Kyoto Imperial Palace: Kenreimon Gate

In front of you is the Kenreimon, the main gate on the south side of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. It is the most solemn gate in the compound: only the emperor, the empress and foreign heads of state pass through it. Everyone else goes in by other gates.

1Five centuries of court life

This palace began as an aristocratic mansion, the Tsuchimikado-dono, used as a temporary residence. In 1337 Emperor Kōmyō took it over as the official palace, and emperors went on living here until the Meiji era. Their power was more symbolic than real: while shoguns governed from Kamakura, Muromachi or Edo, the court kept up its rituals, its poetry and its legitimacy in Kyoto.

The palace burned many times. Most of today’s buildings come from the rebuilding that followed the fire of 1854, which faithfully imitated the style of the Heian period. Look at the five white lines on the wall: they mark the highest rank a compound could have.

2The emperor’s farewell

In 1869 the young Emperor Meiji moved to Tokyo, and Kyoto stopped being the seat of the court after a thousand years. Even so, the palace did not lose its ceremonies: in the great Shishinden hall, just behind this gate, the enthronements of Emperor Taishō, in 1915, and Emperor Shōwa were held.

Every 15 May, the procession of the Aoi Matsuri, with courtiers dressed in Heian fashion, sets off from in front of this gate.

3What to look for

• The cypress-bark roof, a technique reserved for noble buildings.
• The five white lines on the wall, a sign of imperial rank.
• The gravel forecourt, designed for processions.