Neko in Japan: Kyoto Imperial Palace (album)

May 7, 2008 in Kyoto

Kyoto Gosho is where the imperial family lived until 1868....and then moved to Tokyo. The present buildings are from 1855 and the designs are from the Heian Period (if you are interested you can also view my post on Heian Shrine). 

You can visit the palace only on a FREE (and somewhat quick!) 1 hour guided tour. The buildings are only viewed from the outside, and you can't really spend so much time taking pictures and gallivanting about the grounds.

Tours in English are from Monday to Friday at 10 am and 2 pm. I am unsure about the weekend schedules but I advise you to check the website I've provided below since you cannot just barge into the tour out of the blue. 

Permission can be obtained from the Imperial Household Agency (thru phone call, you can check if there is free slot) or at this site: http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/order/index_EN.html at least 4 days in advance. 

In peak seasons though, such as Golden Week or during spring, the reservations may already be quickly snapped up so try for at least 2 weeks or a month beforehand. If you apply in person, there is also a schedule and you risk also the chance of having all the reservations taken by those who did it online.

Personally, I wanted to visit Katsura Imperial Villa instead of this, but aside from photographs not being allowed, the tours for Katsura were already fully booked till July 2008 (imagine, it was just late April I checked to see if I could reserve for May visit!). Katsura is said to be the epitome of of traditional Japanese architecture and landscape gardening.

To get to this palace: 
Use the Karasuma Subway Line to Imadegawa exit 3 then walk along Kurasumi Dori about 5 to 10 minutes.

A fun incident happened to me on the way to the castle.

As I wanted to be on time for the guided tour, I flew out of the hotel with no breakfast and frantically ran to the subway station. As I had no time to waste in deciphering the signs, I asked a woman who was standing by when I passed her and said "Kyoto Gosho"? She kindly accompanied me to where the ticket machines were located (this is another subway line I had to use, remember?) and mimed that I had to go to another level of this subway line.

When I finished buying a ticket and went down to the other line, the woman I had asked earlier was already inside the train but went out and ran to me then dragged me inside....hahaha!..can you imagine if this was a cartoon and there would be two stick figures..of a woman dragging another woman into the train, and the woman being dragged would be literally flying by in the wind like a flag! 

I was really happy as she had apparently been waiting for me to come by, and she then probably explained to the confused male waiting with her inside where I was going. Well, it was an exagg description..while..she did take me by the hand, we ran towards the train which was already on the verge of closing. She tried to explain where I was to pop out but since she could not speak a word of English, I could not really use her information..however I did bow and thank her profusely in her language. 

I was thankful too as I was on a strict schedule and those spare minutes I had gained allowed me to "get lost"... while there were instructions on the guidebook to walk left after I went out of the exit, the left I took was more extreme..and meant I went by the scenic (read: looonggg) way instead of through the shorter way and the usual entrance on Kurasuma Dori.

- Jul 12, '08 12:03 AM