Tokyo City

Like Kyoto, it was hard to spot any tasteful modern buildings in Tokyo. Because there was a rush to build after the Second World War, perhaps less thought was given to design and more to necessity.

Roaming Tokyo’s famous park

I would have avoided Ueno Park after experiencing Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens but for a scene in a Japanese movie where two characters met. That scene made me want to venture into Tokyo’s famous park. Conveniently, it was right next to Ueno Station.

Tokyo’s Imperial Palace

The only way to visit this site was on an organized tour. Photo identification was required and bags were searched as if we were possible terrorists before we headed out with a guide who read off a set script. I’m not sure why the search was necessary because we were only ushered through about an eighth of the grounds and weren’t allowed inside the palace.

Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens

These Endo-period gardens weren’t just about the artistic arrangement of plants and lakes that covered the site, there was history attached. With signage both in Japanese and English I read that once an elaborate Chinese sign marked the entrance to the gardens, but it was destroyed by bombs in 1945.

Heading to a green spot on my ap

I arrived in Tokyo on a wet, slushy afternoon, but that didn’t keep me inside. I’d sat for the past couple of hours on a Shinkansen so headed to Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens close to where I stayed in Chiyoda-ku.

A Japanese food feast

I recently saw someone wearing a t-shirt that read, “I travel to eat.” And that is definitely me too.

Return to Kyoto’s Nishiki Markets

I had to return to these markets. I was on an errand — a request for a ginger grater in a kitchen shop. I had ignored such places up until then, but now that I was forced to enter the store, I discovered what a fascinating lot of merchandise the shop carried.