Imperial Palace

Although Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 1,000 years, the Imperial Palace was only nominally the seat of power during most of that time, while the actual power was held primarily by the shoguns.  (Go back and look at Nijo to see where several of the shoguns lived.)  However, the Imperial Palace is still used for important ceremonies of state such as coronations.

Probably because of its continued political functionality, this was the one place in all Kyoto where we had to pass through some sort of security (basically just an ID check).  It was also the only place that can only be seen by guided tour, and the only place that offered English-speaking tours.

Two prominent features of the palace are the cypress bark roofs and the ubiquitous 16-petal chrysanthemum emblem, which actually appears five times in this one shot (and twice more just barely outside the margins of this shot).

All the buildings are connected by passageways, so that the emperor could move from living quarters to ceremonial and administrative areas without ever stepping foot on the ground.  The servants, meanwhile, moved about primarily via underground passageways so as not to detract from the view.

Visitors are only allowed inside the palace two days a year but certain rooms are visible from the outside.  This room was one of three rooms where courtiers waited to receive an audience with the emperor.  The courtiers were assigned to a room based on rank, and each room is identified by the paintings on its screens: tigers, cranes, or cherry trees.

Through the gate, across the courtyard and up those steps is the imperial throne.  This is as close as we got to it.

It was a great day for rooflines though.  Incidentally, I counted 134 chrysanthemums in this picture.  No kidding.

The gardens were pretty spectacular, but even more amazing was something the guide pointed out to us.  She indicated a couple of gardeners tending to a pine tree near the path and explained that they were hand-plucking the dead needles from the tree!  They also go through in the spring and pinch off each of the buds (again, by hand) so that the trees maintain their desired shape. 

This painting on a sliding door depicts a garden party drinking game.  A small boat, basically a toy, was sailed down the little river that wound through the garden and you had to compose a poem by the time it reached you in order to drink your sake. 

Not much time left in Kyoto; I really only have one more place to take you.  I really think you could spend a month there as a tourist and not see all the sights, but we did our best, and relaxed and enjoyed ourselves besides.  The final entry is something a little different . . . stay tuned!