There are many little miracles we had while in Kyoto, and it just so happened that the time of our visit was also something akin to the Emperor’s birthday. As such, the Imperial Household Agency had opened up the Kyoto Imperial Palace just for that day. We headed over there intent on checking out this ancient seat of power.
Central courtyard of the palace
Main gateway
Each room of the palace has doors that open outside and then sliding walls detailed with animals.
Lovely ichebana.
This is a kemari feild (Japanese soccer)
More lovely ichebana
It's hard to see, but this is one of the two coronation thrones of Japan.
Second throne, I believe this is the emperor's as it was much larger.
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is a
model of simplicity and very much a Japanese design. The walks are wide with little trees here
and there, gravel courtyards and wooden buildings. Rooms are divided by walls of paper, with
wide spaces where people might have slept or lived at one time. We passed by the thrones used for coronation,
and massive ichebana probably created for the day’s
events. On the whole, it was a lovely
place with trees draped down
over ancient rocks, and flowing water passed under bridges.
A stone bridge in the corner of the garden.
These stone areas were quite beautiful.
Beautiful little bridge
A cherry tree. Not in bloom.
One of many rooms facing the garden.
Kitty-corner to the palace is a Mc.Donalds. I haven’t eaten at Mc.Donalds since I was 12
or so, but right then and there the thought of a quarter pounder was so appealing I
didn’t care that it is usually never good.
This was an unusual Mc.Donalds because the food was not only delivered
TO you, but it was delivered in an upstairs area for eating. The three of us had the best tasting burger
we’d eaten in quite a while there, served by an amicable staff that was very
prompt.
We got back to the hotel and I decided to walk around. I emerged at a covered pedestrian street perhaps no wider than two
sidewalks put together. There were buildings on either side and crowds of people further down it. There were the flashy billboard arcades, the
more subdued bookstores, art shops, and rows upon rows of restaurants and other
stalls.
Entrance to the Teramachi Street.
It doesn't show all the people here, but they are just beyond.
One of the book stores along the street
There were manga shops, packed to the brim with their wide-eyed
protagonists. There was the
aforementioned arcade with j-pop blaring and flashing lights and sounds like
all of Vegas packed into a space no larger than a living room. Here and there were more serene spots,
little shrines with statues of cows or other such deities, like isles of
tranquility. I used these for breathing
space, then continued on before going back to the hotel.
This is a smaller version of a famous crab restaurant in Osaka
It wasn’t noisy, strangely enough. The roof of the shopping street was high enough that the sound didn’t really bounce back. What did surround me though were distinct smells. Ramen, udon, fish, steam rising from pots and places where people sat on crates munching on the most delicious looking food. I wanted to go into the manga shop but I really didn’t know what I would look for as I’ve never read a manga (blasphemy for any Japanese culture lover I know).
This is just an example of the amount of people. It's hard to see how many there actually are.
This was one of the last stores. These are plastic foods of course for display.
