The Tokyo Imperial Palace (
Tokyo Imperial Palace | |
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Seimon Ishibashi bridge, which leads to the main gate of the Imperial Palace | |
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Former names | Edo Castle |
General information | |
Classification | Imperial Palace, the Imperial Household Agency, Three Palace Sanctuaries such as the imperial family housing area of related facilities |
Address | 1-1 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku 100-0001 Tokyo |
Town or city | Tokyo |
Country | Japan |
Coordinates | 35°40′57″N 139°45′08″E / 35.6825°N 139.7521°E |
Grounds | Circa 1.15 km2 (0.44 sq mi) (Imperial Household Agency management part)[1] Circa 2.30 km2 (0.89 sq mi) (total area, including Kokyo Gaien National Garden)[citation needed] |
The 1.15-square-kilometer (0.44 sq mi) palace grounds and gardens are built on the site of the old Edo Castle.[1]
History
editEdo castle
editAfter the capitulation of the shogunate and the Meiji Restoration, the inhabitants, including the Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, were required to vacate the premises of the Edo Castle. Leaving the Kyoto Imperial Palace on 26 November 1868, the Emperor arrived at the Edo Castle, made it to his new residence and renamed it to Tōkei Castle (
Previous fires had destroyed the Honmaru area containing the old donjon (which itself burned in the 1657 Meireki fire). On the night of 5 May 1873, a fire consumed the Nishinomaru Palace (formerly the shōgun's residence), and the new imperial Palace Castle (
A non-profit "Rebuilding Edo-jo Association" (NPO
The old palace
editIn the Meiji period, most structures from the Edo Castle disappeared. Some were cleared to make way for other buildings, while others were destroyed by earthquakes and fire. For example, the wooden double bridges (
The main audience hall was the central part of the palace. It was the largest building in the compound. Guests were received there for public events. The floor space was more than 223 tsubo or approximately 737.25 m2 (7,935.7 sq ft). In the interior, the coffered ceiling was traditional Japanese-style, while the floor was parquetry. The roof was styled similarly to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, but was covered with (fireproof) copper plates rather than Japanese cypress shingles.
In the late Taishō and early Shōwa period, more concrete buildings were added, such as the headquarters of the Imperial Household Ministry and the Privy Council. These structures exhibited only token Japanese elements.
From 1888 to 1948, the compound was called Palace Castle (
Due to the large-scale destruction of the Meiji-era palace, a new main palace hall (
Interior images of the Meiji-era palace
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Higashidamari-no-Ma
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Chigusa-no-Ma
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Hōmei-Den
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Kiri-no-Ma
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Nishidamari-no-Ma
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Throne hall
Present palace
editThe present Imperial Palace encompasses the retrenchments of the former Edo Castle. The modern Kyūden (
Except for the Imperial Household Agency and the East Gardens, the main grounds of the palace are generally closed to the public, except for reserved guided tours from Tuesdays to Saturdays (which access only the Kyūden Totei Plaza in front of the Chowaden). Each New Year (January 2) and Emperor's Birthday (February 23), the public is permitted to enter through the Nakamon (inner gate) where they gather in the Kyūden Totei Plaza. The Imperial Family appears on the balcony before the crowd and the Emperor normally gives a short speech greeting and thanking the visitors and wishing them good health and blessings. Parts of the Fukiage garden are sometimes open to the general public.
The old Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru compounds now comprise the East Gardens, an area with public access containing administrative and other public buildings.
The Kitanomaru Park is located to the north and is the former northern enceinte of Edo Castle. It is a public park and is the site of the Nippon Budokan. To the south is Kokyo Gaien National Garden.
Though much of the site is off limits to the public, there have been multiple instances of tourists attempting to trespass on the palace grounds by swimming in the moat. In 2008, a British tourist stripped naked, repeatedly dove into and swam across the moat in an attempt to avoid being arrested, and used stones and a plastic pole as weapons when faced by staff and local police officers.[9] A similar incident took place in 2013, in which two drunken tourists decided to try to sneak into the palace building after removing their clothing and entering the water near Sakurada Gate.[10]
Grounds
editKyūden
editThe Imperial Palace (
The main buildings of the palace grounds, including the Kyūden (
The complex consists of six wings, including:
- Seiden State Function Hall
- Hōmeiden State Banquet Hall
- Chōwaden Reception Hall
- Rensui Dining Room
- Chigusa Chidori Drawing Room and
- The Emperor's work office
Halls include the Minami-Damari, Nami-no-Ma, multiple corridors, Kita-Damari, Shakkyō-no-Ma, Shunju-no-Ma, Seiden-Sugitoe (Kaede), Seiden-Sugitoe (Sakura), Take-no-Ma, Ume-no-Ma and Matsu-no-Ma.[12] Famous Nihonga artists such as Maeda Seison were commissioned to paint the artworks.
The Kyūden is used for both receiving state guests and holding official state ceremonies and functions. The Matsu-no-Ma (Pine Chamber) is the throne room. The Emperor gives audiences to the Prime Minister in this room, as well as appointing or dismissing ambassadors and Ministers of State. It is also the room where the Prime Minister and Chief Justice is appointed to office.
Fukiage Garden
editThe Fukiage Garden has carried the name since the Edo period and is used as the residential area for the Imperial Family.
The Fukiage Palace (
The Fukiage Ōmiya Palace (
The palace precincts include the Three Palace Sanctuaries (
East Gardens
editThe East Gardens is where most of the administrative buildings for the palace are located and encompasses the former Honmaru and Ninomaru areas of Edo Castle, a total of 210,000 m2 (2,300,000 sq ft). Located on the grounds of the East Gardens is the Imperial Tokagakudo Music Hall, the Music Department of the Board of Ceremonies of the Imperial Household, the Archives and Mausolea Department Imperial Household Agency, structures for the guards such as the Saineikan dojo, and the Museum of the Imperial Collections.
Several structures that were added since the Meiji period were removed over time to allow construction of the East Garden. In 1932, the kuretake-ryō was built as a dormitory for imperial princesses, however this building was removed prior to the construction of the present gardens. Other buildings such as stables and housing were removed to create the East Garden in its present configuration.
Construction work began in 1961 with a new pond in the Ninomaru, as well as the repair and restoration of various keeps and structures from the Edo period. On 30 May 1963, the area was declared by the Japanese government a "Special Historic Relic" under the Cultural Properties Protection Law.
Tōkagakudō (Music Hall)
editThe Tōkagakudō (
Ninomaru Garden
editSymbolic trees representing each prefecture in Japan are planted in the northwestern corner of Ninomaru enceinte. Such trees have been donated from each prefecture and there are total of 260, covering 30 varieties.
The small Ninomaru Garden at the foot of the castle hill was originally planted in 1636 by Kobori Enshu, a famed landscape artist and garden designer, but it was destroyed by fire in 1867. The current layout was created in 1968, based on a plan drawn up during the reign of ninth shogun, Tokugawa Ieshige.[15]
Suwa no Chaya
editThe Suwa no Chaya (
It was moved to its present location during the construction of the East Garden.
Kitanomaru
editThe Kitanomaru Park is located to the north and is the former northern enceinte of Edo Castle. It is a public park and is the site of Nippon Budokan Hall.
This garden contains a bronze monument to Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa (
Kōkyo-gaien
editThe Kokyo Gaien National Garden consists of outer gardens that ring the Imperial Palace. It contain bronze monuments to Kusunoki Masashige (
Gallery
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The Imperial Palace and the Imperial Household Agency
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Seimon Ishibashi bridge
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Ote-mon gate and main entrance to the East Garden
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Imperial Palace moat and guard tower
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Imperial Palace front entrance field with Chiyoda office buildings in the background
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Building of the Imperial Household Agency on the grounds of the Imperial Palace
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Suwa no chaya teahouse in the Ninomaru Garden
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Saineikan dōjō for the guards
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Building of the former Privy Council in the East Garden area, one of the few buildings from the pre-war Showa period
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New ambassadors arrive at the palace to hand in their accreditation to the Emperor to be picked up from Tokyo Station either in a limousine or the carriage.[citation needed]
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Music Department of the Board of Ceremonies
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Museum of the Imperial Collections
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Archives and Mausolea Department
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The moat of the Imperial Palace in spring
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Public walkway, Edo East Garden
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Moat of the Imperial Palace
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Meeting between Emperor Naruhito and former U.S. President Donald Trump with First Lady Melania Trump and Empress Masako
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One of the entrances for supporting staff buildings
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Fujimi-yagura (Mt Fuji-view keep), guard building within the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace
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Pond in the East Garden
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Mounted Imperial Police around the Imperial Palace
References
edit- ^ a b "
皇居 へ行 ってみよう" [Let's go to the Imperial Palace]. Kunai-chō. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018. [The Imperial Palace ... is approximately 1,150,000 m2 in size, or about 25 times the size of the Tokyo Dome. In addition to the palace where His Majesty the Emperor conducts his business, the Imperial Palace includes the Imperial Household Agency building and the East Gardens.] - ^
皇居 -通信 用語 の基礎 知識 . Wdic.org (in Japanese). February 4, 2010. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2015.[user-generated source] - ^ Tom (September 27, 2015). "Lovely 1908 Photo of the Tokyo Imperial Palace". Cool Old Photos. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ "Rebuilding "Edo-jo" Association". Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ NPO wants to restore Edo Castle glory. Daily Yomiuri. March 21, 2013. Archived March 24, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lineberger, Richard C. (2003). "The night we bombed the Emperor's Palace". Air Power History. 50 (3): 42. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017 – via The Free Library by Farlex.
- ^ "Time Wears on Imperial Shelter". The Japan News. Yomiuri Shimbun. August 1, 2015. Archived from the original on August 4, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
- ^ "The Imperial Residence". The Imperial Household Agency. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
- ^ "Naked swimmer evades police in Tokyo palace moat". Reuters. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- ^ "Drunk Brits swim to palace, arrested". The Japan Times. April 16, 2013. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- ^ Takahiro Fukada (January 20, 2010). "Imperial Palace resides in otherworldly expanse: History abounds in cultural and religious preserve in heart of metropolis". The Japan Times. p. 3.
- ^ "The Imperial Palace: Photos". kunaicho.go.jp. Imperial Household Agency. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- ^ "The Imperial Palace and other Imperial Household Establishments". Imperial Household Agency. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
- ^ 1966 – Tokagakudo Music Hall – Kenji Imai, Architecture Tokyo, accessed February 12, 2024.
- ^ "Ninomaru and San-nomaru - Tokyo Cultural Heritage Map". Tokyo Cultural Heritage Map, Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.