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*''Date: [[1889]]''
*''Japanese'': 皇居 ''(koukyo)''
The Tokyo Imperial Palace, or ''kôkyo'' (lit. "Imperial residence"), completed in [[1889]], is the seat of the [[Emperor of Japan]]. Located on the former grounds of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shoguns']] [[Edo castle]] at the center of [[Tokyo]], the palace compound includes imperial residences, meeting rooms, administrative offices, and ritual spaces, as well as several extensive private gardens and public parks, archives, and the Museum of the Imperial Collections, or ''[[Sannomaru Shozokan|Sannomaru Shôzôkan]]''. While the former sites of the ''honmaru'', ''ninomaru'', and ''sannomaru'' of Edo castle are today mostly empty, the palace buildings being located elsewhere in the compound, a number of other buildings from the time of the shoguns either survive or have been rebuilt, along with many of the compound's gates, and much of the foundational stone castle walls.
==History==
===Meiji Period===
Much of the buildings in the ''honmaru'', ''ni-no-maru'', and ''nishi-no-maru'' areas of Edo castle were destroyed in a series of fires in [[1863]]. The shogunate hastily threw up some replacement buildings in the ''nishi-no-maru'', which later became the temporary residence of the [[Meiji Emperor]] in [[1869]] to [[1873]]; however, nothing was ever rebuilt of the ''Honmaru'' Palace.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 40.</ref> A fire destroyed the palace on May 5, 1873, beginning in the Momijiyama section of the compound, and rampaging through the ''nishi-no-maru'' and other areas in a matter of hours. The Emperor, Empress, and [[Imperial Household Ministry]] relocated to the [[Kishu Tokugawa Edo mansion|mansion of the Kishû Tokugawa clan]], just outside the moats, that same day, designating the mansion the Akasaka Temporary Palace.<ref>Fujitani, 40, 66-67.</ref>
Reconstruction of the palace was delayed numerous times, both due to financial concerns given the newness of the Meiji state and [[Meiji government|government]], and due to debates over the style and material the new palace should be built in.<ref>Fujitani, 67.</ref> Construction was finally begun in [[1884]], and completed in [[1888]], with the Imperial family taking up residence early the following year. According to numerous sources of the time, [[Tokyo]] was only an ''[[anzaisho]]'', a temporary base for a Court in motion, until that time, with the 1888 structure being the first in Tokyo to be called ''kyûjô'' (宮城, "Imperial Palace") rather than merely terms such as ''kôkyo'' ("imperial residence"), and with Tokyo's status as the sole Imperial capital (''teito'') ongoing until that time.<ref>Fujitani, 36-37, 44-45.</ref>
As construction neared completion, the Imperial Household commissioned numerous artists, textile producers, and the like, including [[Iida Shinshichi III]] of [[Takashimaya]] and [[Kawashima Jinbei II]], in [[1887]], to produce works for decorating the palace.<ref>Ellen Conant, "Cut from Kyoto Cloth: Takeuchi Seihô and his Artistic Milieu," ''Impressions'' 33 (2012), 75.</ref>
A series of broad thoroughfares which cut through the palace's outer gardens (''gaien'') were constructed explicitly as "triumphal avenues" (''gaisen dôro'') for the Imperial Military Review of April [[1906]], with the explicit intention of creating a space for monumental national ceremonies in the modern (Western) mode.<ref>Fujitani, 16.</ref>
===Taishô through World War II===
===Post-War through Today===
==Layout==
===Inner Palace===
The inner palace buildings, closed to the public, include the imperial residences, official State Meeting Halls, administrative offices, and shrines such as the ''kashikodokoro'', where a variety of Imperial rituals are performed.
===Gardens===
The former ''honmaru'', ''ni-no-maru'', and ''san-no-maru'' areas of the castle today constitute the Imperial Palace East Gardens (''higashi gyoen'') and are generally open to the public, along with the Kitanomaru Park. The latter contains within it the Nippon Budokan, a major public sports arena and concert venue.
A famous statue of 14th century Imperial loyalist [[Kusunoki Masashige]], sculpted by [[Takamura Koun|Takamura Kôun]], stands in the palace's Outer Gardens (''gaien'').
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Historic Buildings]]
*''Japanese'': 皇居 ''(koukyo)''
The Tokyo Imperial Palace, or ''kôkyo'' (lit. "Imperial residence"), completed in [[1889]], is the seat of the [[Emperor of Japan]]. Located on the former grounds of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shoguns']] [[Edo castle]] at the center of [[Tokyo]], the palace compound includes imperial residences, meeting rooms, administrative offices, and ritual spaces, as well as several extensive private gardens and public parks, archives, and the Museum of the Imperial Collections, or ''[[Sannomaru Shozokan|Sannomaru Shôzôkan]]''. While the former sites of the ''honmaru'', ''ninomaru'', and ''sannomaru'' of Edo castle are today mostly empty, the palace buildings being located elsewhere in the compound, a number of other buildings from the time of the shoguns either survive or have been rebuilt, along with many of the compound's gates, and much of the foundational stone castle walls.
==History==
===Meiji Period===
Much of the buildings in the ''honmaru'', ''ni-no-maru'', and ''nishi-no-maru'' areas of Edo castle were destroyed in a series of fires in [[1863]]. The shogunate hastily threw up some replacement buildings in the ''nishi-no-maru'', which later became the temporary residence of the [[Meiji Emperor]] in [[1869]] to [[1873]]; however, nothing was ever rebuilt of the ''Honmaru'' Palace.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 40.</ref> A fire destroyed the palace on May 5, 1873, beginning in the Momijiyama section of the compound, and rampaging through the ''nishi-no-maru'' and other areas in a matter of hours. The Emperor, Empress, and [[Imperial Household Ministry]] relocated to the [[Kishu Tokugawa Edo mansion|mansion of the Kishû Tokugawa clan]], just outside the moats, that same day, designating the mansion the Akasaka Temporary Palace.<ref>Fujitani, 40, 66-67.</ref>
Reconstruction of the palace was delayed numerous times, both due to financial concerns given the newness of the Meiji state and [[Meiji government|government]], and due to debates over the style and material the new palace should be built in.<ref>Fujitani, 67.</ref> Construction was finally begun in [[1884]], and completed in [[1888]], with the Imperial family taking up residence early the following year. According to numerous sources of the time, [[Tokyo]] was only an ''[[anzaisho]]'', a temporary base for a Court in motion, until that time, with the 1888 structure being the first in Tokyo to be called ''kyûjô'' (宮城, "Imperial Palace") rather than merely terms such as ''kôkyo'' ("imperial residence"), and with Tokyo's status as the sole Imperial capital (''teito'') ongoing until that time.<ref>Fujitani, 36-37, 44-45.</ref>
As construction neared completion, the Imperial Household commissioned numerous artists, textile producers, and the like, including [[Iida Shinshichi III]] of [[Takashimaya]] and [[Kawashima Jinbei II]], in [[1887]], to produce works for decorating the palace.<ref>Ellen Conant, "Cut from Kyoto Cloth: Takeuchi Seihô and his Artistic Milieu," ''Impressions'' 33 (2012), 75.</ref>
A series of broad thoroughfares which cut through the palace's outer gardens (''gaien'') were constructed explicitly as "triumphal avenues" (''gaisen dôro'') for the Imperial Military Review of April [[1906]], with the explicit intention of creating a space for monumental national ceremonies in the modern (Western) mode.<ref>Fujitani, 16.</ref>
===Taishô through World War II===
===Post-War through Today===
==Layout==
===Inner Palace===
The inner palace buildings, closed to the public, include the imperial residences, official State Meeting Halls, administrative offices, and shrines such as the ''kashikodokoro'', where a variety of Imperial rituals are performed.
===Gardens===
The former ''honmaru'', ''ni-no-maru'', and ''san-no-maru'' areas of the castle today constitute the Imperial Palace East Gardens (''higashi gyoen'') and are generally open to the public, along with the Kitanomaru Park. The latter contains within it the Nippon Budokan, a major public sports arena and concert venue.
A famous statue of 14th century Imperial loyalist [[Kusunoki Masashige]], sculpted by [[Takamura Koun|Takamura Kôun]], stands in the palace's Outer Gardens (''gaien'').
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Historic Buildings]]
