Journeys›Photograph

Edo Castle Walls Under the Chiyoda Skyline

·Chiyoda, Japan·#japan#travel#summer#architecture#history
A traditional Japanese gate with a tiled roof and white walls under a cloudy sky with two large pine trees.

First full morning in Tokyo went to the Imperial Palace East Gardens, which sit on what used to be Edo Castle's honmaru and ninomaru compounds — the whole thing is a National Special Historic Site now. We came in past one of the massive black-timbered gates; Kikyō-mon is one of the originals that survived, which is more than the castle itself can say.

The centerpiece is the keep foundation up in the honmaru, a huge stepped base of granite blocks with weeds sprouting from the top course. The main tower burned down in 1657 and was never rebuilt, so the base is all there is — you walk up a ramp and stand on a platform where the tallest keep in Japan used to be.

From there we wandered under some enormous old trees and followed the moat walls out, stone sloping down into green water thick with ivy. Near the exit the Tatsumi-yagura stands over the moat, the only keep left in the Sannomaru area, with the Marunouchi towers and construction cranes stacked up right behind it. Four hundred years of city in one sightline.

A unique round building adorned with large mosaic panels, with a lower structure, surrounding trees, and distant city skyscrapers.A massive stone wall with a corner dominates the foreground, with a ramp and a few people walking on it, under a partly cloudy sky.A massive stone wall with an angled corner, a path with a railing, and people walking, under a cloudy sky.Dark, thick tree branches with scattered green leaves silhouetted against a bright blue sky and white clouds.A stone wall covered in green plants curves along a moat with water plants under a cloudy sky.A traditional Japanese turret and a large tree stand beside a green moat, with a modern city skyline in the background.

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