Imperial Palace

The Imperial Palace occupies the core of what was Edo Castle, the largest castle in Japan and the seat of fifteen Tokugawa shoguns from 1603 to 1867. After the Meiji Restoration the young Emperor Meiji moved here from Kyoto, and the castle became the imperial residence and the symbolic centre of the capital renamed Tokyo.

The palace grounds cover the former inner citadel and the Western Citadel. Within them stand the Imperial Residence (Gosho) in the Fukiage Gardens, the Palace (Kyūden) used for state ceremonies, and the offices of the Imperial Household Agency. These areas are closed except on guided tours and on the few days a year when the public may enter to greet the imperial family.

What visitors see is the castle's outer shell: broad moats, sloping walls of fitted granite blocks, massive gates and a handful of surviving turrets such as the Fujimi-yagura and the Fushimi-yagura. The East Gardens, laid out on the site of the old main citadel, preserve the stone base of the castle keep, while the gravel expanse of the Outer Garden in front of the palace and the Kitanomaru Park to the north are public parks.

The warrior Ōta Dōkan built the first castle at Edo in 1457. Tokugawa Ieyasu took it over in 1590 and, after becoming shogun in 1603, rebuilt it on an enormous scale using the labour of daimyo from across the country. Its keep, rebuilt several times, burned in the Meireki fire of 1657 and was never replaced. In 1860 the chief minister Ii Naosuke was assassinated outside the Sakuradamon gate.

In 1868 the castle was surrendered peacefully to the new government, renamed Tokyo Castle and made the imperial residence. The Meiji Palace, completed in 1888, was destroyed in the air raids of 1945. The present Palace was completed in 1968, the same year the East Gardens opened to the public.

The palace is where the Emperor carries out state functions, receives foreign dignitaries and holds court rituals. On 2 January and on the Emperor's birthday, 23 February, the public may enter the inner grounds to greet the imperial family, who appear on the balcony of the Palace — among the few occasions when ordinary people see the Emperor in person.

The moats are also part of everyday Tokyo life. The 5-kilometre path around the palace is the city's most popular running course, and the Chidorigafuchi moat on the north-west side, lined with cherry trees, is one of the best-known places for hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) in Japan.