Day 6: Birthday Party

If you planned a vacation in Japan. What would be on your Must-Do-List?
For me, my checklist was:

1. See Kyoto and visit the Inari Shrine (the red gates from the movie "The Geisha").
2. Eat Sushi.
3. Go to Tokyo.
4. See Mount Fuji.
5. Buy drinks from vending machines.
6. See the Emperor of Japan.

See the Emperor of Japan? Ok, I have to admit, this was not on my list.

But today, I did!

Today was the Emperor's birthday. In contrast to Christmas, his birthday is a national holiday. The Emperor's birthday and New Year are the only two days in the year, when the gates of the Imperial Palace are open to the public. On his birthday the Emperor comes out in front of his Imperial Palace, holds a speech, and waves to the public. So, of course, we had to go there!

It was like going to a football match. Excited crowds wandered to the Palace, holding flags in their hands. There was security everywhere, our bags were opened and checked, and our bodies were examined for dangerous weapons. Yesterday, Tobi said that he asked some of his Japanese colleagues if the Emperor's birthday was an important holiday. But they shrugged and said: "Only for old people." And really, the crowds mainly consisted of over-40s and tourists.

Each bag was opened and thoroughly examined. But before opening each zipper I was asked: "Is it ok to open it?". It seems very polite and I wonder what would have happened if I had said no.

 

Bodycheck

 

The gates to the Imperial Palace were open today

 

The famous Nijubashi bridge of the Imperial Palace

Crowds on the way to the Palace

The crowds want to see the Tenno

We wait patiently for the Tenno's appearance. He was fashionably late. I wondered if he would wear something traditional like a kimono or a business suit.

And then he came! The crowds cheered, waved their flags and some screamed. Unfortunately you cannot really see the Tenno in this video. He is behind the flags. But you can see his daughters who were dressed in light clothes. The Tenno looked old and wore a suit. And we were so close! I had expected to see some window from the distance, but not the actua face of the Tenno!

 Cheering crowds

  

The Emperor and his family

In the Garden of the Imperial Palace

 

Yeah, we saw the Emperor!

I have to say that this event was very well-organized and civilized. There was no chaos, no pushing. It was not like at a rock concert, although there were so many people! The Emperor came out three times with a 30 minutes break in between. So when one crowd saw the Tenno, they went away and the next crowd could come in. Smartly planned. Japanese know how to structurize mass events.

After the Tenno's appearance the crowds moved to the Imperial Garden.

Maybe this is also a way for Germany to keep hooligans from rebelling after soccer matches.

After waving to the Tenno we went through the Imperial East Garden, and then into the Kitanomaru Park at the Imperial Palace. The sun was shining and it was the perfect weather to just lie down and relax. It was so warm, that I could lie there in a T-Shirt. Families and tourists I closed my eyesm heard some ravens crowing, some airplane in the sky, felt a cool breeze around my nose and felt the warm sunshine on my face. It was so relaxing, I even dozed off for a second ^^

 

After the Emperor's birthday party we went into his park and lay on the grass to relax

 

Fabian and Miriam relaxing and picknicking in the sun

 

Relaxing in Kitanomaru Park

 

When I lay down on the grass the sky looked like this. No clouds. It was warm. The sun was shining on my face. Perfect.

We also visited a friend who we had met in our Japanese course in Bochum (before coming to Japan). Her husband is an expatriate from Stuttgart and has been working in Tokyo since the beginning of November. They have recently found an apartment in Central Tokyo, only one station from the Imperial Palace, on the 24th floor of a newly erected building. Half of their apartment consists of windows! The view is breathtaking!

 

The building where an expatriate can live

One of the many huge windows with a great view over central Tokyo

We talked alot about the differences of life in Germany and Japan. And the many difficulties one has when moving to Japan, especially Tokyo. I think that it can be very lonely when you move to Tokyo and do not have any work yet. The city is huge and bursts of people, but you have to find some connection in order to make friends.

We wanted to see the sunset from the 45th floor of the Government building . An elevator brings everybody for free to the observatory floor. You can even see Mount Fuji from there when the weather is clear. But Mount Fuji is always shy and usually hides behind clouds. Like today.

 

The government building in the west of Tokyo

 

 Tourists watch the sunset from the 45th floor of the Government building in Shinjuku

  

This high building is a university!

  

The wides of Tokyo

  

Tokyo by night

  

More Tokyo by night

  

What else can I say

 

 

Shinjuku - the district where our apartment is. The Shinjuku station is probably the busiest station in the world. Guess how many people are transported from and to Shinjuku station. An average of 500 persons per second get on and off the subway in this station! It is huge, we had have trouble finding the right exit and subways.