The Tokyo Traveler

Travel & Leisure has published their 2008 World’s Best Awards and two hotels in Tokyo made the cut! Of the 50 World’s Best Hotels in Asia, The Imperial Hotel ranks 22nd while the Park Hyatt Tokyo ranks 16th in Asia and 77th Worldwide.
The Imperial Hotel, at number 22, first opened it’s doors in 1890 and was the was the only fully European style hotel in Tokyo for decades. This legendary Tokyo landmark has welcomed royalty, heads of state, celebrities and international business leaders for over 115 years and is located within walking distance of the Imperial Palace …read more

Comments Off

The Imperial Palace East Garden, or Higashi-gyoen, is rightly considered one of Tokyo’s finest gardens.
The Imperial Palace East Garden is located on the former site of Edo Castle. None of the original buildings remain but the moats, walls, entrance gates and several guardhouses that protected the former castle still stand within the confines of the garden. The castle, once the largest in Japan standing 58 meters (190 feet) high, was destroyed by fire in 1657 but the base remains and can be used as a vantage point to oversee portions of this vast garden.
The Tide …read more

5 Comments

Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel has a long and distinguished history. The hotel opened in 1890 across from the Imperial Palace in a impressive Victorian style building that for many decades was the only fully European style hotel in Tokyo. In 1923, the hotel opened a fabulous new building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright which stood until 1968 when the deteriorating building was dismantled, and parts of it rebuilt at Meijimura, a sort of Japanese Williamsburg, outside Nagoya. Parts of Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1923 building were preserved and can be found in the new facility which opened in 1970.

If …read more

2 Comments