Today didn’t go quite as we planned. For field trip Friday today we intended on visiting the Imperial Palace. This is the primary residence of the Imperial Family, and before going we read about the role of the emperor in Japan. Prior to WWII the emperor held political power, but today his role is purely symbolic and non-political. The inner grounds of the palace are generally closed to the public, but the outer gardens are free to enter – except on Fridays. We failed to realize this until we got there. Google maps said they opened at 9am today so I thought we were set. Lesson learned – check the official website.
We made the 2.5 mile walk to the entrance only to discover it was closed. We were not the only ones unaware of this, as we saw a lot of other people standing around reading the closed sign. The kids were great and just rolled with it. Alexis said, ‘we could always just ride the train back and call that our field trip, that’s always an experience’. I love how flexible they are when things don’t go as planned. Here they are waiting patiently while we decided what to do next. We could see the Tokyo Tower far in the distance and decided to go there. This was on our list of places to visit too!
From Subway Depths to Tower Heights
Rather than walk an additional 3 miles, we decided to take the subway. The escalator up at our final stop was the longest we’ve ever seen. It felt a little creepy being that far under ground!
It was a short walk from the station to the base of the Tokyo Tower. I read a quick synopsis to everyone about the history of the tower as we walked there. The tower was completed in 1958 to symbolize Japan’s rebirth and modernization after World War II. In addition to being a tourist attraction, it is also a broadcasting tower for radio and TV. It resembles the Eiffel Tower, because it was intentionally modeled after it. The tower is painted international white and orange to comply with aviation safety regulations and stands 1092 feet tall.
Digital Amusement Park
At the base of the tower is a place called RED Tokyo Tower, which is a digital amusement park full of virtual reality games. We bought the hour long pass to play before heading back home. It was extremely fun for all of us! Our favorites were a red light/green light game and one called Escape Action.
The day wasn’t what we had planned, but it turned out really fun. The kids both thought this was much cooler than walking around a historical site that dates back to the 15th century. They are kids after all!
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I read somewhere a headline about the prince and some big celebration? Is that all going on over there? Apparently he’s the only Japanese monarch in like 50 years to reach adulthood? I read the article but it really didn’t give me any information on that 🤨🤔
Love how this all turned out! Way to roll with it. 👏🏻👏🏻