Our first day of rising in Tokyo and it is still raining but there
is promise that this will be the last day of rain. We had a phenomenal
breakfast buffet after which we got on the bus and we went to see the
Imperial Palace grounds in the middle of Tokyo. We saw them from outside
of the grounds since there is only limited access to a certain small
part. One gets goose bumps standing outside of the wall as one begins
to reflect on all of the history that has occurred inside of those walls.
The first picture is one of the gate and one of the turrets that used
to be so helpful in guarding the palace. The second picture is to show
the immensity of the moat and the grounds in the middle of a modern
city.
What a sight. Talk about bridges of history to the present. If one
lives in Tokyo one gets a daily reminder of the connection to the past.
The rubber raft in the middle of the moat has a person in it and we
can only guess what his job is. I am assuming that he would not be allowed
there if he did not work for the palace. His job might be to pick up
debris or maybe he is part of security.
Then we drove around Tokyo and meandered to the Meiji shrine. This
shrine honors the spirits of the emperor Meiji. It was established by
a resolution of the Imperial Diet the year after the emperor’s
death to commemorate his role in ending the long isolation of Japan
under the Tokugawa Shogunate and setting the country on the road to
modernization. 
The
two torrii at the entrance to the grounds of the shrine are made from
1700 year old cypress trees from Mt. Ari in Taiwan. Torii are meant
to symbolize the separation of the everyday secular world from the spiritual
world of the Shinto shrine.
The annual festival at the Meiji Shrine takes place on November 3,
the emperor’s (and my twin cousins in Peru) birthday, which is
a national holiday. On the festival day and at New Year’s, as
many as a million people come to offer prayers and pay their respects.
There was some type of ceremonial event going on as we entered. The
drums announced our entrance, as arranged by Howard Tours. 
Actually
the drums were part of the ceremonial event which was starting as we
arrived. There was a priest standing next to someone who was praying
at the main part of the shrine. After they left the apprentice priests
in the picture went over to the main section of the shrine.
We then drove over to the Tokyo Tower which was completed in 1958.
It is 333 meters high and the Eiffel tower in Paris, France is 320 meters
high. 
The
Tokyo Tower weighs 4,000 tons and the Eiffel tower weighs 7,000 tons.
This difference in weight is accomplished as a result of remarkable
advances in steel manufacturing and construction technology. It is hard
to see the top when one is standing at the bottom of the Tower.
I am not fond of heights and Cindy was surprised when I said that I
would go up and observe from the Main Observatory. 
It
was a grand view and as one can see 360 degrees from the Tower one is
impressed at how large Tokyo is. This picture is a view of Tokyo Harbor,
the place that we arrived at not so long ago and would be leaving from
in just a few days.
Next we drove on the bus and we were going to be dropped off, if we
wanted to in the middle of the Ginza District. Chieko-San gave us great
instructions on how to get back by taking the subway. Cindy and I usually
love to walk so that we really get to experience the flavor of the city
so we decided early on to start walking until we saw something that
grabbed us.
We walked around an hour and we started to get hungry and we decided
that we would eat in one of those stand up noodle barsin the Ginza.
We saw a tiny one that you had to walk down about 4 steps to get to
it. The entire restaurant, kitchen, counter, and cash register area
was no larger than a closet. The counter was in the shape of a U. The 
bottom part of the U was where the cash register was and behind the
open part of the U was the kitchen part. There were about 6 things on
the menu and about 4 employees in the entire restaurant. The outside
of the U was a counter and one just stood there as you ordered and ate.
It really was fast food. No waiting after one orders, it was certainly
faster than any fast food restaurant in the US. One could really eat
lunches in 10 minutes in a place like this.
Later I asked Chieko-San when these started and she said that they
came into existence after World War II. They were established partially
due to the lack of space and partially due to the desire to not waste
time.
Then we kept walking and we found a place to get a haircut for Ron
and most importantly we found a good cup of coffee for Cindy. We walked,
and we walked, and we walked, and we finally got to the Hotel after
a lot of walking and fun.
Saying goodbye from the Sofitel Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.
See you tomorrow on the web site.
Ron and Cindy Sekkel
