is a public park in Chiyoda, central

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, just north of the

Tokyo Imperial Palace is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor h ...

. It is the location of the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

indoor sports and performance venue, the Science Museum, and the

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The , also known as MOMAT, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. The museum, in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, is known for its collection of 20th-century art and includes Western-style and ''Nihonga'' artists. It has a bra ...

History

Kitanomaru Park was originally the northernmost section of

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established th ...

, known as the . It was used as a medicinal garden and as a secure residential compound for members of the Tokugawa extended family. The park is almost encircled by deep moats and defensive fortifications from the original castle. Prior to 1969, when Kitanomaru Park was opened, this district had been called because many ''daikan'' (local governors) lived in the place soon after the construction of Edo Castle. Today, the name Daikanchō is known more commonly as the name of an interchange of the Inner Circular Route of the

Shuto Expressway The is a network of Toll road, tolled expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are Grade separation, grade separated and have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that require cauti ...

. Two gated entrances survive from time of Edo Castle, the Tayasu-mon and the Shimizu-mon. The Tayasu-mon was the northernmost gate of Edo Castle and consists of both a Korai-mon style outer gate and a Yagura-mon style fortified inner gatehouse, with highly stacked stone walls forming a narrow defensive courtyard between the two. An inscription on the outer side of the Tayasu-mon states the gate was constructed in 1685, making it one of the oldest surviving structures of the original castle.

Population

As of May 1, 2008, Kitanomaru Park area had a registered population of 598, of which 361 are male and 237 are female, although this population almost exclusively consists of serving members and dependents of the

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the emperor and/or empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial force ...

or the

National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Canada: Royal Canadian Mounted Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: National Revolut ...

Education

operates public elementary and junior high schools. Fujimi Elementary School (富士見小学校) is the zoned elementary school for Kitanomaru Park. There is freedom of choice system for junior high schools in Chiyoda Ward, and so there are no specific junior high school zones.

Gallery

File: Tayasu-mon, Chiyoda.jpg, Tayasu-mon entrance to Kitanomaru Park File:Kitanomaru Park - 2024 Feb 16.webm, Several scenes inside the park, 2024 File:Kitanomaru Park - Tokyo, Japan - DSC04843.jpg, in summer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitanomaru Koen Parks and gardens in Tokyo Chiyoda, Tokyo Tokyo Imperial Palace