Japan

On the way to a dinner party…

“You are cordially invited to a dinner to be hosted by the City Mayor on…in the East Garden of Royal Palace in Tokyo”- said a special invitation  received to us in last week.  With great excitement we were waiting for that evening.  
 

          The East Garden of Royal Palace was the place which used to be the Edo Castle, the resident of shoguns (leader of Samurai –warriors of old times in Japan).  It is three minutes walk from the Otemachi station of the Tokyo metro Chiyoda Line.  We came out of the metro station following a guide who was waiting for us there.  

            Entrance of the garden...

          
      It was a cloudy evening, and we started walking fast , it might rain.  Entered the garden complex, it was a narrow lane with dense forests on both sides, we couldn’t believe that we are still inside the busy Tokyo.   Soon the lane joined with a much wider road.  Here, the guides carry a flag and it will be always up.  But they will be walking in their usual pace (very fast) and you have to catch up with them.

                           Following the'white flag' of our guide.....

Crossing the gateway to the garden, we reached the spot were the representatives of the host were waiting to receive us.

           A warm welcome....

We entered into a beautiful garden, crossing narrow lanes, amidst beautiful bushes.  The sight of bushes in full bloom on both sides of the lanes was really eye catching.

We took a turn to another lane, the sight there was astonishing…

Long fields of beautiful Japanese Iris flowers…

As per the Greek mythology, Iris is the name of the Goddess of the Rainbow. And because of the great elegance of the iris bloom, it has been the symbol of monarchs and royal families throughout history. 

In luscious colors of purple, blue, and endless bicolours, they have been cultivated in Japan for over 500 years, and were once restricted to enjoyment by royalty only. 

As you can see in the photo, they need just moist ground to grow.  The Japanese Iris flowers are in bloom around June 10^th to 20^th.  Yes, We were really fortunate to enjoy the rare beauty!

          As a part of the celebration of  140th Anniversary of Meiji (once rulers  of Japan)  restoration, a special spring exhibition was going on in the assembling area of the garden and chanting of special prayers was echoing there.

            As the prayers were completed, with a big cheers in Japanese language our dinner started, a number of special dishes including the ‘Sushi’-the most favourite of Japanese, were kept ready.

              Sushi is perhaps the most famous Japanese food in the world. In Japanese cuisine, sushi indicates dishes that use sushi rice which is seasoned with a sweet vinegar mixture. Since Japan is surrounded by ocean, seafood has always been widely consumed as well as rice. So, the combination of raw fish and rice, sushi, naturally became a popular food in Japan. Originally, raw fish was fermented in salt to preserve it and eaten with seasoned rice. That's the origin of sushi. Even though there is sushi that doesn't include sashimi (raw fish), raw fish and rice are the main ingredients of sushi.

Here are a few more pictures of the special dishes from the party.

                        Sandwiches for vegitarians....

 
             Non- vegitarian dishes....

 
                Boiled Vegitables Salad....