Saturday was  the opening day for - very rare - publc visits  We entered. and were impressed by the layout of the gardens but were disappointed to find that the palace had been destroyed in 1945.

Named EDO the city was the centre of power for the Tokugawa Shogun from 1603 until 1868. On the overthrow of the shogunateat the latter date, the Emperor Meiiji made EDO his capital and changed its name to Tokyo,

We are here at the start of Cherry Blossom time. People are thronging the public parks and gardens to admire the Cherry Blossom. This is the signn that Spring is here. Cherry Blossom is to be found everywhere across the city.

We take the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Odawara and the travel by taxi to the Hyatt Regency in Gora, For our exploration of the Hakone National Park.

Today Tuesday, we’d spend the afternoon at the. Hakone Open Air Museum. There was an eclectic tic mix of artists and cultures: including an exhibition devoted to Picasso, Miro figures and a Rodin of Honore de Balzac.

We used the Hakone Travel Pass to complete a circuit around the Nationa Park. The first trip was by light railway from Gora to Yumoto. We then caught the bus down to Hakone-Machi on Lake Ashi: viewing the reconstructed medieval checkpoint on the old road between Edith and Kyoto. We sailed from there over Lake Ashi and caught a cable car to the crater at Hakone Volcano and then to Soutrans, There we completed the circuit by taking the funicular down to Gora, We ended the day by walking around Gora Park gardens.