Was mightily surprised recently when I got a fax saying I was going to be working the following day as I’d somehow failed to see my name down on the cover sheet in our schools.

Luckily I hadn’t made any great plans and thankfully it was an easy relaxed day. So quiet in fact that, as can often happen, I had a few hours off in the afternoon. I’ve been in the swing of doing touristy things of late and that was no different recently as I went to the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo.

Among the hustle and bustle of one of the worlds busiest cities I had forgotten how nice this area is and its probably one of the most open and spacious areas in this city. As always though at these tourist traps the serenity of the place is somewhat ruined every now and again as the tourist buses roll into the area and they troop their way to their destination for a quick photo or ten!

This home of the Japans emperor and the imperial family and the view of the palace and with the Nijubashi bridge in the foreground is a very popular picture postcard view. After taking in this scene I had a quick walk around the Imperial Palace East Garden and then headed back along the tree-lined avenue where I could also see Tokyo Tower and the National Diet Building (Japanese Parliament) in the distance.