Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building
Imperial Palace, Kyoto
- Tue to Sat
- 10:00 to 17:00
- Mon, Sun
- Closed
- 2nd and 4th Sat
- Closed
Open on Saturdays of the first, third and fifth weeks only. Closed on public holidays and at New Year, and when rooms are in official use.
Source: pref.kyoto.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Finished in 1904, this brick Renaissance-style building was the prefecture's headquarters until 1971 and still has working offices, which makes it the oldest government building in Japan in use in its original form. You can walk into the main hall, the old governor's office, the old dining room and the old assembly chamber, and it's free.
Insider tip
The courtyard has seven cherry trees of six kinds, including a Gion weeping cherry, and in 2026 they were lit up at night from 28 March to 5 April for the Kanousai festival. Salon de 1904, a cafe run by Kyoto's Maeda Coffee, is in the south-east corner of the ground floor. Groups of ten or more need to book.
What's on at Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building
Upcoming events at Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building and within a ten-minute walk, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Cherry Festival at the Old Kyoto Prefectural Office
京都府庁旧本館 観桜祭
Time 10:00 to 17:00, light-up 18:00 to 20:00 to 5 April Station Marutamachi (Karasuma Line), 10 min walk
Seven cherries fill the courtyard of the old prefectural office, an Important Cultural Property, among them a grandchild of Maruyama Park's first weeping cherry and the rare Katamori-zakura. It's lit up in the evenings for the first week.
J o, CC BY-SA 3.0 Inoko-sai at Goo Shrine
亥子祭
Time From 17:00 Station Marutamachi (Karasuma Line), 6 min walk
Goo Shrine, guarded by stone boars, re-creates a Heian court custom in which inoko rice cakes are pounded and carried to the Imperial Palace by a procession in court dress, then shared with visitors back at the shrine. You can join the procession in a boar-crested jacket for an offering of ¥1,000 or more on the day.
Brakeet, CC0 1.0 Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages)
時代祭
Time Leaves the Imperial Palace 12:00, Karasuma Oike about 12:50, Heian Shrine about 14:30 Station Marutamachi or Imadegawa (Karasuma Line)
Heian Shrine's festival is a 2 km costume parade of about 2,000 people, 70 horses and two oxen, walking back through history from the Meiji Restoration loyalists to the Heian court, and it leaves the Imperial Palace at noon. Paid seats are set up in the palace grounds, on Oike-dori and on Jingu-michi, and rain moves it to 23 Oct.
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 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 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 Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building?
- Shimodachiuri-dori Shinmachi Nishi-iru, Yabunouchi-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市上京区下立売通新町西入薮ノ内町).
- What are the opening hours of Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building?
- Tue to Sat 10:00 to 17:00; Closed Mon, Sun; Closed 2nd and 4th Sat. Open on Saturdays of the first, third and fifth weeks only. Closed on public holidays and at New Year, and when rooms are in official use.
- How do I get to Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building?
- The nearest station is Marutamachi (Karasuma Line). Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building is in Imperial Palace, Kyoto.
- How much does Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building cost?
- Nothing. Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building?
- Plan for 45 min.
- When is the best time to visit Kyoto Prefectural Old Main Building?
- Late March to early April.
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