Saturday, November 18, 2006

SHOGUN LAND - PART II - MARCH 1983

IMPERIAL TOKYO

Prior to 1868, Tokyo was known as Edo. A small castle town in the 16th century, Edo became Japan's political center in 1603 when Tokugawa Ieyasu established his feudal government there. A few decades later, Edo had grown into one of the world's most populous cities. With the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the emperor and capital were moved from Kyoto to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital")!


"SHINJUKU - Yodobashi Camera - Need to go back to buy another camera..."


"MITSUI - View from the top"


"IMPERIAL PALACE - The residence of Japan's Imperial Family (Kokyo) is located on the former site of Edo Castle, a large park area surrounded by moats and massive stone walls in the center of Tokyo"



"IMPERIAL GARDENS - The Imperial Palace East Gardens (Kokyo Higashi Gyoen) are a part of the inner palace area and are open to the public"


"IMPERIAL PALACE - Meganebashi Bridge: two bridges that form the entrance to the inner palace grounds"


"AVENUE in front of the Imperial Palace"


"THE NATIONAL DIET BUILDING, located in Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, is home to Japan's House of Representatives and House of Councillors. As well as passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for selecting the Prime Minister"


"ASAKUSA is a temple town, which flourished during the Edo period (1603-1868). The atmosphere of old Japan attracts many tourists throughout the year"


"ASAKUSA - All the existing buildings date from after World War II. The PAGODE was built in 1973"


"ASAKUSA - Kaminari-mon Gate with the famous red lantern"


"ASAKUSA - Main Hall"


"TOKYO - Street scene. Some minutes later an amazing scene occured: hundreds of employees all dressed in blue trousers and white shirts crossed the street from one buildinding to enter the building in front. It was lunch time..."


"HIBYIA PARK - The Imperial Hotel building can be seen at the back of the photo"



"HIBYIA PARK"




"AKASAKA - With Mutsumi"


"HOTEL OKURA - TRIO with Mutsumi"


"HOTEL OKURA - One of the best Hotels in the world. By the time of this Group photo it was ranked # 2 behind the Oriental in Bangkok and ahead of the Mandarin Oriental in Hong-Kong"


"HOTEL OKURA - Room 706"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas! Guida and Gil

Thank you for your lovely card.
I've just enjoyed nice photos in Akasaka 1983 and I was surprised how young we were!
Thanks for letting me know your blog which is interesting and won-derful.
Have an excellent New Year.
All the best.
Mutsumi Honda

Anonymous said...

Hi Mutsumi
Great to hear from you! It's true that more than twenty three years have passed since our photos at Akasaka. Actually, our child was only project then, and is now twenty two... What about yours? Take care