Not Built in a Day

This is part 4 of a multi-part description of my trip to Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan, as part of my Kinne Traveling Fellowship grant through my studio at GSAPP.  See also: first post , second post , third post .  To see all my photos from Tokyo, visit my Google+ album here .  A map of our destinations can be viewed here . March 17th After our second night at Andon, we checked out and took a bus to our final hotel of the trip, the Gate Hotel Kaminarimon by Hulic.  This hotel is owned by the real estate company that hosted us during the studio portion of the trip, so we were all required to stay there for the rest of the visit.  The hotel was very nice, with large rooms, friendly staff, a rooftop lounge area, and great views from the "sky lobby" on the top floor.  But definitely not cheap. After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we headed out to explore Asakusa, the historic neighborhood around the hotel, known for its temple, Senso-ji , and the gate a...

This is part 3 of a multi-part description of my trip to Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan, as part of my Kinne Traveling Fellowship grant through my studio at GSAPP.  You can read the first post here and second post here .   To see all my photos from Tokyo, visit my Google+ album here .  A map of our destinations can be viewed here . March 15th Our final day in Kyoto, we got up early to take a tour of the Imperial Palace grounds.  The palaces in Tokyo and Kyoto, as well as several important imperial villas, are run by the Imperial Household Agency and require special registration in order to take a tour; the Kyoto palace is the easiest to access without advance reservations.  We arrived shortly before the tour began, registered at the office on the grounds, and headed into the palace for the tour.  The palace is kept immaculately clean and well-preserved.  One highlight is that we were able to see the groundskeepers disassembling the winter greenhouse t...