My Brush With Royalty

It was reputed that on the second day of 2013, the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo would be open to the public, and the Emperor of Japan and his family members would be making a public appearance on the balcony several times that day.  I thought a royal glimpse sounded like a bit of fun, so I penciled it into my schedule and eagerly awaited the day.

I didn't really know how popular this event would be, although I was sure I would be standing in the middle of a crowd, probably catching a glimpse of the moving speck in the distance.  As I'm not a morning person, I decided to rock up to one of the later appearances.  

So off I went to Otemachi station, which is near Tokyo station, both in an area I had not yet been to.  "Not too many people here," I thought, "it's looking good!"  I exited the station on the Imperial Palace side, and started looking for the entrance.  Well, on my way, I came across hoards of people.  Most of them were leaving, thankfully.  Still, it took a little while to find where I could join the line of people down the block to be able to enter the palace grounds.

Along the way I found there were people giving out free paper Japanese flags - score!  Including a couple of cute children who took their job quite seriously.  

I also passed this  kid, who clearly loved his new flags and was dancing around with them.

After entering the grounds we were subject to a bag check.  A good reminder that this wasn't just your average tourist destination.  After getting through the bag check I continued on, and came to another check-point.  "They're going to check our bags again...?"  I thought.  Then I saw people getting the old "pat-down".  Except it turned out to be more of a "rub-down", which was certainly an interesting experience.  But kindly, they had female officers to check the ladies and she was polite enough to ask "touch okay?" before quickly checking me for explosives or weapons.  

Having made it through that check-point, it was just a nice walk up the hill to the inner palace grounds. By this point the crowd was comfortably dispersed, so I thought even though it's pretty crowded, it doesn't feel too crowded.  When I got to the top of the hill and saw a building there I was surprised to be there already - and to be so close!  "Wow, I'm gonna have an awesome view," I thought, as I joined the crowd already waiting outside the balcony.  Then I looked at my watch.  The next appearance would be at 1:30pm....it was now 12:10pm....this is gonna be a long wait!  Luckily I brought my iPod touch and used the time to study some Japanese vocab (as I've been very slack lately).  It was like being on a crowded train, except you don't need anything to hang on to.  So sardined nicely into the crowd I stood there for the next hour and twenty minutes, with my backpack and my iPod touch, wishing I could somehow reach my shoes to loosen them a little, as my feet has already gotten a few blisters from the new shoes I was wearing.  But I endured.  

Fast forward to 1:30, and the crowd starts to get excited.  Some people walk to the windows and line up, and there they are, the Imperial Family.  The flags start to wave like crazy, and I realise the autofocus on my camera is not going to be effective with all these waving flags at various distances.  So glad for manual focus on the Canon!  




After everyone waved to the crowd, and they waved the flags back, the Emperor stepped forward to the microphone to give his New Years speech, and the flags disappeared, allowing for some good photos (minus all the other cameras and arms in the way).

I probably should have paid more attention to his speech, but I caught something along the lines of "Let's make this year a good one also."  After the short speech, there was more waving from everyone again, and the flags when crazy for another minute or too.  I made sure to put down the camera and wave my flag around crazily, because after all, I love Japan and wanted to be part of the cheering crowd.  And then, the Imperial Family disappeared through the doors behind them.  I'll confess, I was hoping they'd be decked out in some traditional gear, but I guess that stuff is not all that comfortable to wear.  Also, those windows are deceptively big, so when the people appeared there they looked a lot smaller than I was expecting!  

Upon their disappearance it was time to go, and we began the penguin shuffle down the other side of the hill and out of the grounds.  

Overall it was a good experience, and I was glad I went.  Despite all the waiting, it was still shorter than the time I waited for that super popular ride at Disney Sea, and I new exactly how long I'd be waiting so it didn't drag on and on.  So tips for anyone planning to next year - bring some entertainment, or even a book, and maybe even some snacks (I hadn't had breakfast and brought no snacks...oops).  And don't forget your camera :)