Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Tokyo Travel Notes # 4

Places to see..

I was able to squeeze a little bit of sight seeing before I headed back, I went to Tokyo Tower and Imperial Palace both of which were closer to my hotel.

Tokyo Tower
Built in 1958, Tokyo Tower is a replica of the famous Eiffel Tower of Paris. At 333 meters, it is 13 meters taller than Eiffel and also serves as TV broadcasting station. Even though, this tower is taller, it did not have the huge greenery like the Paris Tower which gives it a majestic look.

Tokyo Tower
Tokyo Tower, very close

Tight shot of Tokyo Tower and couple of us..
Tried to put myself in the frame

Neon World - A view from the Tokyo Tower
Tokyo skyline by night from Tokyo Tower - 250 meter deck

View of Tokyo Tower from the Palace Lawns
From a distance.. Tokyo Tower from Imperial Palace Grounds

Tokyo Palace
Imperial Palace is right in the heart of Tokyo city, surrounded by lush green park. Original palace built in 1888 was destroyed during second world war and was rebuilt to original specification later. Imperial Palace East Gardens are open to the public most of the year and that's where we went.

A Bridge too far..
Imperial Palace in the background... Visitors not allowed

In front of the bridge
Entrance to the Imperial Palace.. Protected by guards and a canal

Statue of Kusunoki Masashige
Kusunoki Masashige - 14th Century Samurai. Statue found outside the palace

A short clip of the Tokyo Tower & Imperial Palace

5 comments:

  1. ram, interesting photos..

    An interesting side note --

    The photo of the samurai Kusunoki Masashige - reminded me of some weird information that I read long back --
    "If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause."

    Wanted to verify if that statement is correct, there fore, read through the history of Masashige and it seems that he had committed suicide.

    So, Does that make the statement I read or mentioned above correct? :) Probably.. but, are the wounds suffered in battle and suicide same?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Charles Kuralt is in play in full swing. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Satish

    yes.. I also have heard about it.. but can't confirm..

    Raman

    Have a long way to go before I can be a Charles Kuralt.. but a thousand mile journey starts with a single step at a time..

    So.. thanks for the encouragement..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Visu,
    Somthing happened to your main page http://chennailiving.blogspot.com It is not working for me. But when I come through google search, I am able to get links to some of your earlier posts.
    For example I can get to the following link where I am trying to post this message to you.
    http://chennailiving.blogspot.com/2006/07/tokyo-travel-notes-4.html
    Check it out.

    - Laks Sankaran.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Visu,
    It is working now.

    - Laks Sankaran.

    ReplyDelete