The Emperor's New Year's Greeting

On January 2nd of every year the Imperial Palace's inner grounds are opened to the public (they are only opened to the public one other time during the year-the Emperor's birthday) and the Emperor gives a new year's greeting to the crowd of thousands. The Emperor made five appearances throughout the day, we went to the third appearance. Basically what happens is you stand in lines for about an hour to an hour and a half and are herded into the inner courtyard. At scheduled times throughout the day the Emperor appears and the crowd goes INSANE, the Emperor gives a short two minute speech, the crowd goes INSANE, and then everyone is herded through lines out of the palace grounds. It was a crazy day, with a lot of people, but definitely worth it just to see the Imperial Palace grounds and catch a glimpse of the Emperor. Below are some pictures from our day at the Imperial Palace. That day Alex took pictures with our D60 and I took pictures with our J1, pictures from both are shown here.

When we arrived in Tokyo we saw a handful of these announcing
that Tokyo is a candidate city for the 2020 Olympics. 

This is the Tokyo train station. Well actually just the first floor
is the Tokyo train station, the rest is a hotel. 

One of the many buildings in Toyko. 

Waiting in line to see the Emperor. At the beginning of the line
 they handed out these Japanese flags to everyone. 

The Grimstead's waiting in line. Lexie loved waving her flag. 

Everyone was taking pictures of this guy on the horse, so I decided to snap
one of Alex with him in the background in case he was famous, but i'm pretty sure
 he was just a police officer type person in a special uniform. 

Walking along the grounds. 

The entry to the inner grounds. 

The Imperial Palace, or part of it anyways. 

Another view of the palace. 

Erika and Mike waiting to see the Emperor. 

Alex and I waiting to see the Emperor. 

The Emperor! (He is the cute little old man
- you can click to make the image bigger)

I looked up a translation of what the Emperor's New Year's Greeting was, at the time we had no idea what was going on. Here is what I found: 

Last year, it pained me greatly to see that many lives were lost to natural disasters, the Great East Japan Earthquake in the spring and torrential rains in many places in the summer and in the autumn. My heart also goes out to the people who regrettably can no longer live in the places they used to live because of the radioactive contamination caused by the nuclear plant accident. Last year was a truly distressing year. However, it has been heartening to note that, even under such conditions, the people were helping each other and many people were working hard to support the victims.

This year, our country has to make various plans towards reconstruction and decide on guidelines for the future. At the same time, it is expected to be a year in which our country has to tackle many difficult challenges, including the disposal of the debris from the disaster. It is my sincere hope that people will bring together their wisdom and that those involved in the various tasks can work under safe conditions. 

Our country is now going through difficult times because of the earthquake and other factors, but I hope that the people's hearts will always be with the afflicted, and that everyone will persevere and work together to build a brighter tomorrow.

It is my hope that the new year will be a good, peaceful year for the people of Japan and the people of the world.

Everyone going crazy waving their flags after the Emperor's speech.
 

Lexie liked what the Emperor had to say
so she waved her flag a lot ; )

Love her!

As we were walking out of the grounds. I love the contrast of the old
Japanese style with the modern Tokyo skyline. 

Our traditional Japanese meal after visiting the Emperor.
We were somehow able to convey that Alex couldn't eat rice,
but he had to suffer through all the soy (he is allergic to both). 

Erika and Mike enjoying the food. 

Alex suffering through eating and Elise enjoying the food. 

We enjoyed our trip to see the Imperial Palace and the Emperor. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.