Happy Birthday Emperor Akihito

Have seen the more traditional side of Japan in the last 2 days, yesterday we went to Kamakura which is a small town about an hour away from Tokyo. There's a lot of temples and shrines out there. We went on a hike through the countryside and visited the country's 3rd biggest Buddha. It's a beautiful area, the countryside is beautiful and really peaceful. They town is a little touristy, but it wasn't too busy so it was ok.

Today was even stranger, I got up early and went down to the Imperial Palace to celebrate the Emperor's Birthday. It was one of his 2 public appearances a year (his Birthday and New Year's). It was really odd, no pushing, no shoving, just patient waiting for the family to appear. When they did, everyone waved the Japan flags they gave out and shouted "BANZAI" (really!). He spoke for a bit and then they all calmly filed off back in to the city. Photos tomorrow.