Not listening to the complaints of our feet, we soldiered on into the East Gardens.  Separate from the other section of the publicly accesible grounds, the gardens are actually quite impressive.  I only wish we’d have had the tolerance to explore the entire thing!  But I think we got enough to keep us happy…

Entering the gardens, you’ll pass through the entrance, where they’ll hand you a small token.  You’ll need this to exit again.  I imagine this way they can control how many people are actually inside, and actually somewhat limit entrance to interested parties only.  Admission is free, though.

Immediately you’re aware that this is a botanical sanctuary, flowers, bushes, and trees surround you, and just up the way is a “rest house” where you can actually sit down in air conditioning and grab a drink, and maybe a souvenir of the palace and gardens.  Maybe even catch a glimpse of a begging cat.  We stopped of course, certainly needing replenishing after the previous walk.

Continuing on, you’ll pass a few reconstructions of old buildings in the shadow of the former castle walls, interesting, but not all that impressive.

Edo Castle Foundation

Going up the road further towards the former location of Edo castle, there is another vast expanse of grass, surrounded by various plants.  We took the shortcut to the foundations of the castle, and headed on up to the top, and sat looking out upon the city as countless people have done for centuries.  Visible from this spot is the almost out of place is the Tōkagakudō, or music hall.

Tōkagakudō

Luckily for us the north gate was nearby, so we turned in our tokens here, and headed for nearby Takebashi station.  Unfortunately for our toes, our day was far from over….

Next up was an interesting ride on the subway to Hamamatsucho station, in order to fulfill a promise to our two kiddos.  Namely, the infamous Pokemon center!!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. The Imperial Palace Grounds