Thank you for joining our tour of the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on Oct. 23. We had 13 guests. They were from Australia (2), Israel (3), Italy (2), Portugal (1), U.K. (1) and U.S.A. (4).
It was a sunny and warm day, in contrast to the previous day that was a rainy and chilly holiday for the ceremony of the Enthronement of His Majesty the Emperor.
Our guests enjoyed walking and taking pictures of historic sites in the autumn garden.
As Rugby World Cup semi-final matches are scheduled for this weekend, many foreign visitors have already arrived. Furthermore, we had 420 leaders and dignitaries from abroad to attend the Enthronement ceremony this week.
In the Enthronement ceremony held at the imperial palace on Tuesday, Emperor Naruhito proclaimed from inside of the Takamikura (traditional canopied throne) that he has ascended the throne .
(Photo from the website of Prime Minister’s Office)
The Emperor, the Empress, imperial family members and courtiers wore traditional formal court robes and solemnly performed the historical ritual.
This majestic enthronement ceremony has been held by the imperial court since at least 8th century. People from home and abroad must have been impressed by this historic ritual performed for more than one thousand years.
The ceremony was broadcast live, so many people watched it. I suppose that women have watched it more intently than men.
Japanese women celebrate Girls Day on March 3 by displaying ohinasama at home. Ohinasama is a set of dolls of Emperor, Empress and imperial courtiers clad in ancient robes. Japanese women enjoy displaying and watching ohinasama at their homes in their childhood . But for most of them this is the first time to see ohinasama in real-life!
The Imperial Palace in Tokyo was built on the premises of Nishinomaru (west compound) of Shogun’s Edo castle after Emperor moved from Kyoto to Edo and renamed the Tokugawa Shogun’s castletown as Tokyo (Eastern Capital) in 1868.
Everyone can join in a brief tour of the Imperial Palace held by the Imperial Household Agency. Refer to the Imperial Household Agency’s website to get the detailed information of the tour. Read the website carefully as the Imperial Palace holds many events in October and November this year, therefore they do not hold the tour on those days.
For more information about our tour, please visit our East Gardens of the Imperial Palace tour , Facebook, and TripAdvisor page!
(by Rei & Chino)