Tokyo · ChiyodaNo.139★★Open in map →
Imperial Palace East Gardens
A large public garden in central Tokyo, built on the former inner keep of Edo Castle. The great stone base that once held the castle's tower still stands. Admission is free.
The Imperial Palace East Gardens sit on the former Honmaru and Ninomaru — the two innermost defensive rings of Edo Castle, seat of the Tokugawa shoguns from 1603 to 1867. At the top of the grounds stands the Tenshudai, the massive stone platform that once carried the castle's main keep. The surviving foundation measures about 46 metres north to south, 42 metres east to west, and 10 metres tall. Below it lie the reconstructed Ninomaru Garden, old guardhouses, and several surviving castle gates. The gardens have been open to the public since 1968, and entry is free.
Background & history
Edo Castle's keep was, according to official sources, the tallest castle tower ever built in Japan. It burned down in the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 and was never rebuilt. A new stone platform was finished the following year, but no new tower was ever raised on it. After the shogunate fell in 1867 the site passed to the imperial family, and this section opened to the public as the East Gardens in 1968.
What to look for — in walking order
- Ote-mon gate
- the main entrance to the gardens, a surviving stone-and-timber gateway from the castle era
- Tenshudai keep base
- the huge stone platform of the vanished castle tower — the highest point of the old castle, roughly 46 by 42 metres and 10 metres tall
- Ninomaru Garden
- a reconstructed Japanese-style garden on the site of the castle's second inner ring
- Historic guardhouses
- preserved samurai-era structures that once controlled access to the inner castle
How to enjoy it
Enter through the Ote-mon, the main gate, and climb straight up to the Tenshudai stone platform for a view over the whole grounds, then loop back down through the Ninomaru Garden. The gardens are closed on Mondays and Fridays. They open at 9:00, and the closing time changes with the season — as early as 16:00 in winter, as late as 18:00 in summer. Entry is free.
How to actually get there
- Take any subway line to Otemachi Station and leave from exit C13a.
- Walk about 5 minutes west along the palace moat to the Ote-mon (main gate) and go in — entry is free.
- Follow the inner path uphill to the Tenshudai stone keep platform, the old castle's highest point.
- Metro to Otemachi Stn, then a 5-min walk to the Ote-mon gate
- Take any subway line to Otemachi Station (served by the Chiyoda, Tozai, Marunouchi, Hanzomon, and Mita lines). From exit C13a, walk about 5 minutes along the palace moat to the Ote-mon, the main gate. From Tokyo Station it is about a 15-minute walk instead. Trains run many times per hour all day, so no timetable check is needed.
- Leave any time before closing; walk back to the metro
- Walk back out through the Ote-mon to Otemachi Station, or head south on foot to Tokyo Station (about 15 minutes) for the shinkansen and all major lines. Metro trains run frequently until around midnight, so there is no last-bus problem here.
Before you go
- Cash
- Entry is free. No ticket, token, or IC transit card is needed to enter — just walk in through the gate.
- Closing days
- Closed every Monday and Friday. If a national holiday falls on a Monday or Friday, the garden opens that day and closes the next weekday instead. Also closed 28 December to 3 January and during imperial events.
- Another way
- The Hirakawa-mon gate on the north side, near Takebashi Station (Tozai line), is a quieter entrance and is closer to the Tenshudai keep platform.
- After you get off
- From Otemachi Station exit C13a, walk west along the moat road for about 5 minutes, cross the bridge, and the Ote-mon gate is straight ahead.