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The Kyōto Imperial Palace (京都御所, Kyōto-gosho), also known as Dairi (内裏) or Kinri (禁裏), is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan from 1331 to 1869 located in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered in 1877. Today, the grounds are open to the public, and the Imperial Household Agency hosts public tours of the buildings several times a day.
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is the latest of the imperial palaces built in the northeastern part of the old capital of Heian-kyō (now known as Kyoto) after the abandonment of the Heian Palace that was located to the west of the current palace during the Heian period. The Palace lost much of its function at the time of the Meiji Restoration, when the capital functions were moved to Tokyo in 1869. However, Emperor Taishō and Shōwa still had their enthronement ceremonies at the palace.
The Palace is situated in the Kyōto-gyoen (京都御苑), a large rectangular enclosure 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) north to south and 700 metres (2,300 ft) east to west. It also contains the Sentō Imperial Palace gardens and the Kyoto State Guest House. The estate dates from the early Edo period when the residence of high court nobles were grouped close together with the palace and the area walled. When the capital was moved to Tokyo, the residences of the court nobles were demolished and most of Kyōto Gyoen is now a park open to the public.
At the time of the Heian-kyo (13th year of the Enryaku era, 794), the Imperial Palace was located 1.7 kilometers west of the current Kyoto Imperial Palace along Senbon-dori Street. The current Kyoto Imperial Palace is located on the site of Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace, one of the original temporary Imperial Palaces (temporary Imperial Palaces established in the event of fire). It served as the location of the Northern Court Imperial Palace from the mid-14th century, and continued to exist until Emperor Meiji's visit to Tokyo in 1869. Since the Meiji era, it has also been called the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
The Imperial Palace has been officially located in this area since the final abandonment of the Heian Palace in late 12th century. However, it was already much earlier that the de facto residence of the Emperors was often not in the Inner Palace (内裏, dairi) of the original Heian period palace, but in one of the temporary residences (里内裏, sato-dairi) in this part of the city and often provided to the Emperor by powerful noble families. The present palace is a direct successor—after iterations of rebuilding—to one of these sato-dairi palaces, the Tsuchimikado Dono (土御門殿, Tsuchimikado-dono) of the Fujiwara clan. Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin mansion was occupied by Emperor Kōmyō, the second emperor of the Northern Court, on September 26, 1337 (September 2, 4th year of the Kenmu era) and continued to be used for approximately 530 years, until Emperor Meiji moved the capital to Tokyo. Originally, the site was one cho (approx. 1 cho) east to west and half a cho (approx. 1 cho) north to south, but the site was expanded by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and later renovated by Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, resulting in the current appearance. The Imperial Palace was rebuilt eight times during the Edo period alone: in the Keicho era (1613), Kan'ei era (1642), Sho'o era (1655), Kanbun era (1662), Enpo era (1675), Hoei era (1709), Kansei era (1790), and Ansei era (1855). Of these, the Keicho and Kan'ei eras involved the demolition of the old palace. The version currently standing was completed in 1855, with an attempt at reproducing the Heian period architecture and style of the original dairi of the Heian Palace.
The 11th Shogun of Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Ienari ordered the to rebuild the palace based on the ancient book "Daidairi Kosho" by Uramatsu Kozen that had recorded the detail of old Dairi of Heian palace in 1790 (Kansei 2). Subsequently, on April 6 to 7, 1854 (Kaei 7), a fire broke out at the residence of Kojun-in (chief samurai) in the Shiba Palace of the Omiya Imperial Palace, located southeast of the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Palace was destroyed.
The current construction was carried out by the 13th Tokugawa Shogun, Iesada who ordered the reconstruction of the palace to be carried out by councilor Abe Masahiro at the request of Emperor Komei. Reconstruction began on November 23, 1855 (Ansei 2). It took on its current form between 1865 and February 1866. It is approximately eight times the size of Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin (13,000m2), the former site of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
Emperor Meiji later visited the Imperial Palace at the same time as the capital was transferred to Tokyo in 1869 (Meiji 2). In 1877 (Meiji 10), Emperor Meiji lamented the state of the Kyoto Imperial Palace where the facilities and surrounding area had deteriorated in less than ten years since his return to Kyoto, then he ordered the Imperial Household Ministry to preserve the Kyoto Imperial Palace and maintain its original appearance. In 1883 (Meiji 16), he issued an imperial decree designating Kyoto as the location for the enthronement ceremony and Daijosai ceremony.
Currently, the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kyoto Omiya Imperial Palace, and Kyoto Sento Imperial Palace are national properties and are classified as "Imperial Property" under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Agency, while the surrounding Kyoto Gyoen National Park is managed by the Ministry of the Environment.
The grounds include a number of buildings, along with the imperial residence. The neighboring building to the north is the sentō (仙洞), or residence of the retired Emperor, and beyond that, across Imadegawa Street, sits Doshisha University. The Imperial Household Agency maintains the building and the grounds and also runs public tours.
Tsuchimikado-higashinotoin-dono" mansion (土御門東洞院殿) was built and owned by the Fujiwara clan in 9th century and it was used occasionally as the Sato-Dairi (Temporary palace) of emperor when his palace was under repaired. It is known that Emperor Horikawa used this mansion as his residence before his accession to the throne. In 1133, it was renovated to serve as the residence for Fujiwara no Tadazane's daughter, Yasushi, before being the nyogo (concubine) of retired emperor Toba. Yasushi was subsequently investitured as retired emperor Toba's Empress and in 1140, it was officially designated as her palace, known as "Tsuchimikado Palace" or "Ogimachi Palace." After her death, the palace became the residence of Fujiwara no Kunitsuna, but was briefly used as a temporary palace by Emperor Rokujo in 1167 and Emperor Takakura in 1177.
After 1191, Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace became the property of Emperor Go-Shirakawa's daughter, Senyomon'in (Imperial Princess Kishi). However, because she favored Rokujo Palace, which was associated with her father. The Konoe family only occasionally rented it as a venue for ceremonies. However, this situation began to change dramatically when Rokujo Palace was burned down in 1208. Senyomon'in moved her imperial residence to Tsuchimikado Palace and also relocated the Chokodo Hall (長講堂), Goshirakawa's personal Buddhist hall, which had been located within Rokujo Palace. Later, the Chokodo Hall was rebuilt on the Rokujo Palace site, but the facilities within Tsuchimikado Palace remained under Chokodo's ownership and some Buddhist ceremonies were held there. For this reason, it was also called the "New Chokodo Hall" to distinguish it from the original Chokodo Hall. After Senyomon'in's death, it became the property of Emperor Go-Fukakusa and was given to his daughter, Yotokumon'in (Imperial Princess Koshi) as a temporary share, which it became the property of the Jimyoin line of imperial court later . The accessions of Emperor Hanazono and Emperor Kogon were also held at the Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace in 1308 and 1332 respectively.
From the end of the Kamakura period through the Kenmu Restoration (reigns of Hanazono, Go-Daigo, Kogon, and Go-Daigo), the Imperial Palace was located at the Reizei Tomikoji Palace (泉富小路殿), which had the structure of a full-fledged Imperial Palace. However, it was destroyed by fire in 1336 (Kenmu 3). The newly established Northern Court, a branch of the Jimyoin lineage, temporarily established the Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace, which had been ancestrally owned by the Jimyoin lineage, as its official imperial palace on (September 26, 1337). The Northern Court initially planned to fully rebuild the Heian Palace several times, but no progress was made. Eventually, Emperor Go-Kogon, the regent, came to the decision to continue using the Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace. From then on, the Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace became the permanent imperial palace until Meiji restoration. However, Emperor Go-Kogon still did not give up on the idea of building a fully-fledged Imperial Palace, as he initiated discussions about rebuilding the Kan'in Dairi (閑院内裏), a fully-fledged imperial palace from the early Kamakura period.
However, plans of full-scale reconstruction of the imperial palace were once again scrapped and Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace ended up serving as the Imperial Palace for five emperors of the Northern Court: Emperor Kōmyō, Emperor Sukō, Emperor Go-Kōgon, Emperor Go-En'yū, and Emperor Go-Komatsu. However, in 1401 during the reign of Emperor Go-Komatsu, Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace was destroyed by fire. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the most powerful man at the time, was concerned that Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace was small and insignificantly similar to a "subordinate residence" and decided to rebuild it as a full-scale Imperial Palace modeled after the Heian Palace. Yoshimitsu granted the land in Tsuchimikado Abura-no-Koji, removed the "Shincho-Kodo" and rebuilt Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace, which covered the entire area of one town, with the functions of a full-scale Imperial Palace. Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin Palace continued to serve as the Imperial Palace thereafter. The Imperial Palace continued to expand and came to be known as the Kyoto Imperial Palace today.
The main buildings are, among other halls, the Shishinden (紫宸殿; Hall for State Ceremonies), Seiryōden (清涼殿; Emperor's Habitual Residence), Kogosho (小御所; Court Room), Ogakumonjo (御学問所; Imperial Study or Library), and a number of residences for the Empress, high-ranking aristocrats and government officials. The layout of Kyoto's imperial palace was modeled after old residence of emperor in Heian Palace
For state ceremonies, the dignitaries would enter through the Kenreimon (建礼門), which has a cypress-wood roof, and is supported by four unpainted wooden pillars. This gate would have been used on the rare occasions of the Emperor welcoming a foreign diplomat or dignitary, as well as for many other important state ceremonies. Passing through the Kenreimon, the inner gate Jomeimon would appear, which is painted in vermilion and roofed in tile. This leads to the Shishin-den, which is the Hall for State Ceremonies. The Gekkamon is a smaller gate on the west side of the main courtyard.
The annual Aoi Matsuri in May is the procession of the Saiō-Dai, historically a priestess of the imperial house, to the Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine. The procession departs in front of the Kenreimon.
Another gate in the outer courtyard is the Kenshunmon, which has a similar architectural style to the Kenreimon. Located next to the Kenshunmon is a square where the traditional ball game Kemari is played.
Okurumayose (御車寄) was also called as Kugemon (公家門), which refers to "the gate for highest-ranking court nobles". It was designed with Karahafu style (curved gable) roof. The Okurumayose served as the official entrance for high-ranking court nobles, which is derived from the entrance created in the middle of the corridor in aristocratic residences during the Heian period. The Okurumayose is created in the middle of a long north-south corridor. Heading north leads to the office of retainers and the other buildings located further north of the Kogosho, while heading south leads to the rooms of the Shodaibu-no-ma and the Seiryoden.
The use of the Okurumayose was exclusively reserved for the highest-ranking court nobles. Furthermore, among them, only a select few were permitted to bring their vehicles directly to this entrance. Others had to enter the palace building from the Shodaibu-no-ma, located south of the Okurumayose. When entering the Okurumayose with a palanquin or other vehicle, it was customary to get into a palanquin from the front and get out from the rear.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Kyoto Imperial Palace”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.