Crown Jewels

A great proportion of designated cultural landmarks, including a great many of those protected by UNESCO and similar organizations, belong to a nation or city's political history. Each administration, and every branch of that administration, must have a structure of immense grandeur to host its activities. These motivations have produced some of the most fantastic and elaborate structures, sites, and landscapes that have ever been built, and in some cases, had never been built. These may take the form of either a government structure, or else a residence for a monarch or other political figure.

Indicating some of the most obvious examples that do still exist today, from Beijing's Forbidden City, to London's Buckingham Palace, to Versailles, or even Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace, an obvious trend emerges. Those structures which are no longer in use, or at least no longer serving their original purpose, have been converted into museums of sorts, a testament to a sort of grandeur that may or may not have expired with the progression of time. Even Buckingham Palace, which is still in use, and still serving its original purpose, is open for public viewing when the Royal family is not in residence during the Summer. And likewise, their properties in other parts of the United Kingdom, such as Windsor Castle, also permit public viewing when not in use.

In contrast, two major Imperial properties of Kyoto, the Imperial Palace and Villa Katsura, are open to public viewing only by special arrangements. The Imperial Palace may only be toured using site-designated tour guides, most of whom conduct tours in Japanese. English tours are offered only at specific times during the day. At an even greater state of restriction, the Villa Katsura may only be toured by special appointment, made through an office at the Imperial Palace, in which the candidate must present his or her passport, schedule a tour at a designated time on another day, and endure a tour presented exclusively in Japanese. Both also feature an established itinerary, which traces a pre-determined path through the exterior of the premise, forbidding visitors to stray from the path, and forbidding entrance to specific areas for no obvious reason. To ensure that no visitors detach from the group, a bouncer trails at the rear of the flock, harassing any who fall behind the group, often scolding visitors who have spent too long attempting to take pictures when the bulk of the flock have moved forward with the tour guide.

IMPERIAL PALACE

IMPERIAL VILLA KATSURA

Of peculiar interest is the utter preclusion of entrance into interior spaces. The Imperial Palace tour travels within the outer wall, but outside of the structure, forbidding entrance into any courtyards or buildings on site. The Villa Katsura tour travels through the garden and makes stops at all of the teahouses, but only comes near the villa itself near the end of the tour, without taking visitors around the villa, let alone inside of it. This provokes some confusion regarding the villa, as it is frequently advertised and described as one of the seminal works of world architecture, having received critical acclaim from such luminaries as German architect Bruno Taut, but yet, the public is forbidden to enter the structure, and is permitted only to view one angle of the structure very briefly, or else vicariously through a Phaidon monograph about the villa.

Though the purpose of this explicit and unusual preclusion remains mysterious, it may be just that sense of mystery that seems to perpetuate interest in the landmarks. As the world may not have seen the British monarchy in person very frequently, one might view their likeness in brief instances through news media or other circulating outlets. And yet, it is precisely that lack of exposure that propagates a perpetual desire and interest into the inner livelihoods of these elusive people, of whose internal affairs we are not privy to, but desperately attempt to disclose. To put it crudely, it is not dissimilar to Lost. Once we know what is in the hatch, it becomes less interesting.