The guided tour of the Imperial Palace grounds

Why it is on the list

The palace stands on the site of Edo Castle, and Emperor Meiji moved into it in 1869.¹ Visitors may walk freely only in the East Gardens; the rest of the grounds are seen on this tour or not at all.² The route passes the three-storey Fujimi-yagura, rebuilt in 1659 after the great fire and shaped to look the same from every side; the Imperial Household Agency building of 1935, whose third floor served as the palace from 1952 to 1968; the Kyuden, completed in 1968, and the plaza before its Chowaden hall, where the Imperial Family greets the public on 2 January and on the Emperor's birthday; then the Seimon-tetsubashi bridge, Nijubashi, below the Fushimi-yagura keep, brought from Fushimi Castle in Kyoto under the third shogun Iemitsu.³

It is a group walk, not a private one: up to 200 on an advance permit and up to 300 walk-ins each tour.³ It covers about 2.2 km in an hour with little shade, and there are no afternoon tours from 1 July to 30 September.³ For a historic room to yourself, ask instead for the Rokusoan teahouse at the Tokyo National Museum.

How to get it

Apply online through the Imperial Household Agency's visit site, from 5:00 a.m. JST on the first day of the month before the visit until 11:59 p.m. JST four days before; one application covers up to 50 people.³ The Tour Office also takes applications in person from 8:45 a.m. on the first day of the month before until seven days before, for up to 20; call +81 3 5223 8071 first to check the date.³² There are two tours a day, morning and afternoon, except on Sundays, Mondays, national holidays that do not fall on a Saturday, 28 December to 4 January, and days of Imperial Court events.³

Names, dates and times cannot be changed once the application is in; only the number of people can go down.³ Bring the original passport or other photo ID, not a copy, and the permit number, and gather at Kikyo-mon Gate, about ten minutes on foot from Nijubashi-mae Station, Exit 6, or Otemachi Station, Exit D2; it cannot be reached through the East Gardens.³² Visitors under 18 come with an adult. Without a permit, numbered tickets are handed out at Kikyo-mon Gate from 9:00 a.m. for the morning tour and 12:30 p.m. for the afternoon, first come, first served.³

Discretion

Every visitor shows original ID and passes a bag inspection at the gate; cars and bicycles are not allowed inside, there is no parking, and commercial sightseeing operators are not admitted.³² Expect a full group of up to 200 on the walk.³