Inside Tokyo Imperial Palace: Free Public Tour Guide

🚫 Closed / Suspended Days

Here is a first-hand report of how the day unfolded during my visit. If this is your first time joining the tour, use it as a practical guide to what to do and when.

I arrived at Kikyo-mon Gate at 8:00 a.m., and around 30 people were already in line. By the time ticket distribution began at 9:00, the line had grown significantly, which made the tour’s popularity clear. On the day I visited, arriving around 8:00 a.m. gave me enough time and peace of mind, but same-day registration is first-come, first-served and ends once all numbered tickets are gone. On busy days, arriving early is strongly recommended. After receiving the numbered ticket, there is about an hour before the tour begins, so you can adjust your schedule at a nearby café.

Around 9:45 a.m., I returned to Kikyo-mon Gate and received a numbered tag to wear around my neck. Nearly 500 participants gathered in the waiting room, where staff explained the tour rules and precautions. Tour pamphlets, available in six languages, are distributed, and there is also a souvenir corner. If you want to buy souvenirs, do it before the tour begins.

The tour route begins at Fujimi-yagura Turret and ends at Yamashita-dori. Below, I introduce the historical background of each stop along with what I felt on site.

The first stop, Fujimi-yagura Turret, can also be seen from the Imperial Palace East Gardens, but looking up at it closely from the opposite side of the moat is an experience unique to the public tour. The contrast between the white walls and black roof tiles is striking, and the turret’s commanding presence above the moat feels especially powerful. After the main keep burned down in the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, the shogun is said to have viewed Mount Fuji from here, and the turret effectively served as a substitute for the keep. According to the on-site explanation during my visit, it is now used as a storehouse for artworks.

Fujimi-tamon is the only surviving tamon, or weapons storehouse, at Edo Castle. It can also be seen from the Honmaru side of the Imperial Palace East Gardens, but the view from outside, across Hasuikebori Moat, is a perspective unique to the public tour. Hasuikebori Moat below is said to have once been filled with blooming lotus flowers. Although that scene no longer remains, the combination of the moat’s shape and the tamon gives a strong sense of Edo Castle’s scale.

After passing beside the Imperial Household Agency Building, you arrive at the vast Imperial Palace East Court. It is well known as the place where large crowds gather for the New Year’s Greeting and the Emperor’s Birthday public greeting, and many visitors will recognize it from television. Actually standing in that space is one of the experiences that makes this tour special.

Nijubashi Bridge is one of the highlights of any Imperial Palace visit. Its name comes from the fact that the former bridge had a “double” structure, with a lower bridge and another level built above it. Today it has been rebuilt as a single-level structure, but the name preserves that history. The Main Gate Stone Bridge in front, also called Meganebashi, or Eyeglasses Bridge, gets its nickname because the bridge’s semicircular arches can reflect on the water like a pair of glasses when the surface is calm.

Fushimi-yagura Turret can be seen from Nijubashi Bridge. It is said to have originally stood at Fushimi Castle in Kyoto and to have been moved to Edo Castle after the Battle of Sekigahara. Among the surviving turrets of Edo Castle, its two-story structure is often praised as one of the most beautiful, and it looks picturesque from every angle. Its dignity as a former defensive position remains vivid today.

The tour ends along Yamashita-dori, a quiet tree-lined path. On nearby Momijiyama, the Toshogu shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu and the mausoleums of successive shoguns once stood during the Edo period. Those buildings no longer remain, but knowing that Momijiyama was deeply connected with the shogunate’s rituals changes the impression of this peaceful path. The Shinobazu-guchi torii gate at Ueno Toshogu Shrine is said to have been moved in 1873 from Momijiyama Toshogu within Edo Castle. Ueno Toshogu Shrine

• Fujimi-yagura Turret: A surviving three-tier turret of Edo Castle. After the main keep burned down, it served historically as a substitute for the keep. Looking up at it across the moat is an angle unique to the public tour.
• Fujimi-tamon and Hasuikebori Moat: Edo Castle’s only surviving tamon, or weapons storehouse. Seeing it from outside across Hasuikebori Moat offers a different perspective from the Imperial Palace East Gardens.
• Imperial Palace East Court: The public tour lets visitors enter the plaza opened for the New Year’s Greeting and the Emperor’s Birthday public greeting.
• Nijubashi Bridge and the Main Gate Stone Bridge: Knowing the origin of the name changes how you see them. On calm days, the reflection of the Meganebashi arches is another highlight.
• Fushimi-yagura Turret: A two-story turret said to have been moved from Fushimi Castle. The view from Nijubashi Bridge is especially beautiful, and it is highly regarded among the surviving Edo Castle turrets.
• Yamashita-dori: A quiet tree-lined path near Momijiyama. This tour offers a rare chance to walk near the former site of the shogunate’s Toshogu shrine.