Japan is still an empire with an emperor as head of state. This emperor still lives in a magnificent imperial palace in the heart of Tokyo. This palace is stock full of history and is surrounded by beautiful gardens. A visit to Tokyo would not be complete without a visit to the Imperial Palace and gardens. To tour the actual palace requires a free ticket that can be obtained by arriving at a specified time and hoping there aren’t too many people who arrived before you. The gardens, however, do not require a ticket.
Imperial Palace Overlook
One of the most iconic images of Tokyo is looking at a watch tower within the palace grounds over the moat with a lovely bridge spanning the chasm. This was the first stop on my royal adventure as I happened to be walking from my hotel passed it to the palace entrance. Being a rainy day, I’m sure the fence railings were lined with fewer than normal numbers.
The tower behind the bridges is one of the oldest surviving towers at the palace, a remnant from the former Edo palace. This is an impressive view with the older architecture of the tower and moat and the Meiji-era stone bridges. This is all visible without entering palace grounds from the park that surrounds the palace, which is dotted with whimsical trees, lush green lawns, and vast gravel tracts.
East Gardens
The Japanese Imperial Palace grounds are much bigger than the palace itself. The Edo-era castle was, at one point, the world’s largest fortification of its time. Back in the 1960s, when the current iteration of the palace was built, the East Gardens were opened to the public as a park and place of history and culture. They are open almost every day of the year.
I happened to arrive just in time for a free tour of the gardens led by a very knowledgeable docent from the historical society. Many of the walls are originals, but many of the buildings you’ll see are restorations. One of the exceptions being a seventeenth century watch tower. The buildings’ purposes, functions, and histories were explained. Eventually, whether with a tour or not, the path leads up to the central part of the former castle. Our guide explained the structures that would have been there before. Even without them, it isn’t difficult to imagine since the foundations of the main edifice are still there towering above everything else. That we also climbed up. From the top, there are great views.
Our tour ended as we went down to a more forested part of the gardens that were actual gardens at the palace. At this point the rain started picking up. We ended our tour under a trellis as the rain pounded the surface of a beautiful pond.
Imperial Palace Tour
At this point, I did not expect to get a ticket to tour the actual palace. I assumed they had all been claimed. However, due to the rain, the normal crowd that would have claimed all of the tickets very early wasn’t around. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket for the afternoon tour. I am very happy I checked to see if there were any left.
The palace is the active residence of the Japanese royal family, so all guests go through security and fill out some paperwork. After the couple of hundred tour guests register, the tour begins. The group only visits the outside of the buildings, but it is still a fascinating look at the palace. Although the guide is speaking Japanese, guests can get a headset for the tour in other languages.
The current main palace building is only about fifty years old, but it is still lovely. It is modern with wonderful Japanese influences. I could see a bit of Wright in it as well. In addition to telling us about the places we saw, the tour explained so much about functions of the palace and royal family, the history behind much of what we saw, and extra tidbits. For example, the Empress still has her own cacoonery to continue the tradition of silk production, and the Emperor has own rice field that he works with his own hands.
The tour wanders the grounds in front of the main reception building to that fantastic bridge I saw from outside the palace earlier that day. If you have the time and are lucky enough to get a ticket, I highly recommend this tour.
