皇城二重橋

About this photo

This photograph shows the bridge leading to the main gate of the Imperial Palace, with a horse-drawn carriage passing in front. It appears in Nihon Fukei Fuzoku Shashincho (Photo Album of Japanese Scenery and Customs), published in 1910 (Meiji 43), whose English caption describes it as the main approach to the Imperial Palace.

Nijubashi, meaning "double bridge," was originally the name of the Seimon Tetsubashi (Main Gate Iron Bridge) farther back. The wooden bridge that stood there in the Edo period had its girders built in two levels, one above the other, to span the deep moat, which gave it the name. Today the name is also used for the pair, together with the Seimon Ishibashi (Main Gate Stone Bridge) in front. The stone bridge was built in 1887 and the iron bridge the next year, and in the autumn of that same year, 1888, the Meiji Palace was completed behind them.

The iron bridge was rebuilt in 1964. It is normally closed, but visitors can cross it on public tours of the palace and at the public greetings for the New Year and the Emperor's Birthday.

Glossary