From Hibiya Park to the National Diet Building and Hie-jinja Shrine

This half-day course takes you on a walk through Japan's first "Western-style" park, Hibiya Park, then west to the National Diet Building. After viewing the inside of the parliament building on a tour, you will visit Hie-jinja Shrine, revered as the guardian shrine of Edo Castle.

History and Local Charm

Until the end of the Edo period, daimyo (feudal lord) residences stood on the site of Hibiya Park. To reach Edo Castle from those residences, one had to pass through the Hibiya Mitsuke guard gate guarded by watchmen, and portions of its stone walls and moat still remain in the park today. Hie-jinja Shrine came to be regarded as the guardian shrine inside Edo Castle when Tokugawa Ieyasu made the castle his residence; it was later moved outside during the major castle renovations led by the second shogun, Hidetada. When the shrine halls were destroyed in the Great Fire of Meireki (1657), the shogun Ietsuna provided the estate of Matsudaira Tadafusa, which overlooked the Tameike pond in Akasaka, as the new shrine grounds.

During the Meiji period, after being used as an army drill ground, Hibiya opened in Meiji 36 (1903) as Japan's first "Western-style" park. The first temporary Diet building was also built in Uchisaiwaicho, Hibiya, to coincide with the opening of the Imperial Diet in Meiji 23 (1890). The park also served as a stage for politics; during a political gathering in Taisho 2 (1913), speeches defending constitutional government were delivered from the balcony of Matsumotoro.

Construction of the present National Diet Building began in Taisho 9 (1920) and took 17 years to complete in Showa 11 (1936). From the Diet building standing on the heights of Nagatacho, it is just a short walk to Hie-jinja Shrine, affectionately known as "Sanno-san." Over a short route, you can trace history from the remains of Edo Castle's gate to modern parliamentary developments and Edo's guardian deity.

Key Highlights

• ​Hibiya Park​​: Designed by Dr. Honda Seiroku, it opened on June 1, Meiji 36 (1903). Highlights include the First Flowerbed, which conveys the Western-style flowerbed format from the time of opening, along with the Pelican Fountain standing there, the Shinji-ike Pond shaped like the cursive character for "heart," and the Crane Fountain, a symbol since the park's opening. In front of Matsumotoro, a restaurant founded at the same time as the park's opening, stands the Kubikake Ginkgo, which Dr. Honda had transplanted, famously declaring, "I stake my neck (my life) on it."
• ​National Diet Building​​: Adorned with beautiful granite on its exterior and praised at the time as the "White Palace," this building features a central tower rising to 65.45 meters. Viewed from the front, the House of Representatives is on the left and the House of Councillors is on the right. Directly below the central tower, the Central Hall features an open atrium tall enough to accommodate the five-story pagoda of Horyu-ji Temple, and it houses bronze statues of Itagaki Taisuke, Okuma Shigenobu, and Ito Hirobumi, along with an empty fourth pedestal with no bronze statue.
• ​Hie-jinja Shrine​​: This shrine enshrines Oyamakui-no-kami and has been widely cherished as "Sanno-san." The Sanno Torii facing Sotobori-dori Avenue is a torii gate topped with a triangular pediment (gable). In front of the main hall, a pair of sacred male and female monkey statues is placed, and 90 vermilion-lacquered torii gates line the approach to Sanno Inari-jinja Shrine.

Recommended Route and Travel Time

The recommended duration is about 3 hours. Enter Hibiya Park from exits A10 or A14 of Hibiya Station. Immediately after entering through Yurakumon Gate, you will find Shinji-ike Pond, adjacent to the First Flowerbed. Walk toward Matsumotoro and the Kubikake Ginkgo near Kumogata-ike Pond, then exit toward Kasumigaseki Station. Regeneration and renovation works are proceeding sequentially within the park, and some areas are off-limits.

From the park, the National Diet Building is approximately 1 kilometer to the west. To see the interior, take a guided tour of either the House of Representatives or the House of Councillors. Both reception counters are about a 3-minute walk from Exit 1 of Nagatacho Station. In the front garden, there are "prefectural trees" gifted from across the country, as well as large ginkgo trees that grew naturally before the Diet building was constructed. In the nearby northern section of the Diet Front Garden, there is also the Japanese Origin of Altitude, which serves as the benchmark for elevations in Japan.

Walking about 490 meters west-southwest from the Diet building brings you to Hie-jinja Shrine. Climbing the stone steps from the Sanno Torii on Sotobori-dori Avenue leads up the main approach (omote-sando), known as the Sanno Otokozaka Slope; an escalator is also available beside it. After paying your respects, be sure to view the vermilion torii gates along the Inari approach. For your return, Exit 2 of Akasaka Station and Exit 7 of Tameike-sanno Station are both a 3-minute walk away.

Experience Summary

A Western-style park laid out on the former site of daimyo residences, the Diet building once called the "White Palace," and the guardian deity of Edo Castle. Walking from Hibiya up to the heights of Nagatacho, the history running from Edo to the modern era and into present-day Tokyo unfolds as a single connected path. You may also recall that during the main festival year of the Sanno Matsuri in June, the Shinkosai procession parades around sites including the Imperial Palace and the Diet.