Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

Today was Culture Day in Japan, a national holiday. School was closed. Along the same lines, the Kyoto Imperial Palace opens to visitors for 5 days, starting today. Usually, you need special permission to tour the palace.

Just a few bits about the palace that I gleened from a pamphlet. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 1000 years. Naturally, the imperial palace housed the emporer during this time. It was destroyed by fires many times, but was rebuilt each time. It occasionally moved to different locations as well. The current palace was built in 1854 under the direction of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The current palace occupies about 110,000 square meters (≈27 acres). That includes a large park with trees and fields. The park is open to anybody at anytime. The palace itself is considered a national treasure and protected accordingly.

I woke up at 5:00 AM, got on a train at 5:32 AM, and got to the palace at 8:50 AM. I went with my friend, Akemi. When we entered, our bags were searched lightly by palace police, and we saw many large security cameras on the grounds.

There were hundreds of people lined up ahead of us, before the gates opened.

It's notable that the vast majority of the people who came were Japanese, not foreigners. Under normal circumstances, they actually make it harder for Japanese citizens to tour the palace, than international tourists. When this special access is not in effect, a foreign passport waives a little bit of the usual red tape, although you still need advance permission.

There were two parking areas (for cars), both ornately designed and furnished with painted screens.

Through a gate to a big rock garden. I'm told the rocks are there partly so intruders will make noise when they try to intrude.

This view into a palace room, shows dolls (representing the emporess) creating poetry books, an important job of the emperial family.

Just a look at the scene, with the spectators. Several TV stations were there taking video footage.

I also enjoyed the patterns that the various roof lines made when taken from a particular viewpoint.

This view into a palace room, shows dolls (representing the emporess) creating poetry books, an important job of the emperial family.

I really liked this guys suit. I took this photograph secretly. I felt like some kind of perverted voyeur, taking a photo secretly, but I didn't want to ask his permission. So, here you go. There's no face, so hopefully nobody will be too offended.

Me, standing in front of the same pond at the same garden on the palace grounds.

I rather enjoyed the natural beauty of the garden and the greenery in the background.

I also very much enjoyed the design of these buildings, with many different patterns that somehow look quite nice together.

After leaving the imperial palace, we spent some time in Kyoto. I saw some of the nicest parts of Kyoto I've ever seen. Sure, the great temples and cultural attractions are beautiful, majestic, and historically significant. But, today, I founds some nice parks that are really nice for just hanging around and relaxing.

We dropped in Doshisha University. No particular reason, other than the fact Akemi said it's a nice place. It was, indeed, a nice place to walk around.

We also found a wonderful cafe that very much resembled something you'd find in Seattle. Good coffee. Nice desserts. Light sandwiches. I had a smoked salmon on very good, solid bread. It was like a short trip to Seattle.

We also went to Tadasu-no-mori, a forest-like park in the middle of the city, with a Shinto Shrine (Shimogamo Shrine) in the middle. There were two marriages going on, and some childhood celebrations for reaching certain ages of maturity (3, 5, and 7 years of age, I believe).

Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

11/3/2004, Kyoto Imperial Palace