I spent an hour or so making my way to the site of the emperor’s palace. I figured you couldn’t miss it: it looked a mile long on the map, and I figured there’d be some big torii. It was further away than the map made it look, so I asked several people along the way. I was kind of surprised when they did not have any idea what I was talking about and had to show them the map. When I arrived, and all I saw was this big field, I realized that “Heijo Palace Site” did not mean “location of the Heijo Palace” but “former location of the Heijo Palace”. I have to say, though, it is a most relaxing field. Very quiet, with mountains in the distance, and a train running through, and birds flying. It was practically silent, or maybe it just seemed that way because it was the only time I had not heard background noise for a week. It is probably the biggest field for hundreds of miles.

You have to wonder if Miyazaki got the idea for the ruined theme park in “Spirited Away” from this site.