Kyōkyo (Imperial Palace)

The Imperial Palace is the permanent residence of Japan's emperor and imperial family. Given the recent birth of future emperor Prince Hisahito, the frequent nervous breakdowns of Princess Masako and the debate regarding Princess Aiko's right of ascension, new stories surrounding the imperial family are splashed across the Japanese tabloids on a daily basis.

Of course, unlike their royal counterparts in the UK, life in the Imperial Palace is rigidly controlled by a secretive organisation known as the Imperial Household Agency, which keeps any potential scandals under wraps.

Completed in 1968, the palace itself is a somewhat staid, contemporary reconstruction of the Meiji Imperial Palace, which was targeted by aerial bombers during WWII. However, on these grounds once stood Edo Castle, which in its time was the largest castle in the world. The first Edo Castle was home to a prominent feudal lord, though the grounds were abandoned following his assassination in 1486. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu chose the grounds as the site for an unassailable castle from which the shōgun was to rule all Japan until the Meiji Restoration.

Edo Castle was fortified by a complex system of stone walls, moats, watch towers and armouries. Though this didn't stop the commoners from rising up, and by the time Commodore Perry and the black ships brought about the end of shōgunal rule in 1868, large sections of the old castle had already been destroyed. In the years to follow, the Emperor Meiji took up power in Edo, and much of the remaining castle was torn down to make way for the new Imperial Palace.

The palace itself is closed to the public for all but two days a year: 2 January (New Year's holiday) and 23 December (the Emperor's birthday). But it is possible to wander around its outskirts and to visit the gardens, from where you can catch a glimpse of the palace's most famous landmark, the double-barrelled bridge (Nijū-bashi).