan, assigned Ieyasu Tokugawa, his second in command, to administer Edo (Tokyo). It was Tokugawa who constructed the Palace, 'bringing the massive stones for the thick walls by ship from distant Hyogo..."(Seward, 1971)

The Palace garden is a huge open area that serves as a respite to the crowded and densely populated Tokyo. Foreigners and locals are all over the place - jogging, resting, having a picnic, taking pictures. It is really a cacophony of people, yet somehow, by some invisible logic, all appear to be in a 'picture perfect' frame. I personally enjoy watching people doing their thing, while I craft "stories" in my mind on what their action means - just like my favorite one here - what do you think he's doing? Seems to me he really needs to release some .... gas :-)