Japan Travel Tokyo - The Imperial Palace 皇居內苑

Japan Travel Tokyo - The Imperial Palace 皇居內苑 (2016 0419)

Location              1-1 Kokyogaien, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō-to 100-0002, Japan

Coordinates        35°40'48.026" N 139°45'30.301" E

Open: 0830-1715 Hours

Admission: Free admission (Outer Gardens of the Imperial Palace)

Guided tours - free of charge and conducted in both Japanese and English. Tours last about an hour and fifteen minutes on Tuesday through Saturday at 10 am and 1:30 pm.

You can make a tour reservation in advance through the Imperial Household Agency or on the day of the tour at the Kikyomon Gate. Two hundred advance registrations and 300 day-of tour spaces are available. 

Points of interest visited on the tour include the Kikyomon Gate, the Mt. Fuji-view Keep, the Lotus Moat, the Seimon Testubashi Bridge, and the Fujimitamon defense Gate. Note that none of the buildings are entered during the tours.

 

Getting There:

1.1) Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line Nijubashimae Station 二重桥前駅  Exits 2 or B6 2 minutes on foot

1.2) Exit D2 of Otemachi Station 大手町駅

1.3) Exit B6 of Hibiya Station 日比谷駅

 2.0) JR Chuo or Yamanote lines Tokyo Station 东京駅 About 10 minutes on foot

 

Building of the Former Privy Council in the East Garden area

Chowaden Hall of the Imperial Palace (Front Entrance)

Chowaden Hall of the Imperial Palace (Kyuden Totei Plaza)

Fujimi-Yagura 富士見櫓 (Mt. Fuji-View Keep)

Stands in the south-eastern corner of the Honmaru enceinte and are three storey high. Fujimi-yagura is one of only three remaining keeps of the inner citadel of Edo Castle.

Fushimi-yagura (伏見櫓) is a two-storey keep that still exists at the south-eastern corner of the Honmaru enceinte, is one of only three remaining keeps of the inner citadel of Edo Castle.

Kunaicho Chosan 宮内庁 (The Imperial Household Agency Bldg)

is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan.

A guard house of the Edo castle on Kikyo moat

Kikyo-Mon Gate 桔梗门 and Japanese Black Pine Trees is a popular entrance to Imperial Palace ground.

Kikyomon Gate and earth-paved bridge crosses the Inner Moat was built in 1614. The Kikyō-mon bridge was named after the bellflower (kikyō), which was derived from a family crest seen during the construction of the Edo castle.