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120 Years of Glory and Tragedy, and Tokyo's Imperial Hotel Still Has a Zen Garden

Where: 1-1 Uchisaiwai-cho 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

We'll give you three guesses as to where we took this photo of a perfectly serene little zen garden. Is it at a monastery in Japan? Noooo. Is it in the Karate Kid's backyard? Nope. Is it at a hotel in Tokyo? Bingo!

This zen garden is one of the first things that guests see when they arrive to the legendary Imperial Hotel. Long a favorite of diplomats, royalty and big-time businessmen, the Imperial has quite the history. In fact, it just celebrated its 120th Anniversary this month, on November 3. An abbreviated version of the hotel's stratospheric high times and tragic low moments (epic fires destruction!) can be found over on Wikipedia, but nothing beats being in the building yourself.

The Zen Garden can be overlooked if you rush into the energy of the luxurious lobby, but we think it's the perfect place to stop for a moment, get your bearings, and reflect on the history of the city in which you're standing. Good ol' Tokyo.

[Photo: HotelChatter]