We woke to a perfect fall day to take a trip to Tokyo. A clear blue sky paired up with cool temperatures made for fabulous sightseeing. There's a bus from Yokota that makes a run to the New Sanno Hotel in the heart of Tokyo. It's an American-style hotel operated exclusively for U.S. military and D.O.D. personnel and their dependents. The place is fabulous. We partnered up with Ronda, Rene and their little girl to make the trip up. The goal was to walk the grounds of the Imperial Palace, or what part of it that's open to the public. The hotel is two-and-a-half miles from Imperial Palace, walking distance for a ranch kid like me, but I doubt the ladies would have favored walking over taking the subway. Needless to say, I did not even hint at the possibility of walking.
Making our way down into the bowels of the subway system I was again reminded of the sanitized nature of the Japanese society. I could not help but compare the New York subways with its spic-n-span counterpart half-a-world away. The Tokyo system is spotless, not a mark on the walls, not a gum wrapper or cigarette butt on the swept-clean floors, and not the least element of danger to make the little hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I remember walking up into the sun light from the depths a Manhattan subway station wanting to immediately wash my hands..., no, better..., to take a shower. Not so on that stretch of track in Tokyo.
The palace itself is not open to the public except twice a year. The rest of the time only the expanse of gardens on the east side of the property are public areas, and have been such since 1968. It is a gem of a garden spot in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. Parts of it reminded me of Manhattan's Central Park.
We woke to a perfect fall day to take a trip to Tokyo. A clear blue sky paired up with cool temperatures made for fabulous sightseeing. There's a bus from Yokota that makes a run to the New Sanno Hotel in the heart of Tokyo. It's an American-style hotel operated exclusively for U.S. military and D.O.D. personnel and their dependents. The place is fabulous. We partnered up with Ronda, Rene and their little girl to make the trip up. The goal was to walk the grounds of the Imperial Palace, or what part of it that's open to the public. The hotel is two-and-a-half miles from Imperial Palace, walking distance for a ranch kid like me, but I doubt the ladies would have favored walking over taking the subway. Needless to say, I did not even hint at the possibility of walking.
Making our way down into the bowels of the subway system I was again reminded of the sanitized nature of the Japanese society. I could not help but compare the New York subways with its spic-n-span counterpart half-a-world away. The Tokyo system is spotless, not a mark on the walls, not a gum wrapper or cigarette butt on the swept-clean floors, and not the least element of danger to make the little hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I remember walking up into the sun light from the depths a Manhattan subway station wanting to immediately wash my hands..., no, better..., to take a shower. Not so on that stretch of track in Tokyo.
The palace itself is not open to the public except twice a year. The rest of the time only the expanse of gardens on the east side of the property are public areas, and have been such since 1968. It is a gem of a garden spot in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. Parts of it reminded me of Manhattan's Central Park. 
