By AKIKO TADA/ Staff Writer
March 15, 2023 at 18:20 JST
Visitors admire the cherry blossoms on Inui Street on the Imperial Palace grounds on March 30, 2019. (Hiroyuki Yamamoto)
A street that crosses through the Imperial Palace in Tokyo will be open to the public for cherry blossom viewing for the first time in four years from March 25 to April 2, the Imperial Household Agency announced.
The Somei-Yoshino cherry blossom trees that line Inui Street running north to south through the palace grounds will peak during the period.
It will be the first time for the street to be open for cherry blossom viewing following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
Visitors must disinfect their hands and let officials take their temperatures before entering the street, the agency said on March 15.
The agency might also restrict the number of visitors if it becomes too crowded.
Inui Street will be open to the public between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Visitors must leave by 4 p.m.
Visitors can enter through the Sakashita-mon gate of the Imperial Palace closest to Tokyo Station and exit through the Inui-mon gate. Entry is free.
Additional information is available on the Imperial Household Agency’s website at (https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/).
The tree-lined Inui Street stretches for around 600 meters from the Sakashita-mon gate to the Inui-mon gate.
The street was made available to the public for the first time in 2014 to commemorate Emperor Emeritus Akihito’s 80th birthday.
Since then, opening it to the public biannually occurred in the spring and autumn, but restrictions due to the novel coronavirus pandemic suspended the practice.
In November, the autumn event was held for the first time in three years.
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