From Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace: Marunouchi Station Building, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Nijubashi Bridge, and the East Gardens

This walking route begins at the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Station Building, stops at the red-brick Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, and then offers views of Nijubashi Bridge in the Kokyo Gaien National Garden. Finally, you will enter the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace through Otemon Gate and walk to the ruins of the Edo Castle honmaru (main bailey) and its tenshudai (donjon base).

History and Regional Appeal

The grounds surrounding the Imperial Palace contain the expansive ruins of Edo Castle. The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace is a garden developed on a portion of the former Edo Castle's honmaru, ninomaru (second bailey), and sannomaru (third bailey); during the Edo period, a magnificent palace stood in the honmaru. The area around the Imperial Palace Plaza within the Kokyo Gaien National Garden was once a section of Edo Castle called Nishinomarushita, where residences of senior shogunate officials stood.

During the Meiji period, Nishinomarushita was used for Meiji government offices and military barracks before everything was removed under the direction of Ito Hirobumi to create a vast open plaza. To the east, Mitsubishi Ichigokan was completed in 1894 as the first Western-style office building erected by Mitsubishi in Marunouchi. Around the time Tokyo Station was constructed, Japan's first modern office district, nicknamed "Iccho London" (a block of London), was emerging to the southwest of the station. Opened in 1914, the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Station Building stands directly facing Gyoko-dori Avenue, which stretches straight east from the Imperial Palace.

In 1949, after the war, part of the former Imperial grounds was opened to the public, and Kokyo Gaien National Garden became a national garden. The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace has been open to the general public since 1968. Mitsubishi Ichigokan was reconstructed on its original site and opened as a museum in 2010, while the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Station Building was restored to its original appearance in 2012. In a single day, you can trace the history of the Edo Castle ruins alongside red-brick architecture from the Meiji and Taisho periods.

Key Highlights

• ​Tokyo Station Marunouchi Station Building​​: Designed by Tatsuno Kingo and opened in December 1914, this station building is designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It measures approximately 335 meters from north to south. Its north and south domes and third floor were burned down during an air raid in May 1945, after which it was used as a two-story structure during the postwar era. Following preservation and restoration work completed in 2012, the third floor and the north and south domes were revived. On the ceilings of the domes are reliefs of eagles with a wingspan of about 2.1 meters, and reliefs of eight of the twelve zodiac signs are arranged along the walls according to their compass directions.
• ​Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo​​: This building was reconstructed on its original site according to the original plans of Josiah Conder, who designed the initial Mitsubishi Ichigokan completed in 1894. The museum collection focuses primarily on late-19th-century Western art, featuring works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Odilon Redon, and Félix Vallotton. It also houses Café 1894, a café-bar recreating the former banking hall, and an inner courtyard planted with about 40 varieties of roses.
• ​Kokyo Gaien National Garden​​: A vast lawn plaza dotted with around 2,000 Japanese black pines spreads out before you. Nijubashi refers to the two bridges spanning the moat from the Imperial Palace Plaza toward the main gate—the Seimon Ishibashi (stone bridge) in front and the Seimon Tetsubashi (iron bridge) behind. Normally not open for general passage, they are used for official imperial court ceremonies. The grounds also feature a bronze statue of Kusunoki Masashige created by staff from the Tokyo Fine Arts School including Takamura Koun, and Sakuradamon Gate, the site of the Sakuradamon Incident.
• ​East Gardens of the Imperial Palace​​: Beyond Otemon Gate stands Hyakunin Bansho (hundred-man guardhouse), where the Hyakunin-gumi musketeers stood guard around the clock, and a vast lawn spreads across the honmaru. At the northernmost end of the honmaru rests the tenshudai (donjon base). After the castle tower was destroyed in the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, only the stone base was rebuilt the following year, and the tower itself was never reconstructed. The site also includes the remains of the Matsu no O-roka (Great Pine Corridor), the setting of the incident that triggered the events of "Chushingura," and the Ninomaru Garden, recreated based on garden drawings from around the mid-18th century.

Recommended Route and Duration

The recommended time for this tour is approximately 5 hours. After exiting the Marunouchi South Exit of JR Tokyo Station, first take time to view the station building. To see an overall panoramic view, head up to the KITTE Garden, an open-air rooftop garden on the 6th floor of KITTE in front of the South Exit. From the Marunouchi South Exit, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo is about 350 meters away, or roughly a 5-minute walk. Following the sidewalk alongside KITTE will bring you to the rear of the red-brick building.

After leaving the museum, walk about 480 meters west to Kokyo Gaien National Garden. Starting from the Nanko Rest House at the southern edge of the garden, view the bronze statue of Kusunoki Masashige before heading toward Sakuradamon Gate. From there, walking north along the moat will take you past Nijubashi Bridge and the Tatsumi Yagura watchtower. If you are short on time, you may bypass Sakuradamon Gate and head directly toward Nijubashi Bridge. After taking a brief rest at Wadakura Fountain Park, enter the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace through Otemon Gate.

At the East Gardens, you receive an entry token upon admission and return it when exiting. See the Hyakunin Bansho, proceed to the honmaru, and walk to the tenshudai at the northernmost point of the honmaru. For your departure, Takebashi Station is closest if you leave via Hirakawamon Gate or Kitahanebashimon Gate, while Otemachi Station is closest if you return to Otemon Gate. As the East Gardens has regular closing days, please check the Imperial Household Agency's schedule before your visit.

Experience Summary

From red-brick station and office architecture that recalls the Meiji and Taisho periods, walk past the black pine plaza and moats into the honmaru, once the heart of Edo Castle. It is a one-day stroll that steps back in time starting right from Tokyo's gateway. Finally, standing before the tenshudai, imagine that the castle keep that once stood here reached a combined height of about 60 meters with its stone base—the tallest castle keep in all of Japan.