Tokyo Imperial Palace, known as Kokyo which literally means the Imperial Residence, is the primary residence of the Emperor of Japan (the Japanese head of state). The actual Tokyo Imperial Palace building is located within the grounds of what was Edo Castle. Today some of Edo Castle's moats, defensive walls, gate houses and turrents still remain.
TOKYO IMPERIAL PALACE TOKYO'S CENTER
Tokyo Imperial Palace, located in Chiyoda, is effectively the center of Tokyo, which makes sense from a historical perspective as Edo Castle would have been the focus of the city of Edo (now referred to as Tokyo). Even with Japan's change to a democracy and the decline in the power of the Emperor, Tokyo Imperial Palace has remained at the center of Tokyo with focus of the modern political power, the National Diet building, the Prime Ministers Offices and most of the government building just to the south over Sakurada moat. Then much of Tokyo's financial power is located just to the west of Tokyo Imperial Palace with many of Japan's major companies having there head offices there and it is not far to Tokyo Stock Exchange. Just to the west of Tokyo Imperial Palace, is Tokyo Station, the center of Japan's train network.
TOKYO IMPERIAL PALACE TOURS
Foreigners can apply online to join a free guided tour of Tokyo Imperial Palace grounds, however you must book in advance. Depending on demand, you sometimes can get in at relative short notice. These tours are very popular and consist of large groups with hundreds of people in each group. The commentary on the tours is in Japanese, but a prereorded English audio guide is available free of charge. There are also two special days of the year when the public are able to enter the grounds, January 2 (New Year) and December 23 (Emperor Akihito's birthday), when the Imperial family makes a public appearance on the balcony of the Tokyo Imperial Palace.
The above picture is part of the inner wall which provides protection to the Tokyo Imperial Palace. The wall was built as part of the Edo Castle. Various wealthy sponsors provided materials and tradesmen to construct the Edo Castle. To ensure that other people in their society knew they made a contribution to the construction of Edo Castle they engraved their mark onto some of the stone blocks that made up the wall.
Tokyo Imperial Palace Map - See the layout of palace and gardens.
Tokyo Imperial Palace Pictures - See many more pictures of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in our picture gallery.
TOKYO IMPERIAL PALACE HISTORY
During the night of May 25th 1945, most of the Meiji era wooden buildings, including the main hall, were destroyed during fire bombing raid on Tokyo. The main hall, which was the largest building, had a traditional Japanese exteria with the roof having the same shape as Kyoto Imperial Palace.
Tokyo Imperial Palace, Kyuden, which is used for formal functions, was built in 1968.
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TOKYO TOWER
TOKYO TOWER - Tokyo Tower is a famous Japanese and Tokyo icon and landmark made famous through many Japanese films and anime. Tokyo
Tokyo Tower as seen from Roppongi at night
Tokyo Tower has been made famous by its appearance in many movies and cartoons. Tokyo Tower is really one of few icons of Tokyo and is a distinctive piece of Tokyo architecture. Tokyo Tower (東京タワー Tōkyō tawā) is a tower in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, at 35° 39′ 30″ N 139° 44′ 43″ E, whose design is based on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The Tower is 333 meters tall (9 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, or 33 if the latter's TV Antenna is not included) making it the world's highest self-supporting iron tower.
Unlike the Eiffel Tower, Tokyo Tower is located in the middle of a city block. The tower only weighs about 4000 tons, which is extremely light compared to the 10100 ton Eiffel Tower, and it is painted in white and orange according to aviation safety regulations. From dusk to 11 PM, the tower is brilliantly illuminated in orange. The lighting is occasionally changed for special events; for the Japan premiere of The Matrix, for instance, the Tower was lit in neon green.
In the postwar boom of the 1950s, Japan was looking for a monument to symbolize its ascendancy as a global economic powerhouse. Looking to the Occident for inspiration, the Tokyo Government decided to erect its own Eiffel Tower. It was completed by the Takenaka Corporation in 1958 at a total cost of ¥2.8 billion. At the time it was built it was the tallest structure in Tokyo, but it has since been superseded by several buildings in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro districts. Although it chiefly functions as a radio and television broadcasting antenna, the Tower is best known as a tourist destination, though it is decried by some as overpriced and inconveniently located, and as having poor amenities.
The first floor houses an aquarium, home to 50,000 fish, the third floor is a wax museum and an attraction called the Mysterious Walking Zone, and the fourth floor a Trick Art Gallery. There are also two observatory floors, the main observatory (at 150 m) and the so-called "special observatory" (at 250 m); both afford a spectacular 360 degree view of Tokyo and, if the weather is clear, Mt. Fuji.
In much the same way the Eiffel Tower has become a cliche in American cinema, the Tokyo Tower is often used in anime and manga, with series such as Digimon, Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo!, X, and Magic Knight Rayearth often featuring climatic events occurring at the Tokyo Tower. It has also been used often in the monster films by Toho, having been destroyed by Mothra, Godzilla and also the location of the final battle of King Kong Escapes in which King Kong takes on his mechanical double.
Tokyo Tower can be seen from many points in Tokyo; recently, one of the best vantage points for viewing the Tower has been the Roppongi Hills complex, which has an outdoor terrace offering a panoramic view of the Tower and surrounding skyline. The Tower can also be viewed from Tokyo Bay and from the Tokyo Imperial Palace East Garden.
Tip: you'll get better views from higher up for free if you visit Shinjuku's Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatory instead.
Tokyo Tower is located in Minato (港区) is a ward in central Tokyo. The name means "port", referring to its seaside location, although due to reclamation many areas in the district are quite far for the sea these days.
Getting to Tokyo Tower
Minato is a fairly sprawling ward with no centre as such. The main train stations along the JR Yamanote line are Shinbashi (新橋), connection point to the Ginza subway line as well as the Yurikamome line to Odaiba, and Hamamatsuchō (浜松町), terminus of the Tokyo Monorail from Haneda Airport.
NATIONAL DIET BUILDING
The National Diet Building (国会議事堂 Kokkai-gijidō) is the place in which both the houses of the Diet of Japan are held. It is located in 1-chome, Nagatacho, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Sessions of the House of Representatives take place in the left side and sessions of the House of Councillors in the right side.
The Diet Building was completed in 1936 and is constructed entirely out of Japanese building materials.
National Diet Building - History
The construction of the building began in 1920; however, plans for the building date back to the late 1880s. The Diet met in temporary structures for the first fifty years of its existence because there was no agreement over what form its building should take.
Sessions of the House of Representatives take place in the left side and sessions of the House of Councillors in the right side.
The Diet Building was completed in 1936 and is constructed entirely out of Japanese building materials.
National Diet Building - History
The construction of the building began in 1920; however, plans for the building date back to the late 1880s. The Diet met in temporary structures for the first fifty years of its existence because there was no agreement over what form its building should take.
National Diet Building - Early designs
German architects Wilhelm Bockmann and Hermann Ende were invited to Tokyo in 1886 and 1887 respectively. They drew up two plans for a Diet building. Bockmann's initial plan was a masonry structure with a dome and flanking wings, similar to other legislatures of the era, which would form the core of a large "government ring" south of the Imperial Palace. However, Japan was experiencing public resistance to Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru's internationalist policies, and so the architects submitted a more "Japanese" design as well, substituting traditional Japanese architectural features in many portions of the building. Ende and Bockmann's Diet Building was never built, but their other "government ring" designs were used for the Tokyo District Court and Ministry of Justice buildings.
National Diet Building - First building (1890) and second building (1891)
With an internal deadline approaching, the government enlisted Ende and Bockmann associate Adolph Stegmueller and Japanese architect Yoshii Shigenori to design a temporary structure. The building, a two-story wooden structure in European style, opened in November 1890 on a site in Hibiya.
An electrical fire burned down the first building in January of 1891, only two months later. Another Ende and Bockmann associate, Oscar Tietze, joined Yoshii to design its replacement. The second building was larger than the first, but followed a similar design: it housed the Diet until 1925.
In 1910, the Finance Ministry started a commission in an attempt to take control over the new Diet Building design from the Home Ministry. Prime Minister Katsura Taro chaired the commission, which recommended that the new building adopt Italian Renaissance architecture. This conclusion was criticized by many who thought that choice to be too arbitrary.
The ministry sponsored a public design competition in 1918, and 118 designs were submitted for the new building. The first prize winner, Watanabe Fukuzo, produced a design similar to Ende and Bockmann's.
The Diet Building was eventually constructed with a floor plan based on Watanabe's entry. The roof and tower of the building were inspired by another entrant, third prize winner Takeuchi Shinshichi, and are believed to have been chosen because they reflected a more "modern" hybrid architecture than the purely European and East Asian designs proposed by other architects.
In 1898, Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi interviewed American Ralph Adams Cram, who proposed a more "Oriental" design for the building, featuring tiled roofs and a large enclosure of walls and gates. The Ito government fell as Cram was en route to the United States, and the project was dropped.
TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT
BUILDING
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is probably the best observation deck in Tokyo. Best of all the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck is free.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (東京都庁舎 Tōkyō Tochōsha), "Tocho" for short, or Tokyo City Hall is the location of the headquarters of the government of not only the 23 wards that people think of as the "city" of Tokyo, but also the cities, towns and villages that comprise Tokyo as a whole.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Located in Nishi-Shinjuku, it is the tallest building in Tokyo at 248 meters (814 feet) from base to top, and the second-tallest structure after Tokyo Tower. The two top-floor observation decks are free of charge to the public. It is only a short walk from Shinjuku Station. Given that it is free to use the observation decks and has fewer tall buildings built around, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is the best observation deck in Tokyo to use. Other observation decks in Tokyo include the one in Roppongi Hills, where again a significant charge applies.
Viewing Tips - Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
I strongly recommend visiting the observation when it opens in the morning as this is the time when you will have the best opportunity of viewing Mount Fuji. At this time of day the sun will be behind you, the air will be colder and thus there will be less dust and smog in the air to block your view of Mount Fuji and the other mountains in the range.
Tokyo Skyline
Photographic Tips - Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
If you wish to photograph Tokyo from this vantage point then the following tips may help you.
1. Reduce internal reflection from the glass by covering the space between the lenses and the window glass with something like a jacket to block out the light getting on the window glass.
