The Emperor's Palace. The heart of downtown Tokyo, not too far from Ginza and Roppongi, with fountains, grass and walking lanes. Then there's a large grassy hill right in the middle of the square, with a thick moat around it. Like it's protecting the royalty from the hordes of angry taxis and subway trains. Watch out! Here comes a moped!

But seriously, this place reminded me a bit of central park, the largeness of the open space so out of place amongst the smog and noise.

You almost get away from the noise of the streets in there. Oh, before I forget, the other pics are from around town, showing the subways [I actually learned to navigate by reading kanji] and restaurant fronts, which made it way easier to order when you could point to plastic food instead of reading the menu. The street shots were taken in Ginza, and the subway stop [in case you're ever navigating the Tokyo subway is the Asukasa line - pronounced Asuh-kas-sa, Higashi-Ginza station]. And the ubiquitous Starbucks establishment, except that until my last year there they didn't sell venti and everyone looked at you weird when you ordered a grande.