Day 9: Tokyo (Imperial Palace East Garden)

Today we had to wake up early again, pack, check out, have a huge breakfast, and then make our way to Shin Osaka station to catch the Shinkansen to Tokyo.

The journey was quite uneventful, and a bit shorter than I remember 9 years ago. Before we knew it, we have arrived at Shinagawa, and we changed over to the Yamanote line to take us to Shinjuku. We arrived in Shinjuku just after noon, and I was surprised how much the area around the station has changed.

We know Shinjuku really well from our previous trip, but it’s barely recognisable now. I used to remember the train station was a maze of twisty turny passages, but now its pretty easy to get out.

Our hotel was literally just around the corner from the the New South Entrance. We stopped by to check they have our reservation, and were very pleased to be informed our luggage has already arrived so we don’t have to worry whether they will get there in time. They said our room should be ready in an hour, but we decided to go out and see if we can find any cherry blossoms.

We asked the lady at the tourist information centre, in my best Japanese. Regretfully, she informed us that the trees haven’t fully bloomed yet (she said only about 50%, even though the cherry blossom forecast said they should be in full bloom by now). We asked her for the best place to view the blossom, and she suggested the nearby Shinjuku Gyoen.

Since we were planning to go there tomorrow anyway, we thought we’ll try the Imperial Palace East Garden, so we headed out on the Yamanote line. I forgot how slow the service is, and it took us quite a while and many stops to get there, but at least the journey is covered by our Japan Rail Pass, which expires today.

The Tokyo Imperial Palace (皇居, Kōkyo, literally ‘Imperial Residence’) is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. The East Gardens are publicly accessible.

Just outside the entrance to the East Gardens, I was pleased to see some cherry trees on the boulevard. However, inside the gardens, I can tell most of the trees haven’t awakened yet, but we did find some trees that have blossomed early.

It was a nice warm day, probably the first that I could unzip my jacket. We walked all around the garden. I was a little disappointed that I could not get into the Imperial Palace, but it is after all the royal residence.

The East Gardens is where most of the administrative buildings for the palace are located . Located on the grounds of the East Gardens is the Imperial Tokagakudo Music Hall, the Music Department of the Board of Ceremonies of the Imperial Household, the Archives and Mausolea Department Imperial Household Agency, structures for the guards such as the Saineikan dojo, and the Museum of the Imperial Collections.