a group of people standing in front of a building
Signature Tours
Half day
Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station

Signature Tour · Tokyo

Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station

The heart of old Edo and modern Tokyo: the red-brick station, the palace moats and the bridge where Japan’s roads begin.

Marunouchi and Nihonbashi
240 minutes
Private, 1 to 6 guests
From $140 / person
View photos (6)
Overview The Area Itinerary Details Booking

Overview

From Edo Castle to the capital’s front door

For more than 250 years this was Edo Castle, the seat of the Tokugawa shoguns. Today the Imperial Palace stands on the same grounds, ringed by the original stone walls and moats, a few minutes from the towers of Marunouchi.

Your guide connects the layers: the castle that became a palace, the station built as the gateway to a new capital, and Nihonbashi, the merchant district where some of Tokyo’s oldest shops still trade.

Tokyo Station’s restored red-brick building
The Imperial Palace East Gardens and Nijubashi
Nihonbashi, the starting point of Japan’s roads
a group of people standing in front of a building

Length

Half day, 240 minutes

Starts

9:00 or 13:00

Meeting point

Tokyo Station, Marunouchi side

Finishes

Nihonbashi (Mitsukoshimae Station)

Walking

About 4 km, flat

Group

Private, 1 to 6 guests

Language

English, others on request

The area

The castle that became a palace

Edo Castle

Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo his base in 1590. His castle grew into the largest in Japan, ringed by spiralling moats that still shape the streets of central Tokyo.

A keep that was never rebuilt

The great keep burned in the Meireki fire of 1657 and was never replaced. Its stone base still stands in the East Gardens.

The emperor moves east

In 1868 the emperor moved from Kyoto to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo, and the castle became the imperial residence.

Marunouchi

The estates of feudal lords inside the outer moat were sold to Mitsubishi in 1890 and became Tokyo’s first business district, with red-brick offices built in a London style.

An elegant japanese castle stands beside a waterway
Traditional japanese palace behind a stone bridge and moat

Itinerary

How the day unfolds

Starts at 9:00 or 13:00. The times below are from the start.

15 min

Meet at Tokyo Station

Meet under the domes of the Marunouchi entrance. Designed by Tatsuno Kingo and opened in 1914, the station lost its top floor in the air raids of 1945 and was restored to its original form in 2012.

30 min

Gyoko-dori

Walk the broad avenue built for imperial processions, straight from the station to the palace grounds.

75 min

Imperial Palace East Gardens

The former inner citadel of Edo Castle: the stone base of the great keep, the old guardhouses, massive walls and gardens that are open to the public.

30 min

Nijubashi

From the outer plaza, the classic view of the stone bridge and the Fushimi turret, with the palace beyond.

60 min

Nihonbashi

The stone bridge of 1911 is the official starting point for distances on Japan’s national roads. Around it stand the department store that began as the Echigoya kimono shop in 1673 and food shops that have traded here for generations.

30 min

Finish in Nihonbashi

Your guide suggests somewhere for lunch or tea nearby before you go.

Details

What’s included

Included

Private bilingual guide
All entry to the gardens (free)
Route planned around your interests

Not included

Food and drinks
The palace’s own guided tour (can be arranged)
Shopping
a group of people standing in front of a building Tokyo Station a large building with a lot of lights in front of it Tokyo Station at night Traditional japanese palace behind a stone bridge and moat Nijubashi An elegant japanese castle stands beside a waterway The moats grayscale photography of people walking near walkway during daytime Nihonbashi a very tall building sitting on the side of a road Nihonbashi streets

Booking

Book your day

Pick the number of guests and a date, then morning or afternoon. You pay securely on the next page.

Where we meet

A quiet corner of Bunkyo

The studio is in Suido, a residential part of Bunkyo Ward, well away from the neon districts. The streets are calm, which suits slow and careful work.

5 minutes on foot from Edogawabashi Station
Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line
Your guide meets you at the station exit

Prefer us to meet you at your accommodation? Let us know and we will take you door to door.

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Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station

Marunouchi and Nihonbashi
240 minutes
Private, 1 to 6 guests
From $140 / person
From $140 / person
Check availability