In Japan, the traditionally does not refer to a single location, but to any residence of the Imperial Crown prince. As Prince Akishino, the current

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

, is not a direct male descendant to the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and not an Imperial Crown Prince himself, there is currently no Tōgū Palace in Japan and there will not be one until there is another Imperial Crown prince.

Akasaka Palace

The palace where then-crown Prince

Naruhito is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

resided before his ascension to the Chrysantheum throne on 1 May 2019 was called Tōgū Palace, but changed its name to when Naruhito became emperor. The Emperor used this palace as his primary residence until he moved to the

Fukiage Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan, located in the Fukiage Garden on the grounds of the Tokyo Imperial Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district o ...

of the Imperial Palace in September 2021. Similarly, Akihito lived in this same palace when Hirohito died. Between his accession to the throne in 1989 to his moving to the

in December 1993 the palace was also called Akasaka Palace. The Akasaka Palace is located in the

Akasaka Estate The is a park-like Japanese Imperial Estate, site of several major existing and former Imperial residences in the district of Moto-Akasaka, Minato Special Ward, Tokyo. Besides Prince Hitachi, who lives in Higashi, Shibuya, and the Emperor Eme ...

Moto-Akasaka is a district in Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the worl ...

and is not accessible to the public.

Overview

The site of the palace used to house the , the residence of

Empress Teimei , born , was the wife of Emperor Taishō and the mother of Emperor Shōwa of Japan. Her posthumous name, ''Teimei'', means "enlightened constancy". Biography Sadako Kujō was born on 25 June 1884 in Tokyo, as the fourth daughter of Duke Michita ...

, the consort of

Emperor Taishō was the 123rd Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the second ruler of the Empire of Japan from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, while reigni ...

. After her death at the palace in 1951, the site was converted to the Crown Prince's residence. A reinforced-concrete building, designed by

Yoshirō Taniguchi was a Japanese architect. He was born in the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. He was a graduate of Tokyo University Department of Architecture and professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology from 1929 - 1965. As an architect, he crea ...

was achieved in 1960. It saw a first wave of expansion works in 1978. A Japanese Garden was added in 1994 for the arrival of the Crown Princess Masako. Additional renewal works took place in 1997 (installation of an elevator for wheelchair users, barrier-free design, seismic reinforcement). Works for a kid's area took place in 2001 as Masako was pregnant. A major series of renewal works took place for a year in 2008-2009, during which time the Prince lived temporarily in the smaller of the estate, which was renamed for the occasion . Some solar panels were installed on the roof, as well as LED lighting. The palace has of 72 rooms (12 reception rooms, 38 office rooms, 22 residence rooms). It has 2 floors and 1 basement floor.

Historical Tōgū Palaces

Early Tōgū Palaces

In the

Heian Palace The was the original imperial palace of (present-day Kyoto), the capital of Japan, from 794 to 1227. The palace, which served as the imperial residence and the administrative centre for most of the Heian period (from 794 to 1185), was located a ...

, the Tōgū palace was located on the eastern side of the , the inner palace. Towards the beginning of the 10th century, the , located inside the Dairi, came to be generally used as the Tōgū palace.

Tōgū palace of Asahito

Asahito became Imperial crown Prince in 1683 and from 1686 used a different palace than the Imperial palace for his Tōgū palace, located where the Kyōto Sentō palace is.

Ohana Palace of Kyoto Imperial Palace

After that, the , located inside the Kyōto Imperial Palace itself, was used as the Tōgū palace.

Tōgū palace of Yoshihito

The construction of a Tōgū palace for Yoshihito (future

emperor Taisho An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

) began in 1899, and was achieved in 1909. The building is now the Geihinkan. Geihinkan

Takanawa Residence

The

Takanawa Residence The is an Imperial residence in Tokyo. From 1931 to 2004, it was the residence of Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu and his spouse, Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu. On March 31, 2020, the Emperor emeritus Akihito and the Empress emerita Michiko moved in ...

was used as the Tōgū palace for the early years of Hirohito, future

emperor Shōwa Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

. After his wedding, he moved to (then named) Akasaka Palace (current Geihinkan).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Togu Palace Akasaka, Tokyo Imperial residences in Japan Palaces in Tokyo