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| The entrance of Yamashita Street |
It was about a 30 minute walk
from Sakashita-mon Gate, on the southeast side, to Inui-mon Gate, at the north
end. It was my first time to go
into the premises of the Palace, so everything was quite new and exciting to
me. After going through the
Sakashita-mon Gate, we crossed the new palace building and in front of the
office building of the Imperial Household Agency, both of which we are familiar
with from TV broadcasting and newspapers.
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| Sakura and Dokan moat |
We passed through the entrance of
Yamashita Street, which leads to Momiji-yama, or Mt. Momiji and Empress
Michiko’s cocoonery, and Dokan-go or Dokan moat, which is named after Ota Dokan
who developed the Edo Castle originally in the 15th century. The combination of sakura with the
castle moat and stonewall is incredibly beautiful. The pale pink color of sakura is emphasized with the
backdrop of the dark stonewall and the white plaster wall. It looked so refined and so elegant.
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| The contrast between sakura and dark stonewall backdrop is beautiful |
This experience made me go crazy
about Edo Castle. Unfortunately,
the castle tower in Edo Castle was burnt down three times and also the main
buildings built in both the Edo and the Meiji eras were lost because of the air
raids during World War ll.
Although there are very few remains on the premises, there is still
something in the air that reminds us of those days.
I bought some books that
illustrate the reconstruction of the dwelling of Edo Castle. It’s a fun to read those books and to
imagine what it used to be like.
You can easily go back in time and feel very close to the Edo era.
Thank you very much for your click!
にほんブログ村
