APR 30, sunset, Nanoose, BC

 

 

APR 29, Vancouver Island beach walks

 

APR 28, to Vancouver Island

 greeting committee with 'new' car

major "sakura", even  here in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia

edge of Rathtrevor Beach Park         

 

 phenomenal rhododendrons

American robin, a bird not found in Japan

APR 27, Japan Visit: Tokyo neighborhoods

Kappabashi Kitchenware Town in TAITO district

 

 

  

Fish market

For lunch, we again chose
 conveyor-belt sus

SHIBUYA district, exclusive designer shops and dense crowds 

  

an intrepid dog-walker guides 20 leashed canines through the crowded sidewalks 

Meiji-jingu, shrine at burial site of the westernizing Emperor Meili who reigned from 1867 to 1912.
 

mascot for the local pro-basketball team

an amateur rock-a-billy dance group
performs every Sunday in Yoyogi Park

Hibiya Park: Tokyo's first western park, located near the Imperial Palace

Trendy AKASAKA

security-birds at a local bicycle parking area

APR 26, Japan Visit: Tokyo, the Emperors' Place

this sector of Tokyo with many government buildings has quiet untrafficked broad streets,
and lots of parks

the National Diet (parliament) Building

THE IMPERIAL PALACE

en route to the Imperial Palace:
piney parks for picnicking

outer (remote) moat
Note the nice location
 next to a trendy downtown office district

entrance gate
(we had not received a personal invitation)

samurai checkpoint

The walls are made of stones 
weighing up to 35 tons.
How were they moved there?

lots of ponds, as well as moats

 

"Tractor-seat plant" , apparently an
imperial fave

 a few weedy spots

colorful azaleas coming into full bloom

very large koi

golden koi