East Gardens of the Imperial Palace Audio Guide – Self-Guided Tour in English

The East Gardens stand on the site of the Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru of Edo Castle, home of the Tokugawa shoguns. Free entry, no reservation needed. Walk from Ote-mon gate with this audio guide in your earphones.

East Gardens of the Imperial Palace audio guideFor earphones, as you walk (12 tracks)

PochikaYour guide around Tokyo

Sagi-senseiTemples, gardens and history

KasukeHidden spots and surprises

ChunOld town, shops and festivals

▶ Play from the startNext ▶▶

1. WelcomePochika
2. Who Were the Shoguns?Sagi-sensei
3. Ote-mon GateKasuke
4. What Stood Around the CastleKasuke
5. Hyakunin-bansho (Guardhouse of the Hundred)Sagi-sensei
6. Tenshudai (Base of the Castle Keep)Sagi-sensei
7. Ishimuro (Stone Room)Kasuke
8. Site of the Pine CorridorSagi-sensei
9. Fujimi-yagura (Mt. Fuji Viewing Tower)Chun
10. Honmaru Lawn and the Noon GunChun
11. From Castle to Imperial PalaceSagi-sensei
12. GoodbyePochika

The first track of every guide is free.

Keeps playing with the screen off. It stops after each spot: when you arrive at the next one, tap “Next” or ▶▶ on your lock screen. Voices: Kokoro (open-source text-to-speech)

Visiting info

Checked on 2026-10-27 against the official pages. Hours can change; please check the official page before you go.

Transcript

1. Welcome (Pochika)

Welcome to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace! I'm Pochika, your guide. This garden stands on the site of the Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru of Edo Castle, the home of the Tokugawa shoguns. It was completed in 1968, and it's free to enter. No reservation needed. Let's start at Ote-mon gate.

2. Who Were the Shoguns? (Sagi-sensei)

Before we explore the castle, let's meet the men who ruled from here. Tokugawa Ieyasu was a powerful samurai leader who became shogun in 1603. A shogun was a military ruler. Japan also had an emperor, who lived in Kyoto and held the highest traditional authority. But the shogun controlled the government and its armies. The Tokugawa family ruled Japan for more than two hundred and sixty years, until 1867. This long period is called the Edo period, named after the city that became Tokyo. Now look at Ote-mon Gate. Imagine arriving here to meet one of Japan's most powerful rulers.

3. Ote-mon Gate (Kasuke)

Hey, I'm Kasuke. Ote-mon was the main gate of Edo Castle. This is where the feudal lords came in. Walk through the small gate, and you're boxed in by stone walls. You can't go straight ahead. That shape was made to stop attacking enemies in their tracks.

4. What Stood Around the Castle (Kasuke)

Look beyond these old stone walls. See the modern office towers of Marunouchi and Otemachi? In the Edo period, this area was filled with enormous mansions belonging to daimyo, the feudal lords. The shogun required these lords to spend regular periods living in Edo, under a system called sankin-kotai, or alternate attendance. Their families generally remained in Edo even when the lords returned home. This helped the shogun control them. Thousands of samurai, servants, merchants, and craftspeople supported this system. Edo grew into one of the great cities of the world. And the castle's moats marked the heart of that powerful city. Now let's continue toward the guardhouse.

5. Hyakunin-bansho (Guardhouse of the Hundred) (Sagi-sensei)

I'm Sagi-sensei. This long building is the Hyakunin-bansho, the guardhouse of the hundred. It is forty-five meters long. Four units of gunners, including the Koga and the Iga, took turns guarding here, day and night. Each unit had twenty officers and one hundred men.

6. Tenshudai (Base of the Castle Keep) (Sagi-sensei)

These huge stone walls are the Tenshudai, the base of the castle keep. The keep finished in 1638 had five roofs, and stood fifty-eight meters above the ground. It burned down in the Great Fire of 1657. The base was rebuilt the next year, but Hoshina Masayuki, who advised the young shogun, said a keep was not needed in a time of peace. So it was never rebuilt.

7. Ishimuro (Stone Room) (Kasuke)

Kasuke again. See this stone room? It's called the Ishimuro, about twenty square meters inside. Some say it was a secret escape route, or a vault for gold. But the inner palace, the Ooku, was close by. So it was most likely a place to keep precious things safe during a fire.

8. Site of the Pine Corridor (Sagi-sensei)

This quiet spot is the site of the Pine Corridor. In 1701, Lord Asano of Ako suddenly drew his sword on Kira Yoshinaka, here in this corridor. Asano was ordered to take his own life that same day. This was the start of the famous story of the forty-seven ronin, known in Japan as Chushingura.

9. Fujimi-yagura (Mt. Fuji Viewing Tower) (Chun)

Hi, I'm Chun! That's the Fujimi-yagura, the Mount Fuji viewing tower. It's sixteen meters tall, and it's the only three-roofed tower of Edo Castle still standing. It's said the shogun sometimes looked out from here at Mount Fuji, the sea at Shinagawa, and the fireworks of Ryogoku!

10. Honmaru Lawn and the Noon Gun (Chun)

Chun here! This wide lawn was the Honmaru of Edo Castle. In 1871, a noon gun was placed here. For fifty-eight years, soldiers fired it every day at noon, to tell the city the time. The Japanese called it Don!

11. From Castle to Imperial Palace (Sagi-sensei)

One final piece of history. In 1868, Japan entered a new era called the Meiji Restoration. The shoguns had lost power, and a new government was established under Emperor Meiji. Edo Castle was handed over to that government without a battle inside its walls. Edo was renamed Tokyo, meaning Eastern Capital. Emperor Meiji moved here from Kyoto, and the former shogun's castle became the Imperial Palace. Today, the palace grounds still include the emperor's residence and buildings used for official ceremonies and state occasions. The East Gardens opened to the public in 1968. So the place where military rulers once governed Japan is now partly a garden that everyone can enjoy. Take one last look around.

12. Goodbye (Pochika)

That's the end of the East Gardens guide. Thanks for walking with us! The gardens are closed on Mondays and Fridays, and from November to February they close at four, with last entry at three thirty. Check Kyochika for events near your next stop. See you again!

FAQ

Is the audio guide free?

The first track of every guide is free, with no app and no sign-up. A 7-day pass for $3 unlocks every track of every guide. The scripts are always free to read.

Do I need a reservation?

Free, no reservation

Where does the tour start?

At Ote-mon gate. The tracks follow the walk to the castle keep base, the Mt. Fuji viewing tower and the Honmaru lawn. Each track stops at the end, so tap “Next” when you reach the next spot.

When is it closed?

Mondays and Fridays (open on national holidays except the Emperor's Birthday; if a Monday holiday is open, closed the next Tuesday), December 28 – January 3, and days with palace events

Sources

• Imperial Household Agency: East Gardens of the Imperial Palace (Japanese)
• Imperial Household Agency: historic structures and gardens (Japanese)
• Chiyoda City Tourism Association: Uchibori course, inside Edo Castle (Japanese)
• Imperial Household Agency — The Imperial Palace
• Imperial Household Agency — The Imperial Palace and East Gardens
• Imperial Household Agency — East Gardens
• Ministry of the Environment — Former Edo Castle
• Chiyoda City — History of Otemachi and Marunouchi (Japanese)
• Chiyoda City — Origins of Marunouchi (Japanese)
• Nippon.com — All Roads Lead to Edo: The Sankin Kotai System
• Metropolitan Museum of Art — Daimyo Procession to Edo

中文语音导览 · This page in Japanese

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