Matsu no Ōrōka

The Imperial Household Agency (宮内庁, Kunai-chō) (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it was known as the Imperial Household Ministry (宮内省, Kunai-shō). The Agency is unique among conventional government agencies and ministries, in that it does not directly report to the Prime Minister at the cabinet level, nor is it affected by legislation that establishes it as an Independent Administrative Institution.

Chiyoda (千代田, Chiyoda) is a district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. In Japanese it translates as a "field of a thousand generations" Chiyoda covers the grounds of the Imperial Palace, and nothing else. It does not have any subdivisions, and no chome or postal code designation. The address of the palace itself and of the Imperial Household Agency is Chiyoda 1-1, the address of the Hospital of the Imperial Household is Chiyoda 1-2, the Imperial Guard Headquarters is Chiyoda 1-3. Its small population consists of Imperial guards and dependents. The Imperial family itself is not included in the registered population.

The Imperial Palace East Gardens is a historical garden in The Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The gardens however, were first in use by the Tokugawa shogunate. There is a bridge which leads to Sakashita-mon gate nearby is the Imperial Household Agency building and Tokyo Imperial Palace (or "kyuden") The garden was built on the grounds of Edo Castle. The Ote-mon Gate functioned as the main gate of Edo Castle. It was used by the feudal lords who came to stay in the castle under the alternating attendance system of the Tokugawa shogunate, as such it was a very important gate. All the gardens areas were used as defence. They are translated as “inner circle of defense” (honmaru), “second circle of defense” (ninomaru), and “third circle of defense” (sannomaru). Suwa-no-cha-ya, was built by Emperor Meiji in 1912 and is a tea house. Emperor Meiji also lived in the Nishinomaru palace near the gardens, he lived at the Nishinomaru from 1869-73.

Kōjimachi (麹町 or 麴町) is a district in Chiyoda, Tokyo.

Edo Castle Gates (江戸城三十六見附) are the gates of Edo Castle in Tokyo. They were placed at crossing points (bridges) of castle moats. Originally, there were 36gates in all. Some remain, others completely demolished. Today, the central quarter of the castle is Tokyo Imperial Palace. So, some gates on the inner moats are still used as security check points. However, most on the outer moats don't exist. Some district in Tokyo are named after the castle gates.Gate is "Mon" (門) in Japanese. Bridge is "Hashi" or "Bashi" (橋).

The Ōoku (大奥, "great interior") refers to the women's quarters of Edo Castle, the section where the women connected to the reigning shōgun resided. Similar areas in the castles of powerful daimyō, such as the Satsuma Domain, were also referred to by this term.

Edo Castle (江戸城, Edo-jō), also known as Chiyoda Castle (千代田城, Chiyoda-jō), is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is today part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and is in Chiyoda, Tokyo (then known as Edo), Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate there. It was the residence of the shōgun and location of the shogunate, and also functioned as the military capital during the Edo period of Japanese history. After the resignation of the shōgun and the Meiji Restoration, it became the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Some moats, walls and ramparts of the castle survive to this day. However, the grounds were more extensive during the Edo period, with Tokyo Station and the Marunouchi section of the city lying within the outermost moat. It also encompassed Kitanomaru Park, the Nippon Budokan Hall and other landmarks of the surrounding area.

The Chōwaden Reception Hall (長和殿, Chōwaden) is the largest building of the Tokyo Imperial Palace located in Tokyo, Japan. It is where the Japanese emperor and other members of the Japanese imperial family appear every new year and for the emperor's birthday. It is also where some official state ceremonies and functions are held. Members of the Japanese imperial family stand behind bulletproof glass on the veranda of the Chōwaden Reception Hall when appearing before the public. It is customary for the emperor to address the people who assemble in the Kyūden Tōtei Plaza in front of the building on January 2 (the day after New Year's Day) and February 23 (Emperor Naruhito's birthday) of each year. Crowds can often be seen waving Japanese flags and shouting "BANZAI" on such occasions. At one end of the Chōwaden Reception Hall is the Kitakuruma-yose entrance for visiting dignitaries.

The Tokyo Imperial Palace (皇居, Kōkyo, literally 'Imperial Residence') is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the Fukiage Palace (吹上御所, Fukiage gosho) where the Emperor has his living quarters, the main palace (宮殿, Kyūden) where various ceremonies and receptions take place, some residences of the Imperial Family, an archive, museums and administrative offices. It is built on the site of the old Edo Castle. The total area including the gardens is 1.15 square kilometres (0.44 sq mi). During the height of the 1980s Japanese property bubble, the palace grounds were valued by some to be more than the value of all of the real estate in the U.S. state of California.

The Independent Administrative Institution National Archives of Japan (独立行政法人国立公文書館, Dokuritsu Gyosei Hojin Kokuritsu Kōbunshokan) preserve Japanese government documents and historical records and make them available to the public. Although Japan's reverence for its unique history and art is well documented and illustrated by collections of art and documents, there is almost no archivist tradition. Before the creation of the National Archives, there was a scarcity of available public documents which preserve "grey-area" records, such as internal sources to show a process which informs the formation of a specific policy or the proceedings of various committee meetings.In accordance with the National Archives Law No.79 (1999), the core function of preserving "government documents and records of importance as historical materials" includes all material relating to (1) decision-making on important items of national policies, and (2) processes of deliberation, discussion, or consultation prior to reaching any decision-making, and the process of enforcing policies based on decisions made. The transfer of what are deemed historically important materials from the various ministries and agencies is carried out on a regular basis in accordance with the Transfer Plan prepared and revised by the Prime Minister for each fiscal year. Preservation, restoration cataloging, microfilming and digitization are all important aspects of the archive's responsibilities. However, the National Archives is in the process of becoming something more than simply a historical repository, because it is also a complex of structures, processes, and epistemologies which are situated at a critical point of the intersection between scholarship, cultural practices, politics, and technologies.

The Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art (東京国立近代美術館, Tōkyō Kokuritsu Kindai Bijutsukan) in Tokyo, Japan, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art.This Tokyo museum is also known by the English acronym MOMAT (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). The museum is known for its collection of 20th-century art and includes Western-style and Nihonga artists.

Takebashi Station (竹橋駅, Takebashi-eki) is a station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Its station designation is T-08. It is located directly underneath the headquarters of the Mainichi Shimbun in the Palaceside Building and is directly adjacent to the northern edge of the Imperial Palace grounds. The station is also convenient to such attractions as the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (3 minute walk), and the Japan Science Foundation's Science Museum (7 minute walk).