Tokyo: The Imperial Palace and the War Museum
Photo gallery of Imperial Palace, etc.On my second full day in Tokyo, I decided I should get the Imperial Palace ticked off my list. The guidebook didn't make it sound very appealing: the palace is hidden and closed to the public. It was built in the 90's anyway, after the 19th C one was largely destroyed in WWII (a fact that became a recurring theme). However, there was the promise of gardens and it was too lovely a spring day to waste inside (another recurring theme).
After spending most of my time strolling around the extremely pretty East Garden, I crossed the tracks under Tokyo Station into Ginza, a famous shopping area. Again, something that didn't really appeal on first reading as big name shops don't interest me in whatever big city they happen to be in. But I was in a walking mood and it was just fun to wander up the road to Nihom bridge.
Later in the afternoon, I headed back east to the austere Yasukuni-jinja war memorial shrine. That's the one which Japanese Prime Ministers visit and it really pisses the neighbours off. As I'd visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum, I thought I should visit the Yushukan military museum at the same time as the shrine.
It was an interesting experience. Yushukan's main focus is on WWII - that's when most of the shrine's soldiers died. The museum is criticised for revisionism, e.g., claiming Japan had to enter the war because America & co's trade embargo was starving the country of necessary materials. But what struck me most about the museum was how war was presented as a man's game. Pretty much the first women I saw were in the last rooms which had walls of black and white photos of the deceased.
Sometime after that, I got a bit lost and found myself on the monorail (hurray!) going over the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba Island across from Tokyo Bay. By this time, it was dark and Tokyo was showing its lighter side.