State Guest House, Akasaka Palace - Tokyo, Japan

We visited the State Guest House, Akasaka Palace in Tokyo. This is the place where some dignitaries and VIPs that are visiting Japan are greeted, entertained and sometimes spend the night.

The front gate alone is pretty impressive.

It's a long way from the front gate to the front door of the palace.

The grounds on ether side of the entrance are beautifully maintained.

Emi had made reservations for our visit and after passing through security we entered the palace. There is no photography allowed inside the palace so I have no photographs. This website has information and interior shots https://www.geihinkan.go.jp/en/akasaka/
What I can say is that the inside is unbelievable!

After we finished the tour we walked around to the backyard.

We needed to kill an hour before we went on our special tour of the Japanese style Annex. This was no problem because the exterior of the palace and the palace grounds were plenty to keep us busy.

There's a fountain in the backyard.

Then we moved around to the front of the palace.

This place is big!

Even the awning over the side entrance is trimmed with gold.

The main entrance.

Playing around with my wide angle lens.

Looking at the main entrance from the other side.

At 12:00 we joined the group for our special tour of the Japanese Annex.

The carp pond behind the Annex.

The man with his hand up was our tour guide.

The path to the back door of the Annex.

Another view of the carp pond.

Just like the Palace we were not allowed to take pictures inside. So, here we are leaving after the tour was over.

It was a beautiful day for our tour.

Back on the Palace grounds I continued to take pictures.

Taking the long walk to the front gate.

Time to leave the Palace but not time to go home.

After a late lunch we headed to Nihonbashi.

Close to Ginza and Tokyo Station, the city district of Nihonbashi blends traditional charm with ultra-modern architecture. A major commercial center in the Edo period (1603-1867), it was the starting point of the five major roads across Japan and distances are still measured from here.

Here's Emi!

Sunday afternoon and here come the Super Mario Go Karts.

While we were standing on the corner we could hear the sounds of a Mikoshi parade in the distance and when the police showed up to direct traffic we decided to wait to see the parade.

Law & Order: Special Parade Unit... thunk thunk!

Here they come. Only a few in the front.

Then it starts to get more crowded.

The special unit maintains order.

Here comes the Mikoshi.

Things are getting wild!

But not so wild that there isn't time to check ones smart phone.

After the parade passed by we walked to Ginza where the streets are blocked off so the pedestrians can roam about freely.

It's like a big street party.

As the afternoon Sun starts to creep in we say goodbye to Ginaz and catch a train back home. It was a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Bonus shots!