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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 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 ''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''.
