Tokyo - The Imperial Palace East Gardens

The first place we visited was the Imperial Palace. You can't actually get into the Palace, but about 3/4 of the grounds are open to the public.

I believe this is the "outer moat" of the palace. As you can see, it's right in the middle of the city.
This "outer" part has it's own modern garden.

After the modern park, we came to the edge of the palace wall (and the "inner moat").

Here we are inside the inner wall of the palace.

There are about 3-4 guardhouses when you enter the palace grounds. Many of the original buildings were destroyed in war or accidental fire, so most of the buildings we were able to see have been rebuilt.

It was a beautiful day to walk around; cool and clear. The trees and flowers were just starting to bloom, so it almost felt like spring in the Midwest.

This was my favorite part of the garden. The flowers were just starting to bloom.

Then we walked up to the upper part of the garden grounds.

This was the original Edo part of the palace grounds.

Our favorite part was the large grassy area in front of the old Edo palace. People were able to rest and run around.

We even sat on the grass!