Imperial Palace Walking Tour Through Japanese History Tokyo

Wadakura Fountain Park and the Imperial Palace moats

Wadakura Fountain Park sits on the eastern edge of Kōkyo Gaien, the wide outer garden of the Imperial Palace, a short walk from the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. Its fountains were first built in 1961 to celebrate an imperial wedding and rebuilt in 1995, and they frame a classic view of grey stone walls rising straight out of the Wadakura Moat.

This is where our Imperial Palace walking tour begins. Your guide explains how the moats formed a spiral defensive system that made Edo Castle the largest castle in Japan, and how the town of Edo grew around it to become Tokyo. If you are wondering how to get to the Imperial Palace, this park is the easiest start: about 5–10 minutes on foot from Tokyo Station or Otemachi Station.

Ōte-mon Gate and the samurai guardhouses

Ōte-mon was the main gate of Edo Castle, used by feudal lords arriving for audiences with the shogun. It is a masugata gate: you pass a small outer gate into a square stone courtyard, then turn sharply through a larger watch-gate, a layout designed to trap and slow down attackers. The wooden gatehouse was rebuilt after the Second World War and today it is the main entrance to the Imperial Palace East Gardens.

Inside, the route passes the ruins of the Ote-San'no Gate and the long wooden Hyakunin Bansho, the 'hundred-man guardhouse', where samurai from the shogun's most trusted clans kept watch day and night. Your guide fills these stones with stories of rank, protocol and daily life in the castle, the part of an Edo Castle tour that most visitors walk past without noticing.

Ninomaru Garden and Bairinzaka (Plum Tree Hill)

The Ninomaru Garden is a Japanese strolling garden laid out around a pond, with a small waterfall, stone lanterns, stepping stones and shaded paths. It was recreated in the 1960s from an Edo-period garden plan. The imperial koi gliding through the pond are a favourite photo stop; irises bloom here in June, azaleas in spring, and the maples turn red in late November.

Along the way you pass a restored Edo-period tea-house and a grove of trees representing each Japanese prefecture, then walk up Bairinzaka, the Plum Tree Hill, whose white and pink blossoms open in February and March. Many travellers ask about the best time to visit the Imperial Palace East Gardens: spring blossom and autumn colour are the prettiest, yet the garden stays calm and green all year, a welcome break from the busy city.

Edo Castle ruins and the great keep site (Honmaru)

At the top of the hill lies the Honmaru, the inner citadel where the shogun lived, held court and ruled the country. The great keep that crowned it was the tallest in Japan, but it burned in the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 and was never rebuilt: the government of the time chose to spend its funds on rebuilding the city instead. The massive granite base, the tenshudai, still stands, and you can climb it for a wide view over the lawn.

Nearby, a detailed restoration model shows the five-tiered keep as it once looked. Your guide explains the rise and fall of the shogunate and how the emperor moved to this site in 1868, the start of modern Japan. Is the Imperial Palace worth visiting? Standing where the keep once rose, most guests agree it is.

Fujimi-yagura turret and the Fujimi-tamon defence house

Fujimi-yagura, the 'Mount Fuji–viewing turret', is one of the few corner towers still standing at Edo Castle. Rebuilt in 1659 on a high stone wall at the southern edge of the Honmaru, it served as a lookout and, after the keep was lost, as a stand-in for it on ceremonial days. Its white walls and three tiers of curved roofs make it one of the most elegant views in the grounds.

Close by, the Fujimi-tamon is a long defensive storehouse built along the top of the wall, where guns and bows were once kept. You can step inside to see its heavy timber frame and the small windows used by archers. From here the walk loops back past the stone walls to Wadakura Fountain Park, about two hours after you started.