Kitahanebashi Gate, 江戸城の門
Kitahanebashi Gate is a stone city gate in the Chiyoda district of Tokyo, forming one of the northern entrances to the Imperial Palace East Garden. It stands at the edge of a moat, flanked by old stone walls that are part of the former Edo Castle grounds.
The gate dates to the era of Edo Castle, which was expanded in the early 17th century as the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the site became the imperial residence, and the gate continued to serve as a controlled entry point.
The name Kitahanebashi translates roughly to "North Drawbridge," a reference to the wooden lifting bridge that once crossed the moat at this spot. Today, people pass through on foot to reach the gardens, often pausing to look at the stone walls and the water below.
The gate sits on the northern side of the Imperial Palace East Garden and is within walking distance of several metro stations in central Tokyo. The gardens have set closure days each week, so it is worth checking opening days before making the trip.
Visitors who enter through this gate receive a small numbered wooden tag at the entrance, which must be returned when leaving. This low-tech counting system has been in use for a long time and is one of the few visible remnants of the old access control practices still in place today.
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