The Tokyo Imperial Palace is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the Fukiage Palace where the Emperor has his living quarters, the main palace where various ceremonies and receptions take place, some residences of the Imperial Family, an archive, museums and administrative offices.
Seimon Ishibashi bridge, which leads to the main gate of the Imperial Palace
The Kyūden shortly after its completion in the late 1800s
Aerial photo of the Kyūden around 1935
Kenanfu, Tokyo Imperial Palace
The emperor of Japan or Tennō , literally "ruler from heaven" or "heavenly sovereign", is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power". The Imperial Household Law governs the line of imperial succession. Pursuant to his constitutional role as a national symbol, and in accordance with rulings by the Supreme Court of Japan, the emperor is personally immune from prosecution. By virtue of his position as the head of the Imperial House, the emperor is also recognized as the head of the Shinto religion, which holds him to be the direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu. According to tradition, the office of emperor was created in the 7th century BC, but the first historically verifiable emperors appear around the 5th or 6th centuries AD.
Emperor of Japan
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko seated in the Chamber of the House of Councillors of the National Diet, with members of the Imperial Family, the Cabinet, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan giving the government's speech in front of the assembled members of parliament (2010).
Utakai Hajime poetry competition, chaired by Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun (1950).
The first arrival of Emperor Meiji to Edo (1868)