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==Grounds==
==Grounds==
===Inner Palace===
===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.
The inner palace buildings, closed to the public, include the imperial residences, official State Meeting Halls, administrative offices, and a set of three shrines where a variety of Imperial rituals are performed.
The famous ''Nijûbashi'', a short bridge built in the German Renaissance style, and one of the more iconic sights on the publicly-accessible portions of the grounds, leads directly to the Main Gate (''Seimon'') into the non-public areas of the palace. The bridge, and the gate, are themselves off-limits as well, but are easily visible from the main public plaza known as Imperial Palace Outer Garden (''kôkyo gaien'') or simply Plaza in front of the Imperial Palace (''kôkyo mae hiroba''). This plaza had previously been the ''nishi-no-maru shita'' (Lower Western Bailey) of Edo castle, and had been the location of a number of residences of high-ranking shogunate officials. In the first decade or so of the Meiji period, it became home to the Senate (''[[Genroin|Genrôin]]''), the Peers' Club, the [[Naimusho|Home Ministry]] Library, and the private residence of [[Iwakura Tomomi]]. By [[1888]], however, this was all cleared away to make a broad open plaza, where people could gather to see the palace (and to be seen by the Emperor), and where various Imperial/national(ist) ceremonies and events could take place.<ref>Fujitani, 79-81.</ref>
The three shrines, known as the ''kyûchû sanden'', and referred to collectively as the Palace Sanctuary by historian [[Takashi Fujitani]], include the ''kashikodokoro'', ''shinden'', and ''kôreiden''. Only the first of these, in which a replica of the Sacred Mirror ''[[Yata no kagami]]'' is held and the [[Amaterasu|Sun Goddess]] worshipped, existed in the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The ''shinden'', dedicated to the myriad deities of heaven and earth, and the ''kôreiden'', enshrining over 2,200 Imperial ancestors, were newly created in [[1869]] and [[1871]] respectively, albeit very much in forms emulating the appearance of ancient traditions. All three shrines were re-established and invested with their requisite spirits in the newly completed Imperial Palace on [[1889]]/1/9, two days before the emperor and empress took up residence in the palace.<ref>Fujitani, 160.</ref>
A ''dôjô'' known as Seineikan (清寧館) located just within the off-limits areas, across the path from the ''Sannomaru Shôzôkan''.
A ''dôjô'' known as Seineikan (清寧館) located just within the off-limits areas, across the path from the ''Sannomaru Shôzôkan''.
===Gardens===
===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 Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art's Crafts Hall (''Tôkyô kokuritsu kindai bijitsukan kôgeikan''), and the Nippon Budokan, a major public sports arena and concert venue.
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 Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art's Crafts Hall (''Tôkyô kokuritsu kindai bijitsukan kôgeikan''), and the Nippon Budokan, a major public sports arena and concert venue.
The famous ''Nijûbashi'', a short bridge built in the German Renaissance style, and one of the more iconic sights on the publicly-accessible portions of the grounds, leads directly to the Main Gate (''Seimon'') into the non-public areas of the palace. The bridge, and the gate, are themselves off-limits as well, but are easily visible from the main public plaza known as Imperial Palace Outer Garden (''kôkyo gaien'') or simply Plaza in front of the Imperial Palace (''kôkyo mae hiroba''). This plaza had previously been the ''nishi-no-maru shita'' (Lower Western Bailey) of Edo castle, and had been the location of a number of residences of high-ranking shogunate officials. In the first decade or so of the Meiji period, it became home to the Senate (''[[Genroin|Genrôin]]''), the Peers' Club, the [[Naimusho|Home Ministry]] Library, and the private residence of [[Iwakura Tomomi]]. By [[1888]], however, this was all cleared away to make a broad open plaza, where people could gather to see the palace (and to be seen by the Emperor), and where various Imperial/national(ist) ceremonies and events could take place.<ref>Fujitani, 79-81.</ref>
This plaza was further expanded and opened up in [[1906]], through the filling-in of some sections of the moat, and through the dismantling of the Babasakimon, which had created a fatal bottleneck as crowds tried to push in and out of the plaza during victory celebrations in [[1895]]. A pair of triumphal thoroughfares (''gaisen dôro'') were cut through the plaza, and an entrance created at the Hibiya end of the plaza, in preparation for the [[Triumphal Military Review of April 1906]]. One of the thoroughfares runs directly from Nijûbashi to the Babasaki Gate, while the other runs perpendicular, crossing in the center of the plaza and leading out of the Hibiya Gate.<ref>Fujitani, 132-134.</ref> While a sizable pedestrian plaza survives today, the Imperial Palace Outer Gardens extends across a much larger area; the two thoroughfares have since been paved over and transformed into major multi-lane automobile roads, making the Outer Gardens as a whole considerably more difficult to explore on foot. A famous statue of 14th century Imperial loyalist [[Kusunoki Masashige]], sculpted by [[Takamura Koun|Takamura Kôun]], stands in the far corner of these Outer Gardens (''gaien'').
The East Gardens feature a number of Edo period buildings (or their reconstructions), including the Fujimi yagura (the only three-story corner watchtower in the compound), Fujimi-tamon (a ''nagaya''-style defensive structure), an ''ishimuro'' stone storehouse, the foundation platform of the ''tenshu'' (keep tower) which burned down in [[1657]] and was never replaced, the [[Suwa no chaya]] teahouse, and several guardhouses (''bansho''), as well as the Ninomaru Gardens designed by [[Kobori Enshu|Kobori Enshû]], the ''Sannomaru Shôzôkan'', and the Tôkagakudô (Tôka Music Hall), constructed in 1966 for the Empress Kôjun's 60th birthday. One area of the gardens contains trees representative of each of Japan's 47 [[prefectures of Japan|prefectures]].
The East Gardens feature a number of Edo period buildings (or their reconstructions), including the Fujimi yagura (the only three-story corner watchtower in the compound), Fujimi-tamon (a ''nagaya''-style defensive structure), an ''ishimuro'' stone storehouse, the foundation platform of the ''tenshu'' (keep tower) which burned down in [[1657]] and was never replaced, the [[Suwa no chaya]] teahouse, and several guardhouses (''bansho''), as well as the Ninomaru Gardens designed by [[Kobori Enshu|Kobori Enshû]], the ''Sannomaru Shôzôkan'', and the Tôkagakudô (Tôka Music Hall), constructed in 1966 for the Empress Kôjun's 60th birthday. One area of the gardens contains trees representative of each of Japan's 47 [[prefectures of Japan|prefectures]].
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