Tokyo, Japan

The Emperor Without Empire


Fushimi Yagura Tower
One of the towers of the Japanese Imperial Palace that recovered Edo Castle.
Excitement
Japanese subjects wave to the emperor about to enter the imperial palace.
Pinheiros
Urban pine forest predates a near-skyscraper area of ​​Tokyo.
Traffic stopped
Police bar traffic during the Emperor's entrance to the imperial palace.
Safety Cycle
Imperial palace security on a classic bicycle.
Photos in uniform
Young students photograph the imperial palace.
The emperor
Emperor Akihito waves to his subjects from inside the imperial limousine.
ready
Imperial Guard standing by your shelter.
Photos
Photographers standing by a shot with the Fushimi Yagura Tower of the Imperial Palace in the background.
Conference hostesses
Hostesses of shinkansen trains discuss work plans in front of the imperial palace.
About to leave
The Japanese emperor travels around the area around the imperial palace in a limousine and followed by a long escort.
Group photo
Group of students is photographed with the imperial palace in the background.
Fushimi Yagura Tower (+ near)
Close up of Fushimi Yagura Tower, part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace.
youth tour
Row of high school students moves towards the Fushimi Yagura tower of the imperial palace.
An Imperial Autumn
Autumn leaves add color to the solid walls of the Emperor's Palace, formerly Edo Castle (Tokyo's predecessor settlement).
After the capitulation in World War II, Japan underwent a constitution that ended one of the longest empires in history. The Japanese emperor is, today, the only monarch to reign without empire.

The imperial palace imposes itself on the city as one of the most memorable trips into Tokyo's past.

When we emerge from the technological sophistication of Otemashi metro station we examine the surrounding reality. We are dazzled.

In the back, an uneven but harmonious core of modern office buildings stands out, two or three of them almost skyscrapers, others lower.

At ground level, almost to the base of these buildings, there is an urban forest of green pine trees that seem to have been cut by a team of Eduardos Mãos de Tesoura.

urban jungle, pine trees, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Urban pine forest predates a near-skyscraper area of ​​Tokyo.

Between the pine trees and the palace, there is a vast area covered with gray gravel, interrupted only by the darker asphalt that gives access to the palace.

We detect the wall of the ancient castle of Edo and a strange line of people who have turned their backs on it and seem to be waiting for something.

It occurs to us to cross the asphalt that separates us from them so that we can finally verify what was happening. We don't go far.

A policeman shouts in Japanese and gestures for us to go back.

True to the initial objective, we submitted ourselves to a much bigger turn. When we reached the other side, anxiety took over the group that resists the cold, cameras at the ready.

From (E) Imminence to the Japanese Emperor's Greeting

Sirens are heard in the distance. Police scouts appear on bulky motorbikes, followed by a procession made up of seven black vehicles and the last one, also a police officer.

visitors wave, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Japanese subjects wave to the emperor about to enter the imperial palace.

The small crowd gets into a frenzy, even more so the women exchanging hysterical exclamations, waving and clapping their hands as moved as they were beside themselves.

The rear window of one of the cars opens, highlighted by the classic limousine configuration and a red flag that flies over the middle of the hood.

interrupted traffic, entry emperor, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Police bar traffic during the Emperor's entrance to the imperial palace.

A man in a suit, candid air and gray hair reveals himself from inside, waves back to his admirers, and leads them to obvious ecstasy. The procession does not stop but slows down.

In three times, he disappears into the palace garden. The crowd rejoices. Dozens of Japanese subjects had just seen their emperor. As if that wasn't enough, the emperor had greeted them.

emperor, akihito, limousine-waves, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Emperor Akihito waves to his subjects from inside the imperial limousine.

As far as we were concerned, without quite knowing how, we had just seen the Emperor of Japan. The Emperor of Japan had greeted us.

At the outset, the probability of this encounter was similar to that of finding another emperor still active on the face of the Earth: zero.

The Imperial House in Longest Post

The Japanese imperial house remains the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world to exercise continuity. Its origin is so ancestral that it falls into a void of rigor, despite being included in an 660th century Japanese history book that was founded in XNUMX BC

In the long period that passed, the power of the Japanese emperor alternated between an almost total symbolism and a true imperial rule. But for the most part – despite being nominally appointed by the emperor – the real Japanese leaders were the shoguns.

imperial guard, shelter, imperial palace, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Imperial Guard standing by your shelter.

These feudal lords disputed the Japanese territory until the Meiji Restoration entered the scene, which promoted the emperor to the personification of all the power of the kingdom.

Portuguese explorers, European pioneers on arrival in Japan, compared him to the Pope: with great symbolic authority but limited sovereignty.

The Forced Capitulation that Ended World War II

After spreading across Asia and the Pacific from the end of the 1945th century until XNUMX, the Empire of the Sun capitulated in little more than a year to the allied armies. It was returned to its starting point archipelago and dissolved in 1947, during the occupation of the USA, which was at the base of the creation of the new Japanese constitution.

autumn, imperial palace, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Autumn leaves add color to the solid walls of the Emperor's Palace, formerly Edo Castle (Tokyo's predecessor settlement).

Hirohito was spared by the Americans from convictions for war crimes and preserved in power with the status of "symbol of the state and the unity of the people". He died in 1989. Akihito then occupied what is known for the chrysanthemum throne.

This last emperor is venerated in the way we had just witnessed – and in others much more zealous or even fanatical – as a direct descendant of Amaterasu, Shinto goddess of the Sun and the Universe, accordingly, the highest earthly authority of this religion.

From the Imperial Capital of Kyoto, the Core of Edo and then Tokyo

For eleven centuries, Japanese emperors resided in Kyoto. From the middle of the XNUMXth century, the official residence – Kokyo – was moved to Edo Castle, in the heart of Tokyo.

imperial palace, fushimi yagura tower, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

One of the towers of the Japanese Imperial Palace that recovered Edo Castle.

Its main building was still in front of us, sheltered by inner walls, facing the Nijubashi Bridge, on top of a hill and among shady trees.

We see dozens of Japanese students dressed in black advance in line along the gravel.

Arriving at the bridge, they form with this backdrop as a background and a photographer, in the good Japanese manner armed with a tripod, registers the image of the young subjects for posterity.

students, skyscrapers, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Row of high school students moves towards the Fushimi Yagura tower of the imperial palace.

Tokyo Central Station is not far away. depart from it all the time shinkansen bullet trains destined for the main cities of the country and equipped with a hostess for each carriage.

Meanwhile, a group of these workers in their elegant uniforms flock to the place for the same purpose as the students.

hostesses, conference, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Hostesses of shinkansen trains discuss work plans in front of the imperial palace.

At the beginning of the XNUMXst century, these and other Japanese women were almost treated to a revolution in the ever-traditional Japanese gender relationship.

Japan's Imperial Palace Succession Crisis

At that time, Prince Akishino (second son of Akihito) remained the only male member born into the imperial family since 1965.

With the succession at risk, the Imperial House decided to form a council to consider the hypothesis of a woman can succeed the Emperor. 

palace security, bicycle, emperor without empire, tokyo, japan

Imperial palace security on a classic bicycle.

But in 2006, Akishino and the princess Kiko spawned a prince, Hisahito. Shortly thereafter, the board maintained that the succession should continue to be made in the male.

It turns out that Naruhito – the eldest and probable successor of the current emperor – has only one daughter. O that the Japanese will decide when the succession back to being in danger?

Nikko, Japan

The Tokugawa Shogun Final Procession

In 1600, Ieyasu Tokugawa inaugurated a shogunate that united Japan for 250 years. In her honor, Nikko re-enacts the general's medieval relocation to Toshogu's grandiose mausoleum every year.
Okinawa, Japan

The Little Empire of the Sun

Risen from the devastation caused by World War II, Okinawa has regained the heritage of its secular Ryukyu civilization. Today, this archipelago south of Kyushu is home to a Japan on the shore, anchored by a turquoise Pacific ocean and bathed in a peculiar Japanese tropicalism.
Tongatapu, Tonga

The Last Polynesian Monarchy

From New Zealand to Easter Island and Hawaii, no other monarchy has resisted the arrival of European discoverers and modernity. For Tonga, for several decades, the challenge was to resist the monarchy.
Ogimashi, Japan

An Historical-Virtual Japan

"Higurashi no Naku Koro never” was a highly successful Japanese animation and computer game series. In Ogimashi, Shirakawa-Go village, we live with a group of kigurumi of their characters.
Hiroshima, Japan

Hiroshima: a City Yielded to Peace

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima succumbed to the explosion of the first atomic bomb used in war. 70 years later, the city fights for the memory of the tragedy and for nuclear weapons to be eradicated by 2020.
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's fashion

In ultra-populous and hyper-coded Japan, there is always room for more sophistication and creativity. Whether national or imported, it is in the capital that they begin to parade the new Japanese looks.
Kyoto, Japan

A Combustible Faith

During the Shinto celebration of Ohitaki, prayers inscribed on tablets by the Japanese faithful are gathered at the Fushimi temple. There, while being consumed by huge bonfires, her belief is renewed.
Tokyo, Japan

Japanese Style Passaport-Type Photography

In the late 80s, two Japanese multinationals already saw conventional photo booths as museum pieces. They turned them into revolutionary machines and Japan surrendered to the Purikura phenomenon.
Osaka, Japan

In the Company of Mayu

Japanese nightlife is a multi-faceted, multi-billion business. In Osaka, an enigmatic couchsurfing hostess welcomes us, somewhere between the geisha and the luxury escort.
Tokyo, Japan

Disposable Purrs

Tokyo is the largest of the metropolises but, in its tiny apartments, there is no place for pets. Japanese entrepreneurs detected the gap and launched "catteries" in which the feline affections are paid by the hour.
Takayama, Japan

From the Ancient Japan to the Medieval Hida

In three of its streets, Takayama retains traditional wooden architecture and concentrates old shops and sake producers. Around it, it approaches 100.000 inhabitants and surrenders to modernity.
Kyoto, Japan

An Almost Lost Millennial Japan

Kyoto was on the US atomic bomb target list and it was more than a whim of fate that preserved it. Saved by an American Secretary of War in love with its historical and cultural richness and oriental sumptuousness, the city was replaced at the last minute by Nagasaki in the atrocious sacrifice of the second nuclear cataclysm.
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Okinawa, Japan

Ryukyu Dances: Centuries old. In No Hurry.

The Ryukyu kingdom prospered until the XNUMXth century as a trading post for the China and Japan. From the cultural aesthetics developed by its courtly aristocracy, several styles of slow dance were counted.
Miyajima, Japan

Shintoism and Buddhism with the Tide

Visitors to the Tori of Itsukushima admire one of the three most revered scenery in Japan. On the island of Miyajima, Japanese religiosity blends with Nature and is renewed with the flow of the Seto Inland Sea.
Iriomote, Japan

The Small Tropical Japanese Amazon of Iriomote

Impenetrable rainforests and mangroves fill Iriomote under a pressure cooker climate. Here, foreign visitors are as rare as the yamaneko, an elusive endemic lynx.
Nara, Japan

The Colossal Cradle of the Japanese Buddhism

Nara has long since ceased to be the capital and its Todai-ji temple has been demoted. But the Great Hall remains the largest ancient wooden building in the world. And it houses the greatest bronze Vairocana Buddha.
Ogimashi, Japan

A Village Faithful to the A

Ogimashi reveals a fascinating heritage of Japanese adaptability. Located in one of the most snowy places on Earth, this village has perfected houses with real anti-collapse structures.
Magome-Tsumago, Japan

Magome to Tsumago: The Overcrowded Path to the Medieval Japan

In 1603, the Tokugawa shogun dictated the renovation of an ancient road system. Today, the most famous stretch of the road that linked Edo to Kyoto is covered by a mob eager to escape.
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Skipper of one of the bangkas at Raymen Beach Resort during a break from sailing
Beach
Islands Guimaras  e  Ave Maria, Philippines

Towards Ave Maria Island, in a Philippines full of Grace

Discovering the Western Visayas archipelago, we set aside a day to travel from Iloilo along the northwest coast of Guimaras. The beach tour along one of the Philippines’ countless pristine coastlines ends on the stunning Ave Maria Island.
Hippopotamus displays tusks, among others
safari
PN Mana Pools, Zimbabwe

The Zambezi at the Top of Zimbabwe

After the rainy season, the dwindling of the great river on the border with Zambia leaves behind a series of lagoons that provide water for the fauna during the dry season. The Mana Pools National Park is the name given to a vast, lush river-lake region that is disputed by countless wild species.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 5th - Ngawal a BragaNepal

Towards the Nepalese Braga

We spent another morning of glorious weather discovering Ngawal. There is a short journey towards Manang, the main town on the way to the zenith of the Annapurna circuit. We stayed for Braga (Braka). The hamlet would soon prove to be one of its most unforgettable places.
Colonial Church of San Francisco de Assis, Taos, New Mexico, USA
Architecture & Design
Taos, USA

North America Ancestor of Taos

Traveling through New Mexico, we were dazzled by the two versions of Taos, that of the indigenous adobe hamlet of Taos Pueblo, one of the towns of the USA inhabited for longer and continuously. And that of Taos city that the Spanish conquerors bequeathed to the Mexico, Mexico gave in to United States and that a creative community of native descendants and migrated artists enhance and continue to praise.
The small lighthouse at Kallur, highlighted in the capricious northern relief of the island of Kalsoy.
Aventura
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

A Lighthouse at the End of the Faroese World

Kalsoy is one of the most isolated islands in the Faroe archipelago. Also known as “the flute” due to its long shape and the many tunnels that serve it, a mere 75 inhabitants inhabit it. Much less than the outsiders who visit it every year, attracted by the boreal wonder of its Kallur lighthouse.
Ceremonies and Festivities
Military

Defenders of Their Homelands

Even in times of peace, we detect military personnel everywhere. On duty, in cities, they fulfill routine missions that require rigor and patience.
patriot march
Cities
Taiwan

Formosa but Unsafe

Portuguese navigators could not imagine the imbroglio reserved for the Formosa they baptized. Nearly 500 years later, even though it is uncertain of its future, Taiwan still prospers. Somewhere between independence and integration in greater China.
Fogón de Lola, great food, Costa Rica, Guápiles
Lunch time
Fogón de Lola Costa Rica

The Costa Rica Flavour of El Fogón de Lola

As the name suggests, the Fogón de Lola de Guapiles serves dishes prepared on the stove and in the oven, according to Costa Rican family tradition. In particular, Tia Lola's.
North Island, New Zealand, Maori, Surfing time
Culture
North Island, New Zealand

Journey along the Path of Maority

New Zealand is one of the countries where the descendants of settlers and natives most respect each other. As we explored its northern island, we became aware of the interethnic maturation of this very old nation. Commonwealth , the Maori and Polynesia.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Braga or Braka or Brakra in Nepal
Traveling
Annapurna Circuit: 6th – Braga, Nepal

The Ancient Nepal of Braga

Four days of walking later, we slept at 3.519 meters from Braga (Braka). Upon arrival, only the name is familiar to us. Faced with the mystical charm of the town, arranged around one of the oldest and most revered Buddhist monasteries on the Annapurna circuit, we continued our journey there. acclimatization with ascent to Ice Lake (4620m).
Train Fianarantsoa to Manakara, Malagasy TGV, locomotive
Ethnic
Fianarantsoa-Manakara, Madagascar

On board the Malagasy TGV

We depart Fianarantsoa at 7a.m. It wasn't until 3am the following morning that we completed the 170km to Manakara. The natives call this almost secular train Train Great Vibrations. During the long journey, we felt, very strongly, those of the heart of Madagascar.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Alcatraz Island, California, United States
History
Alcatraz, San Francisco, USA

Back to the Rock

Forty years after his sentence ended, the former Alcatraz prison receives more visitors than ever. A few minutes of his seclusion explain why The Rock's imagination made the worst criminals shiver.
Palm trees of San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands
Islands
Tenerife, Canary Islands

East of White Mountain Island

The almost triangular Tenerife has its center dominated by the majestic volcano Teide. At its eastern end, there is another rugged domain, even so, the place of the island's capital and other unavoidable villages, with mysterious forests and incredible abrupt coastlines.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Winter White
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
Baie d'Oro, Île des Pins, New Caledonia
Literature
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Torres del Paine, Dramatic Patagonia, Chile
Nature
PN Torres del Paine, Chile

The Most Dramatic Patagonia

Nowhere is the southernmost reaches of South America so breathtaking as the Paine Mountains. There, a natural fort of granite colossi surrounded by lakes and glaciers protrudes from the pampa and submits to the whims of meteorology and light.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica, Caribbean, Punta Cahuita aerial view
Natural Parks
Cahuita, Costa Rica

Dreadlocked Costa Rica

Traveling through Central America, we explore a Costa Rican coastline as much as the Caribbean. In Cahuita, Pura Vida is inspired by an eccentric faith in Jah and a maddening devotion to cannabis.
Unaccustomed gorilla, a short distance from Bon Coin, Bomassa
UNESCO World Heritage
Ducret Expedition 2st:  PN Lobeke, Cameroon - Wali Bai, Congo Rep.

Hyacinth and the Gorilla of Bon Coin: Peculiar Primate Encounters

Camped on an island in the Sangha River, we set out to discover the Lobéké and Wali Bai national parks, Nouabalé-Ndoki, in Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. There we are surprised by stunning but disparate creatures.  
Heroes Acre Monument, Zimbabwe
Characters
Harare, Zimbabwewe

The Last Rales of Surreal Mugabué

In 2015, Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe said the 91-year-old president would rule until the age of 100 in a special wheelchair. Shortly thereafter, it began to insinuate itself into his succession. But in recent days, the generals have finally precipitated the removal of Robert Mugabe, who has replaced him with former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Magnificent Atlantic Days
Beaches
Morro de São Paulo, Brazil

A Divine Seaside of Bahia

Three decades ago, it was just a remote and humble fishing village. Until some post-hippie communities revealed the Morro's retreat to the world and promoted it to a kind of bathing sanctuary.
Peasant woman, Majuli, Assam, India
Religion
Majuli Island, India

An Island in Countdown

Majuli is the largest river island in India and would still be one of the largest on Earth were it not for the erosion of the river Bramaputra that has been making it diminish for centuries. If, as feared, it is submerged within twenty years, more than an island, a truly mystical cultural and landscape stronghold of the Subcontinent will disappear.
Flam Railway composition below a waterfall, Norway.
On Rails
Nesbyen to Flam, Norway

Flam Railway: Sublime Norway from the First to the Last Station

By road and aboard the Flam Railway, on one of the steepest railway routes in the world, we reach Flam and the entrance to the Sognefjord, the largest, deepest and most revered of the Scandinavian fjords. From the starting point to the last station, this monumental Norway that we have unveiled is confirmed.
Singapore, Success and Monotony Island
Society
Singapore

The Island of Success and Monotony

Accustomed to planning and winning, Singapore seduces and recruits ambitious people from all over the world. At the same time, it seems to bore to death some of its most creative inhabitants.
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Daily life
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Curieuse Island, Seychelles, Aldabra turtles
Wildlife
Felicité Island and Curieuse Island, Seychelles

From Leprosarium to Giant Turtles Home

In the middle of the XNUMXth century, it remained uninhabited and ignored by Europeans. The French Ship Expedition “La Curieuse” revealed it and inspired his baptism. The British kept it a leper colony until 1968. Today, Île Curieuse is home to hundreds of Aldabra tortoises, the longest-lived land animal.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.