The Emperor's residence is located in central Tokyo on the grounds of the former Edo Castle. In 1457, Ota Dokan built a fortress on this site, and it became the official residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1590. Ieyasu expanded the fortress after he established his Shogunate in 1603, changing it into a huge castle. Edo Castle was the Shogun's residence and the center of political power in Japan until the Shogunate collapsed in 1868 during the Meiji restoration. The castle and its grounds occupied an area of about 1 million square meters, making it one of the largest castles in the world. It became the Imperial Palace when Emperor Meiji moved there from Kyoto after the Meiji Restoration. Parts of the castle's main, secondary and tertiary enclosures are now open to the general public, and have become a place of relaxation and enjoyment for the people of Tokyo.

This castle was built in 1580 by Sakuma Morimasa, and became the residence of Maeda Toshiie in 1583. It remained in the hands of the Maeda family for 14 generations. Kanazawa flourished for 300 years as the center of the Kaga domain (now part of Ishikawa Prefecture). The castle buildings were roofed with namari-gawara (wooden planks covered with lead sheeting) so that they could withstand the weight of the snow that falls heavily here every winter. In 1759, much of the castle was lost in a huge fire. Later fires also took a toll, and today we can see only some of the castle walls and a few old buildings, such as the Ishikawa-mon Gate at the former rear entrance (the karamete-mon ), and a long warehouse called the sanjikken-nagaya .