Kyoto Imperial Palace

The Kyoto Imperial Palace, located within the Kyoto Gyoen in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, was the residence and ceremonial center of successive emperors until the transfer of the capital to Tokyo in 1869. It preserves the form of the inner palace including the Shishinden, Seiryoden, and the Kashikodokoro. The compound, measuring about 250 m east-west by 450 m north-south, occupies a site continuously used as the imperial residence (the satodairi) since 1334, distinct from the original Heian inner palace some 1.7 km to the west. The place name Tsuchimikado Higashi no Toin appears frequently in works such as the Kenmu-ki and the Kugyo Bunin. The Kashikodokoro houses a replica of the Yata-no-Kagami, one of the three regalia, and enshrines Amaterasu-omikami, recorded in the upper book of the Kojiki as the ancestral deity of the imperial line. The present Shishinden and Seiryoden were rebuilt in 1855 under the Tokugawa shogunate. The Aoi Matsuri on May 15 and the Jidai Matsuri on October 22 still begin at the Kenrei-mon gate.