Old Imperial Palace Park, kyoto

Our Central Park. Several blocks on each side. That's right, no pictures of the palace itself here. The buildings are actually not all that impressive in comparison to many other places in town, but the palace grounds were opened as a public park after the capital moved to Tokyo in 1868, and the wide avenues give you an idea of what it must have been like to be an aristocrat. The Jidai Matsuri is coming up Oct. 22, when people will parade in period costumes starting from here. Pictures show one of the many gates ringing the park, one of the avenues inside, an inner wall surrounding the palace grounds, a pine tree.