That one gets to see royalty! The inner grounds of the Imperial Palace are closed 363 days of the year to commoners and I happened to be in Tokyo on one of the two days they are open. Throughout the day on January 2nd, to celebrate the new year, the imperial family opens their grounds and makes appearances to the public.
I went through my very first Japanese security checkpoint for this event and then got to hear the Emperor address the crowd I was in. While I'm not quite sure what he said, he bowed after his speech and the imperial family waved at me (yes, I do in fact feel special because of that). Below are pictures from the event. As you can see by ALL the people there it is a very popular event.
I went through my very first Japanese security checkpoint for this event and then got to hear the Emperor address the crowd I was in. While I'm not quite sure what he said, he bowed after his speech and the imperial family waved at me (yes, I do in fact feel special because of that). Below are pictures from the event. As you can see by ALL the people there it is a very popular event.
After seeing the imperial family, we went to roam Akihabara and eat. We figured out where the school is and then rested for the afternoon.
The next afternoon I moved into my apartment and met my future mentor and his wife! While the apartment is quite small, it is in a beautiful subdivision of Chiba. For those of you who don't know where Chiba is, it is around an hour (or less) train ride East from central Tokyo. My mentor is taking great care of me showing me around to the grocery stores, restaurants, and cafes. He even brought me a bike and helped me to buy a commuter pass for getting to and from my language school for less than the cost of a usual ticket!
And the last thing I need to mention before signing off to go get sushi with my mentor... Last night I got to have a wonderful wander around Shibuya. I was trying to not be a tourist, but ended up getting my camera out for a few pictures anyways. My friend Cameron and I found the bridal district in Tokyo, the red-light district in Tokyo (where we DIDN'T go), and lot's of other quaint little places and ended the night with Krispy Kreme. Yes, you read that right. Krispy Kreme ALSO still exists in Japan. Yay for me!!
*I apologize for the website not letting me rotate the pictures once I upload them... They are upright on my computer and then end up sideways on here...