Note: We went to Tokyo in May 2006. Please scroll down to the first Tokyo post, titled “Tokyo – May 2006” to start at the beginning of this series of posts.
This was my last day in Tokyo, so I stuck around the immediate area around our hotel. We walked to the Imperial Palace grounds, but they were not open until 9-10AM. I still got in a few photos, and I am supplementing them with photos that Charles took a few days later.
The Imperial Palace gardens are open to the public, but the palace itself is closed to the public except for one day a year because it is a working royal residence.
According to Charles, the Imperial Palace grounds were beautiful and felt like what you think of Japan in the days of the samurai. He loved the beauty, tranquility, and the rest houses.
We came back and walked around the Marunouchi area, the business district, right before rush hour on a Monday morning. It was like walking in a sea of suits. We both work in the Loop in Chicago, but Americans are mostly business casual these days. In Japan, everyone in the business district wears suits, so the effect is much more striking.
Look! It’s Bloomberg Japan!
We then went back to the hotel so that I could catch my flight to Chicago. This was also Charles’ last day of fun, as he spent the rest of the time in the convention center (pictured below) attending a conference.
Charles did have an opportunity to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market one of the remaining days he was in Japan. However, you have to remember it is a working fish market. Charles felt that he and the other tourists were just in the way a lot of times.
He did get to see a giant hunk of tuna though.
So ends our brief but enlightening trip to the city of Tokyo. We really wish we could have stayed longer. Next time, I hope to visit Kyoto and other places outside of Tokyo, in addition to spending more time in Shibuya, Shinjuku, and the Imperial Palace area. I also hope to have a chance to taste more of Japan’s cuisine, including some of the Iron Chef restaurants.
Next: Tokyo – Detail from our trip and some closing thoughts.
Travels with Sandy 
Recent Comments