Kon’nichiwa!
If you’re looking for an easy-going activity, having a walk around the Tokyo Imperial Palace can be perfect.
It also tends to be a quieter area, so if you’re looking for a bit of peace, you can find it by walking from Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace east gardens! It’s a peaceful walk to get there, and once you’re in the area, you can walk around the grounds through the gardens.
Afterwards, you can further walk the area to the Nijubashi Bridge moat for a popular photo spot. The area basically feels like one big park. Although it is the area of the imperial palace, you don’t really get too much of a feeling of royalty as you might expect, but it is a nice place to walk around.
Being within walking distance from Tokyo Station also means that it can be your one last activity to do before you get on the shinkansen bullet train to head to Kyoto! There are coin lockers at Tokyo Station that you can use as self-service luggage storage.
It’s about a 15 minute walk from Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace east gardens.
For bullet train route ideas, see the 7-day JR pass itinerary and the New Golden Route itinerary.
Below I show you a bit of what it looks like to get from Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace east gardens, as well as a bit about using coin lockers.
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Here are tours to consider so you can get to know historic Japan!
🏯 Tokyo Imperial Palace and Shogun walking tour. Fabian from Germany says: “Our tour guide was amazing! She taught us so much about the imperial palace and its history and we discussed so much about Japanese culture as well.”
Meeting point: A few minutes walking from Tokyo Station
Read the reviews on getyourguide or viator.
🏯 Samurai experience. Dress up in traditional Japanese clothing and learn how to use a katana aka Japanese sword! Lauren from Australia says: “The best part of our trip!”
Meeting point: A 20 minute train ride from Tokyo Station, then a few minutes walking
Read the reviews.
JAPAN TRAVEL > TOKYO MAP
Tokyo Station coin lockers
You’ll find coin lockers at train stations across Japan, and that includes Tokyo Station. This is basically self-service luggage storage, and there are lockers of various sizes, including ones that will fit suitcases. This is quite convenient, since you can leave your luggage at Tokyo Station, and then go for a walk around… like to the Tokyo Imperial Palace!
While coin lockers have their origins as requiring coins to operate, nowadays many coin lockers can be paid using an IC card. That is the same suica card or pasmo card that you use to pay for local train tickets. You can also use IC cards at many convenience stores and vending machines too. You’ll pay for the Tokyo Station coin lockers by following the prompts on the digital screen. Look for the English language option.
Tokyo Station is rather big, so there are lots of different areas that you can find coin lockers. So if you arrive at an area where all the coin lockers are taken up, you can move on to look for more availability in another section.
If the Tokyo Imperial Palace is your goal, then the most convenient coin lockers will be the ones near the Marunouchi exit.
👆 After arriving to Tokyo Station by train, you can tap out of the ticket gate and then start looking for coin lockers. Or, if you will be returning back to the ticketed area, you can look for coin lockers in the secure ticketed area. Take pictures of your surroundings so you know how to get back to your luggage!
👆 I used coin lockers just down this passage that goes to the Yaesu side, which was right next to the ticket gates for the Marunouchi north exit.
👆 Here are some coin lockers of different sizes at Tokyo Station. You pay for it by following the prompts on the digital screen.
👆 You’ll find signs for coin lockers around, so be on the lookout!
Walking from Tokyo Station to Imperial Palace east gardens
So once you arrive at Tokyo Station, the most convenient exit to look for will be the Marunouchi exit. At some point you will also see signs that will tell you which way to go specifically for the Imperial Palace. So basically, just be on the lookout for signs!
For purposes of google maps and walking directions, you’ll look for Ote-mon Gate to get to the East Gardens (map).
The train station closest to the east gardens is actually Otemachi Station, and depending on your plans, it might be more convenient to arrive here. Use google maps public transportation directions to figure that out!
So then once you exit Tokyo Station, you can just generally start walking in the direction of the palace. You will also want to look back at Tokyo Station so you can see the iconic architecture!
The walk itself from Tokyo Station is a nice and pleasant walk. Once you approach the imperial palace grounds, there’s a walking path along the moat. Then, you can enter the east gardens through the Ote-mon Gate for a nice walk around some Japanese gardens!
👆 This is the Marunouchi north exit, which is a convenient Tokyo Station exit to get to the Tokyo Imperial Palace East Gardens.
👆 This is the Tokyo Station exit I used to get to the imperial palace.
👆 I ended up on a pedestrian path that goes between Tokyo Station and the imperial palace.
👆 There’s a walking path along the moat.
👆 This is the closest thing there is to a castle in Tokyo! This is the area where Edo Castle used to be.
👆 This is the entrance to the east gardens. There’s no entry fee, but there is a bag check.
JAPAN TRAVEL > TOKYO MAP
More culture in Tokyo:
- Meiji Jingu Shrine to Sensoji Temple
- Hie Shrine in Akasaka
- Nezu Shrine near Yanaka and Ueno Park
- Gojoten Shrine in Ueno Park
- Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku