I paid a visit to the Imperial gardens today, the closest you can get to the Imperial Palace. The park is huge, and it must have been even bigger in ancient times, as several massive walls and moats are today located in the city.

You can only visit the Eastern part of the gardens, the Imperial Palace is of course off limits. The Emperor only shows himself twice a year, on December 23rd, his birthday, and January 2nd, when the people is allowed into one of the gates to see the family and hear a short speech of their Emperor.

 

The palace is built on the site of the old Edo castle, surrounded by its huge park. During  the Japanese property bubble in the 1980s, the palace grounds were said to be worth more than the value of all the real estate in the state of California. (Japan’s still trying to recover from that bubble).

It must have been a special day. Parts of the park were swarming in smartly dressed kids and lots of parents. It seems they received their diplomas on that day.

 

Further inside the parks though, even with a lot of people around, it was imperially quiet. I have seen more impressive Japanese gardens around the world, but this one has a serene, somewhat natural feel to it.

It’s not over-the-top groomed and landscaped, but simply nice to walk through the little woods, around some lakes, over green grass and under cherry trees.

On a nice warm spring day, this is a beautiful escape from the surrounding Tokyo madness.