A Plum Blossom at the Imperial Palace

Post date: 09-Dec-2009 09:53:19

Colin and I lucked out and managed to visit the Imperial Palace on the clearest day out of our two weeks in Tokyo. Even the ravens bragged about the beautiful day through their caws. We wandered through the whole park capturing every fall leaf. It's HDR photo season also known as autumn.

When we stopped for a break, Colin did some brainstorming for his great idea for a book: "How to take HDR photos." Look for it in book stores next fall (I'm series). Tokyo, Japan actually has a real fall not like the 2 weeks we get in Edmonton. These photos were taken by Colin on Dec 2 in +16 weather.

We walk through the bonsais, palms and many other trees, each one representing one of the 47 prefectures in Japan. We

pass Cherry Blossom Island and I amost wish it was srping so I could see a cherry blossom, but at the same time I wouldn't want to trade in the tangerines, lemons, and apple autumn leaves. We round the corner through the hedged path and in the field a bit of white rice paper on a branch catches my eye against the freshly painted sky. A lone cherry blossom* tree blushes against the autumn field. Many people pause to admire its blooms. The white paper thin blossoms feel like a supple nipple. Her branches stick out everywhere like a messy head of hair.

* Editor's Note: Upon further research, I think the tree I saw was actually a Plum Blossom Tree and not a Cherry Blossom Tree. I'll let you decide.

The ground smells like fall in Edmonton-mulched damp fallen leaves and pine needles knitting together and fermenting on the forest floor. In the distance, the sound of a blaring emergency horn can barely be heard over the choir of birds, but outside the palace walls life of the Metropolis continues. I relish the warm sun and take one last look at the blossoms before we leave the tranquil garden and return to reality.

Since it was a clear day, we decided to go up the Tokyo Tower to get a few panoramic pictures. Even though I didn't like the replica tower, we did have a great view from the 333 m tower (the Eiffel tower is 320 m high). It practically cost more than the Eiffel tower at 1640 yen to go to the first floor and another 1200 yen for two people to go to the "Special Observatory" (outside top deck). We did not go all the way to the top.