The British Embassy in Tokyo became a site of mourning Friday as Japanese and foreign nationals alike arrived to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II.

Some bowed their heads in prayer, while others laid flowers before the gates of the embassy, which is opposite the Hanzomon gate of the Imperial Palace and has housed the British mission to Japan for the past 150 years.

Among the mourners, Yasuko Kimura, 77, said the queen, who died peacefully Thursday at her summer home in Scotland and was the longest serving monarch in British history, was ever-present throughout her life.