Marunouchi to Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo: free self-guided walking tour
Quick answer. A free self-guided walking tour from Marunouchi to Kitanomaru Park in Tokyo: 5 stops, about 3.9 km, about 50 minutes of walking plus about 30 minutes of listening. Start in Marunouchi, the district inside Edo Castle’s outer moat, between Tokyo Station’s 1914 brick facade and the palace. Visit the Mitsubishi Ichigokan, Josiah Conder’s red brick office of 1894, demolished in 1968 and rebuilt as an art museum in 2010. Enter the Imperial Palace East Garden, free, on the site of the shogun’s castle and its burned keep; it closes on Mondays and Fridays. Leave through Kitanomaru Park, past the Tayasu-mon gate, and finish at the National Showa Memorial Museum.
- Stops:
- 5
- Distance:
- about 3.9 km
- Walking:
- about 50 min
- Listening:
- about 30 min
Two ways to do this walk
Tokyo with Mappu
Walk Mode, in the free Mappu app
It knows where you are, tells you about everything you pass between the stops, answers your questions and keeps you on the route. Your phone stays in your pocket.
A 2-hour live walk, €4.99.
50 credits from the Starter pack. One-time purchase, no subscription.
Self-guided audio walk. No guide accompanies you. Not affiliated with the sites.
Free: the audio guides
Listen to each stop’s audio guide in your browser and find your own way between the stops.
Walking directions in Google MapsMarunouchi to Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo: how long does the walk take?
About 80 minutes in all: about 50 minutes on foot over about 3.9 km, plus about 30 minutes of audio at the 5 stops. Time inside the sites is extra.
Marunouchi to Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo: in what order should you visit the stops?
Follow the stops in this order: Marunouchi, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Imperial Palace East Garden, Kitanomaru Park, and National Showa Memorial Museum. The longest stretch between two stops is about 1.7 km, about 23 min on foot.
Route and map
Indicative route. While you walk, watch where you're going, mind the traffic and follow local signs and rules. The map is an aid, not a safety guide. Terms
Follow Mappu’s map: the route runs along the streets from stop to stop, and the stories keep playing as you walk.
To get to the first stop, or if you’re far from the route, Google Maps has walking directions through every stop.
Stop 1
The business district between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace, once a bay inlet filled in from 1592, named for lying inside the castle moat.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum · about 0.5 km, about 7 min on foot
Stop 2
A faithful rebuild of Josiah Conder’s 1894 Queen Anne brick office, Marunouchi’s first, now an art museum of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: Imperial Palace East Garden · about 1.7 km, about 23 min on foot
Stop 3
The free garden on the honmaru and ninomaru of Edo Castle, where the stone base of the keep that burned over 350 years ago still stands.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: Kitanomaru Park · about 1.0 km, about 14 min on foot
Stop 4
The northern enclosure of Edo Castle, now woods and a pond, entered through the Tayasu-mon gate, with the Nippon Budokan of the 1964 Olympics.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: National Showa Memorial Museum · about 0.7 km, about 9 min on foot
Stop 5
Showakan, a national museum near Kudanshita run by the health ministry, on the everyday lives of Japanese people in the Showa era.
about 5 min of audio
The stop stories are AI-generated audio guides and can contain mistakes. Check opening hours and tickets on the official sites.
Planning a trip to Tokyo?
Get your plan
Mappu sketches your days free in the chat, no account needed. Then take the full plan with you:
- Weekend trip, €9.99: Your day-by-day plan plus 2 live walks
- Save your trip’s free guides on your phone in the Mappu app: they play with no signal
Before you go
- Check opening hours, tickets and access on each site’s official page before you go.
- Distances and times are estimates: the walking route between stops, from OpenStreetMap, at 4.5 km/h. Your route on the street may differ.
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Plan more days in Tokyo
These day-by-day Mappu itineraries include Tokyo. The day links open the days that visit stops on this walk.
Useful for your visit
Tickets, tours and practical extras for this trip, from Mappu's partners.
Partner links (Airalo, Amazon, Booking.com, GetYourGuide, Klook, Tiqets, Trip.com, Viator, Welcome Pickups): if you book or buy through them, Mappu may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Route checked by Mappu on October 31, 2026. Stop descriptions come from each place’s published Mappu audio guide. Mappu is a Fenutech product.