| . . .a free Special Services tour |
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This was another bus tour. We took it to see some of Tokyo. It was not as interesting as Kamakura but the price was right. Pictured: 1) a Buddhist Pagada 2) the Imperial Palace 3) the Diet building This pagoda could have been in Kamakura but I had it with the photos of Tokyo. And I know we visited some on our tour. ________________________ The current Imperial Palace is located on the former site of Edo Castle. It is a large park area surrounded by moats and massive stone walls in the center of Tokyo. It is the residence of Japan's Imperial Family. I'll have more photos of the palace on my Tokyo site. ________________________ The National Diet building is the site of Japan's national government. We didn't go into the building, being it was a weekend. History: It was Japan's first modern legislature, the Imperial Diet was established by the Meiji constitution and in force from 1889-1947. The Diet then consisted of a House of Representatives and a House of Peers. The House of Representatives was directly elected. The House of Peers, much like the British House of Lords, consisted of high ranking nobles. The Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947, created a more democratic system and renamed the legislature to the National Diet. Under the document the franchise was extended to women for the first time and the House of Peers was abolished and replaced with the directly elected House of Councillors. The Emperor was reduced to his current, purely ceremonial role, and the Diet was declared the "highest organ of the state power". Prior to 1994 all Diet elections occurred under the Single Non-Transferable Vote system. In 1994 this was replaced with the current parallel system. |
  
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