Kokyo Gaien National Garden — Attraction in Tokyo

Public park outside the Palace

About the Palace: The Imperial Palace (former Edo Castle) The Imperial Palace has occupied the site of the former Edo Castle since 1868. Edo Castle was the home of the Tokugawa Shoguns and the seat of the feudal samurai government which ruled Japan from 1603 until 1867. After the end of feudal rule in 1867, Edo Castle was vacated by the Shogun and transferred to the new Imperial Government. The Emperor moved from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869, after residing in Kyoto for over a millennium. There has been a castle on this site since 1457, when a castle that occupied the site of the Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru areas was built by the samurai Ota Dokan. From 1590 this castle was the home of Lord Tokugawa leyasu, who became the first Tokugawa Shogun in 1603. The Honmaru area included the massive keep tower, and the palace of the Shogun. Edo Castle was extended by the second and third Shoguns, Hidetada and lemitsu, with work completed by 1660. Most of the original castle buildings have been lost to fire. The current Imperial Palace buildings were completed in 1968, in the Nishinomaru, which had been the palace of the retired shoguns during the Tokugawa shogunate. Kokyogaien National Garden Office, Ministry of the...

Depends on your purpose for this destination. I accidentally found myself strolling through trying to find the entrance to the Imperial Palace.

If you want simply a beautifully lined landscape with the most manicured trees🌲, this is AMAZING or if you want to have a nice jog or stroll through the area where I saw MANY local Japanese exercise this morning, it’s a solid distance to burn some calories or get your heart beat up.

However, if you were looking for the imperial palace entrance, you’ll be truly disappointed. I literally tried to enter from the southeast side from multiple points and googled the website and it’s very unclear how to enter. I even found myself at the location that appeared to be the best entry point and it...

As any tourist or visitor to the area might think that taking time out of their trip to see this castle should be high on the list. I would like to recommend you walk around the outside of the grounds and give that a second thought. This is a very overrated experience when visiting Tokyo. Not only do you have to be early to get a ticket for a time slot for viewing the grounds, you can also see some of the main attractions from the exterior. I think that instead of seeing this garden on your trip to Japan you should walk over to the Hie Shrine. Or I would spend that extra time walking the streets of Ginza hopping into shops and taking in the cool...