Tokyo Imperial Palace

Tokyo Imperial Palace which includes a garden
Choose two or more items and save on your trip:
This site was first a shogun residence, then the home for Japan’s emperor. Destroyed in World War II, it was reconstructed to its original splendor.

Tokyo Imperial Palace remains the primary residence of Japan’s Imperial Family. Much like residences for heads of state around the world, the palace buildings and inner gardens are not open to the public. However, twice a year (December 23 and January 2), you can enter the inner palace gardens to see the Imperial Family waving from a balcony.The ancient name for Tokyo was Edo. From the 1600s to 1867, shoguns ruling Edo occupied this site in central Tokyo, living in Edo Castle. In 1868, when the shogunate was displaced, Japan moved its capital from Kyoto to Tokyo and occupied the Edo Castle site. After fire destroyed much of the complex, they built a new imperial palace in 1888. Take note of the stone walls and towers and the Nijubashi bridges crossing the moat from outer to inner palace grounds. They are reminiscent of structures on the site hundreds of years ago when moats and ramparts served a critical protective function. To the east of the residence is the Imperial Palace East Garden, which is open to the public daily, except Mondays and Fridays. The venue offers peaceful green spaces and ponds with a landscaped Japanese garden. Relics from early castle walls are visible. Nearby are the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, the MOMAT Kogeikan Crafts Gallery and the Science Museum. Just north of the palace is Kitanomaru Park, a public area that is the site of Nippon Budokan Hall. The Budokan is a world famous martial arts, wrestling and music performance center that has hosted international stars from The Beatles to Taylor Swift. The Yasukuni Shrine is a short walk northwest.The palace is located in the center of Tokyo on a 1.3-square mile (3.4-square kilometer) site. It is just a few minutes from Tokyo station. Otemachi station is the closest to the East Garden and Kudanshita is closest to Budokan.

Holiday & seasonal tours

See all 4 activitiesOpens in new tab

Reviews of Tokyo Imperial Palace

4.1
Top destination
5 - Excellent
97
" "5 - Excellent 35.14492753623188%
4 - Good
119
" "4 - Good 43.11594202898551%
3 - Okay
50
" "3 - Okay 18.115942028985508%
2 - Disappointing
9
" "2 - Disappointing 3.260869565217391%
1 - Terrible
1
" "1 - Terrible 0.36231884057971014%

5/5 - Excellent

Steve
12 Mar 2020

Didn't realise but they have two trips (one at 10.30 ? and one at 1pm - Both in February 2020). Got there at 12.30. The trip was brilliant. Was really worth the 2 hours spent.

4/5 - Good

Verified traveller
27 Jan 2020

If you have time its worth visiting the neary Craft Gallery and Museum of Modern Art just to the north of the Palace.

4/5 - Good

Verified traveller
13 Dec 2019

Gets very busy - try to go outside of normal sightseeing tours.

4/5 - Good

Verified traveller
13 Nov 2019

There are illuminated trees from November along Marunouchi Nama- Dori which is quite near the palace.

2/5 - Disappointing

Verified traveller
1 Aug 2019

Well it's closed to the public, so no point going unless you want a guided-tour with no option to stray from it. You have to queue up for quite a while and there are 300 people in the group. I don't know how many languages would be offered but most Japs hardly speak any English. Around the palace are wonderful gardens though and if you approach the palace entrance and walk beyond it and right, you'll come to an excellent park that is very pretty. You can spend a good 2-3 hours just walking round those gardens and, of course, on the other side of the palace grounds is an art gallery, a science museum, and then the bodokan.

4/5 - Good

Verified traveller
13 Apr 2019

Nice organised walk through the gardens but you don't see much of the palace.

Popular places to visit


Top Hotel Deals

Hotel Metropolitan Edmont Tokyo
Hotel Metropolitan Edmont Tokyo
4 out of 5
3-10-8 Iidabashi, Chiyoda Ku, Tokyo, Tokyo-to
Hotel Metropolitan Edmont Tokyo
Hotel Monterey Hanzomon
Hotel Monterey Hanzomon
3.5 out of 5
23-1 Ichiban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo-to
Hotel Monterey Hanzomon
Nest Hotel Tokyo Hanzomon
Nest Hotel Tokyo Hanzomon
3 out of 5
2-18 Hayabusacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo
Nest Hotel Tokyo Hanzomon
Hotel Gracery Shinjuku
Hotel Gracery Shinjuku
4 out of 5
1-19-1 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo-to
Hotel Gracery Shinjuku
Hotel Niwa Tokyo
Hotel Niwa Tokyo
4 out of 5
1-1-16 Kandamisaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo
Hotel Niwa Tokyo
Hotel New Otani Tokyo Garden Tower
Hotel New Otani Tokyo Garden Tower
4.5 out of 5
4-1 Kioi-Cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo-to
Hotel New Otani Tokyo Garden Tower
Palace Hotel Tokyo
Palace Hotel Tokyo
5 out of 5
1-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Tokyo-to
Palace Hotel Tokyo
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo
5 out of 5
1-1-1 Uchisaiwaicho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo-to
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo
The Peninsula Tokyo
The Peninsula Tokyo
5 out of 5
1-8-1 Yuraku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo-to
The Peninsula Tokyo
Lowest nightly price found within the past 24 hours based on a 1 night stay for 2 adults. Prices and availability subject to change. Additional terms may apply.