Thursday, May 10, 2018

6 Facts about Kokyo Gaien Jogging Course - New Year's Japan Travel Day 6

        My husband and I traveled Japan during New Year's holidays. As I mentioned in my previous entry, we decided to go to Kokyo Gaien (皇居外苑) on our Japan travel day 6.

        The district around Tokyo Imperial Palace (Kokyo 皇居), the primary residence of the Emperor of Japan, is called Kokyo Gaien (皇居外苑). The reason why I wanted to go to Kokyo Gaien was that the sidewalk surrounding Kokyo Gaien is popular for a jogging course. If you love jogging and are planning on traveling Tokyo, I recommend you to enjoy jogging there. I also wanted to jog around Kokyo Gaien, but we decided to take a walk instead of running. :)

        On January 1, after having breakfast at our hotel, we decided to go to Kokyo Gaien by walk.



     We walked through Hibiya Park (日比谷公園) to go to Kokyo Gaien.
Hibiya Park

Hibiya Park Fountain

Hibiya Park

      There is no signal in Kokyo Gaien jogging course, so this was the last intersection. ;)
Iwaidabashi Intersection 祝田橋 交差点



6 Facts about Kokyo Gaien Jogging Course
1. It's about 5 km (3.1 miles) in circumference.

2. There is no signals in this course. (It is extremely rare in the middle of Tokyo.)

3. There are seven public restrooms. (You should bring your own washcloth to dry your hands.)

4. Run counter-clockwise.

5. Spring and fall are the best seasons to jog there because you can also enjoy beautiful cherry blossoms in spring and autumn leaves in fall. You can jog in summer but very hot and humid.

6. There are some police stations in this course, so it's very safe to jog there. People also love jogging there night time.



     At Kokyo Gaien, you can see so many Japanese black pine trees (黒松) beautifully trimmed.
Japanese Black Pine Trees at Koyo Gaien

      We started to walk along Uchibori Dori (内堀通り). You'll frequently see people jogging along the street. ;)
Uchibori Dori (内堀通り)

      While walking there, we enjoyed sightseeing. 



The Moat of the Imperial Palace

      We were able to see many wild water birds and some carps (鯉) there. (I also saw that some Japanese police officers snorkeling there. They were probably investigating the moat to make sure it's safe.)
The Moat of the Imperial Palace

     We also found the beautiful mute swan.
Mute Swan


Kokyo Higashi-Gyoen


National Museum of Modern Art 東京国立近代美術館

The Moat of the Imperial Palace
 



The Moat of the Imperial Palace

      You can see the National Diet Building (国会議事堂) there.
National Diet Building


          We went to Sakurada-mon (桜田門), one of the gate of Tokyo Imperial Palace.
Sakurada-mon


Seimon Stonebridge (正門石橋), Nijubashi (二重橋)

      This is Seimon Stonebridge, which looked like eye glasses to me. ;) 
Seimon Stonebridge (正門石橋), Nijubashi (二重橋)

     This is actually a small police station, which is called hasyutsujo (派出所) or koban (交番).
Police Station

       I saw so many black luxury cars driving from Tokyo Imperial Palace. Each car had a small national flag. I thought that ambassadors of each country attended the Ceremony of New Year Reception (新年祝賀の儀). 

      I uploaded this video to my YouTube channel. :)



      Then, we headed toward to Tokyo Station to have lunch there. I'll write about it next time.




      These are my entries you might like.
Senso-ji, An Ancient Buddhist Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo - New Year's Japan Travel Day 4

14 Best Japanese Beauty Products I Purchased in Japan - Drugstore, Discount Store, Daiso and Loft Haul

13 Best Japanese Products I Purchased on Amazon Japan! - Beauty, Kitchen and Stationery Items  

2 Convenience Store Skincare Products I Got in Japan - Japan Haul

13 Muji Products I Purchased in Japan - Muji Haul 

What You Should Take to Japan - Japan Travel Tips

My Shopping List for Japanese Beauty Products - What I Want to Get in Japan

My Shopping List for Japanese Groceries (Ramen, Sweets, Snack and More) - What I Want to Get in Japan  


My Shopping List for Japanese Products (Stationery, Kitchen Items, Starbucks and More) - What I Want to Get in Japan

Top 3 Japanese Powder Sunscreens  

3 Best Japanese Sunscreen Products to Try This Summer

3 Best Japanese Eye Creams Won Beauty Award This Year

3 Best Facial Sheet Masks Loved in Japan This Year

7 Most Popular Japanese Facial Cleansing Wipes for Removing Makeup  


7 Best Japanese Beauty Products Hall of Fame 

Top 5 Life-Changing Japanese Beauty Products  

10 Best Japanese Beauty Products on Amazon Japan, You Can Also Purchase Them at Drugstores in Japan



     My entries related to Tokyo can be seen here

     My entries related to Best Japanese Beauty Products can be seen here.
 

     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.

     My entries related to beauty can be seen here.

     My entries related to Japan Haul can be seen here.

     You can find my beauty entries by categories from here.






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