East Gardens opening hours by season
Hours change five times a year. All periods open at 9:00, and entry stops 30 minutes before closing, according to the agency's East Gardens page:
| Period | Closes | Last entry |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March – 14 April | 17:00 | 16:30 |
| 15 April – 31 August | 18:00 | 17:30 |
| September | 17:00 | 16:30 |
| October | 16:30 | 16:00 |
| 1 November – end of February | 16:00 | 15:30 |
In winter that leaves six and a half hours a day; arriving after 15:00 gives you very little time inside.
Closed days, and the holiday exception
The gardens close on:
- Every Monday and Friday, unless it is a national holiday. Holidays open as normal, except the Emperor's Birthday on 23 February.
- The Tuesday after a Monday holiday.
- 28 December to 3 January.
- Days needed for Imperial Court functions, posted on the agency's calendar. On 26 November 2024, for example, they closed for a funeral.
Applied to the coming months, that rule gives these dates to watch:
| Date | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 23 Nov 2026 | Open | Labour Thanksgiving Day (national holiday on a Monday) |
| Tue 24 Nov 2026 | Closed | Day after a Monday holiday |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Closed | Regular Friday closure |
| Sun 27 Dec 2026 | Open | Last regular day of 2026 |
| 28 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027 | Closed | Year-end and New Year |
| Mon 11 Jan 2027 | Open | Coming of Age Day |
| Tue 12 Jan 2027 | Closed | Day after a Monday holiday |
These are worked out from the published rule, not from a published list (the museum's 2026–27 closing days agree on the Monday-holiday and New Year dates); court functions can still add closures, so check the calendar before you go. For other places that close over the holidays, see our Tokyo year-end closures guide.
Which gate to use
There are three entrances, and each doubles as an exit:
| Gate | Nearest station | Walk |
|---|---|---|
| Ote-mon | Otemachi (Exit C13a) | About 5 min |
| Ote-mon | JR Tokyo Station (Marunouchi North Exit) | About 15 min |
| Hirakawa-mon | Takebashi, Tozai Line (Exit 1a) | About 10 min |
| Kitahanebashi-mon | Takebashi, Tozai Line (Exit 1a) | About 15 min |
Walking times are from the Sannomaru Shozokan museum's access notes, since the museum sits inside the gardens. The same page says Hirakawa-mon and Kitahanebashi-mon close on Mondays, Fridays and East Gardens closure days, so Ote-mon is the gate to plan around.
Coming from the airport with bags? Our Narita and Haneda to central Tokyo guide covers Tokyo Station arrivals; leave suitcases in a station locker before walking over.
Sannomaru Shozokan reopens on 3 November 2026
The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan, has been shut under a temporary closure notice issued in April 2025. Its home page schedules the grand opening for Tuesday 3 November 2026, and unlike the gardens it is not free.
The opening exhibition, "Beauty Through the Ages", runs from 3 November 2026 to 24 January 2027 in three rotations of different works:
- Tickets: ¥2,500 for a date-and-time ticket reserved in advance through ART PASS or Seven Ticket; no tickets at the door, no cancellations, and up to two date changes.
- Free with a reservation: anyone under 23 (ID showing date of birth), and university, high school and junior high students (student ID).
- Free without a reservation: elementary-age children and younger with a parent, and disability certificate holders with one carer.
- Hours: 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30); Fridays and Saturdays until 20:00 (last entry 19:30).
- Closed: Mondays except 23 November and 11 January, plus 24–25 November, 22 December, 28 December – 3 January and 12 January.
- Sale dates: rotation two (26 November – 20 December) goes on sale 11 November at 10:00; rotation three (23 December – 24 January) on 2 December.
Want to see more of the palace? The grounds tour
The East Gardens cover the old Honmaru and keep site of Edo Castle, not the palace itself. To walk past the palace buildings, join the agency's free guided palace grounds tour, which starts at Kikyo-mon Gate.
According to the agency's tour guidelines and its April 2026 leaflet:
- Times: 10:00 and 13:30, about 2.2 km and roughly one hour on foot with little shade.
- Online booking: opens at 5:00 on the 1st of the month before your visit, closes at 23:59 four days before.
- Same day: numbered tickets at Kikyo-mon Gate from 9:00 (morning tour) and 12:30 (afternoon tour), up to 300 per tour.
- ID: passport, driving licence or student ID, and the leaflet asks foreign travellers for a passport; photocopies are refused.
- No tours: Sundays, Mondays, national holidays not falling on a Saturday, afternoons from 1 July to 30 September, and 28 December – 4 January.
- Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.
Kikyo-mon is about 10 minutes from Nijubashi-mae Station (Exit 6) or Otemachi Station (Exit D2), and about 15 minutes from Tokyo Station's Marunouchi Central Exit.
