Sento Imperial Palace
Imperial Palace, Kyoto
Source: kyoto-gosho.kunaicho.go.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
This second palace was built in the early 1600s for the retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo, and a fire in 1854 took most of its buildings. What's left is the big stroll garden, its tea houses and a pebble shore laid with about 110,000 flat stones, each roughly 10 cm across.
Insider tip
You can only go in on a free tour in Japanese, about an hour and 1 km on foot, with free audio guides in English and other languages. Apply online from the 1st of the month three months before your date, or queue at the gate from 8:40 for one of at least 50 same-day places. Bring your passport, and note that under-18s aren't admitted.
What's on near Sento Imperial Palace
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Sento Imperial Palace, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Rozan-ji Autumn Special Opening (62nd Kyoto Non-public Cultural Properties Opening)
第62回京都非公開文化財特別公開（廬山寺）
Time 9:00 to 16:30, last admission 16:00. Dec 3 admission ends at noon. Talks Nov 22 at 14:00, Nov 29 at 10:00, Dec 5 at 14:00
Autumn special opening of Rozan-ji, with three short talks by the chief administrator included in admission.
663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0 Nijo Castle and the Opening of the Edo Shogunate
特別展「二条城と江戸開府～慶長から寛永の京の城～」
Time 9:00 to 17:00 (closed Mon, holidays, 28 Dec to 4 Jan) Station Jingu-Marutamachi (Keihan)
Old documents, picture scrolls and maps trace Nijo Castle from Tokugawa Ieyasu's building of it to the 1626 imperial visit, with gallery talks on 19 Nov and 3 Dec. Closed Mondays and holidays.
Hagi Matsuri at Nashinoki Shrine
萩まつり（梨木神社）
Time Tea 10:00 to 15:00 Station Furitsu-Idai-Byoin-mae bus stop (City Bus 4, 17, 205)
More than 500 bush clover plants flower in the grounds of the shrine known as the Hagi no Miya, with visitors' poems tied to the branches. The festival weekend has archery, iaido, dance and music offerings and a tea seat for ¥1,200.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Jidai Matsuri
時代祭
Time Procession from 12:00 Station Marutamachi or Imadegawa (Karasuma Line)
About 2,000 Kyoto people in costume from the city's thousand years as capital form a 2-kilometre procession, running back in time from the Meiji Restoration to the Heian period. It leaves the Imperial Palace at 12:00 for Heian Shrine and takes about two hours to pass, there are paid seats in Kyoto Gyoen, on Oike-dori and on Jingu-michi, and rain moves it to the next day.
DavideGorla, CC BY 2.0 Kan'ei Imperial Procession Re-enactment (400th Anniversary)
寛永行幸四百年祭 行幸行列再現
Time Leaves Kenreimon about 12:30, reaches Nijo Castle east gate about 15:00 Station Marutamachi or Imadegawa (Karasuma Line)
About 330 people re-create Emperor Go-Mizunoo's 1626 procession to Nijo Castle in three groups, led by Empress Masako, the shogun Iemitsu and the emperor, with court musicians, walking about 3 km from the palace's Kenreimon gate. It goes ahead in light rain but not heavy rain, and Nijo Castle's last entry that day is at noon.
DavideGorla, CC BY 2.0 Smaller local events nearby
Monthly Gan-Daishi Goma Service at Rozan-ji Festival
Tue 3 Nov, Thu 3 Dec, Sun 3 Jan · Rozan-ji, Imperial Palace
Monthly fire ritual service at the Gan-Daishi Hall at 13:30 on the 3rd of each month.
Map · Source: Rozan-ji · 元三会護摩供（廬山寺）
Nearby
Around Imperial Palace
Free palace walks, a park that never shuts, and the court's old shops
Kyoto Gyoen, a park 1.3 km long in central Kyoto, never closes. The Kyoto Imperial Palace sits inside it, and you can walk round it for free without booking. Around the edges you'll find Shokoku-ji (head of the Zen branch that takes in Kinkaku-ji), the house site where The Tale of Genji was written, and shops that once supplied the court.
Imperial Palace has 23 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 6 shrines and temples, 5 landmarks, 3 museums, 2 cafes, 2 restaurants, 2 shops, 2 parks and gardens and 1 bar. Read the Imperial Palace guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Sento Imperial Palace?
- Kyoto Gyoen, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市上京区京都御苑内).
- How do I get to Sento Imperial Palace?
- The nearest station is Marutamachi (Karasuma Line). Sento Imperial Palace is in Imperial Palace, Kyoto.
- How much does Sento Imperial Palace cost?
- Nothing. Sento Imperial Palace is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Sento Imperial Palace?
- Plan for 1 hour.
- When is the best time to visit Sento Imperial Palace?
- The 9:30 tour.
Stay near Sento Imperial Palace
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