Happo-en

We had done a lot of walking the previous 2 days, and we knew we would be doing much, much more in Kyoto. It was time to take a break. We lingered over our coffee and toast, did some laundry, and caught up with our emails. Then we set out to meet our friend Naruko.

Our first stop was Happoen Park. It was the day before Halloween, and we passed a group of excited nursery school students clutching their mother's hands. Black plastic bags decorated with pumpkins and ghosts that had been cut from construction paper covered their clothes.

Inside the park, we saw many brides and grooms being photographed. Some were in kimono, and others wore Western style gowns. If you look closely, you can make out a couple in picture below on the right.

We sat for a long time in a little pavilion catching up on the events in each other's lives. Then we visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, or "Garden Museum" as Naruko called it. The museum is housed in the former residence of Prince Asaka and Princess Nobuko. It was completed in 1933, and was built in the Art Deco style which was popular at the time. The museum is surrounded by a large park filled with sculptures and plants. We enjoyed seeing both the building and the exhibits of paintings and photographs which were mainly from the 1920's and 1930's. Unfortunately, we don't seem to have taken any pictures of the building, so I scanned the pictures below from the museum brochure.

We shared cups of outrageously priced coffee served in small half-filled fancy cups at the museum coffee shop, Then Walt headed off to an evening with his Japanese radio geek friends and Naruko, Lisa, and I wandered slowly through a department store and dined at a Thai restaurant.

The first part of our vacation was already over. In the morning we would head off to Kyoto.