Imperial Palace East Garden Audio Guide

Imperial Palace East Gardens: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Imperial Palace East Garden

   Welcome to the Imperial Palace East Garden, known in Japanese as Kōkyo Higashi Gyoen. You are standing in the heart of Tokyo, in Chiyoda Ward, on a piece of land that feels like a pause button pressed in the middle of a very fast city. This calm green oasis sits only about a ten-minute walk from Tokyo Station and the tall towers of the Marunouchi financial district. The garden is part of the inner palace area, and it is one of the few parts of the Imperial Palace you can enter freely. Behind the lawns and trees lies something much older than any skyscraper. This was the innermost circle of Edo Castle, home of the Tokugawa shoguns, who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867. The whole palace grounds cover about 1.15 square kilometers, and the East Garden is your open door into that world. Over the next few stops we will walk through the castle layers beneath your feet, follow the story of how a shogun's fortress became a public park, and look at the surprising mix of old stone and modern buildings that share this ground.

2. 02

   The Heart of Edo Castle

   Before this was a garden, it was the command center of a nation. The East Garden covers the former honmaru, the main circle, and the ninomaru, the secondary circle. These were the innermost defensive rings of Edo Castle. The honmaru was the luxurious innermost part of the palace and the main residence of the shogun himself. The ninomaru had a different role. Under the Tokugawa shogunate it was made as a place for the heirs, with a palace for them to live in. Fire was the great enemy of this place. Several fires burned the palace, and this area suffered especially. People kept trying to rebuild it right up until the Meiji era. As you wander the honmaru today, you will find lawns, trees and flowers where shogunal rooms once stood. The remains of the castle's main tower are here too. It is a strange feeling to stroll across open grass and realize you are crossing the former private quarters of one of the most powerful households in Japanese history.

3. 03

   The Tower That Burned

   Look for the great stone foundation of the castle tower, the tenshukaku. It is one of the most striking sights in the garden, and you can climb it. The tower that stood on this base burned down over 350 years ago, and the stone platform is what remains. That is the charm of Edo Castle's remains: what survives is mostly the foundation, the walls, the gates and the guardhouses. The garden holds layers of architecture built up over centuries, from the castle's original stone walls and guardhouses to buildings of the twentieth century. The East Garden contains over a dozen named structures and sites, so it rewards a slow wander rather than a sprint. When you stand on top of the foundation, take a moment to look out over the lawns. The scale of the platform tells you how imposing the tower must have been, and the quiet around you tells you how completely the castle's story has turned into a peaceful one.

4. 04

   From Palace Grounds to Public Park

   The garden you see today is surprisingly young. After the Second World War, the area was renamed Imperial Residence in 1948, and the eastern part was renamed East Garden. It became a public park in 1968. Getting there took real work. Stables and housing were removed to create the garden in its present configuration. Construction began in 1961 with a new pond in the ninomaru, along with the repair and restoration of various keeps and structures from the Edo period. On May 30, 1963, the Japanese government declared the area a Special Historic Relic under the Cultural Properties Protection Law. Modern buildings sit comfortably among the old stones. The Tokagakudo, the Imperial Concert Hall, dates from 1966. In the sannomaru, the third circle, stands the Sannomaru Shozokan, the Museum of the Imperial Collections. Nearby you will also see the Imperial Household Agency building, and a bridge leading to the Sakashita-mon gate. Beyond the garden, the modern Kyuden, the palace for court functions and receptions, was completed in 1968 and put into use in April 1969. It stands in a separate zone, not part of the public garden.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   The East Garden is free to enter, and it is generally open daily except on Mondays, Fridays and designated holidays, so it is worth planning your day around that. It is especially popular for its cherry blossoms in spring and its vibrant foliage in autumn, though the lawns and stone walls have a quiet appeal in any season. As you leave, notice how many layers share this one piece of land. A shogun's residence, heirs' palaces, a burned tower, a twentieth-century concert hall and a museum of imperial treasures all sit within a short walk of one another. Beyond the garden, the rest of the palace grounds remain the home of the Imperial Family, and the Fukiage Palace, the emperor's residence completed in 1993, lies in the Fukiage Garden out of public view. Before you go, pick one corner you have not yet explored. A gate, a guardhouse or a stretch of stone wall may tell you more about this fortress than any single viewpoint. The garden has plenty left to show you.