visit to the imperial grounds

Last Friday the four of us went to the Imperial grounds to observe a gagaku rehearsal and tour some of the gardens. The Imperial grounds are separated from the rest of Tokyo by a moat. The medieval feeling of it was reinforced when we had to walk across a bridge and climb through a mini-door that was part of a huge wooden gate. Here is a view of the moat separating downtown Tokyo from the Imperial grounds-->

<--And the door we had to climb through.

The gagaku stage there had the biggest taiko drums I have ever seen. In this picture the taiko is to the right of the smaller kakko drum. You can see the people standing in the background to get an idea of the scale -->

Before and after the rehearsal we met with Togi-sensei, the Head Court Musician (indicated as a "Human Treasure" on his business card) and played for him. Not sure if it's the novelty thing or if he actually thought we sounded good but he invited us back sit in on some of his classes.

After the rehearsal we had a chance to tour some of the gardens. Very beautiful and totally removed from the city that surrounds it. It reminded me somewhat of Central Park, albeit much cleaner, very well-kept and minus all the people.