The Imperial Palace loop in Tokyo for runners

Running around the palace is a ritual for many Tokyo office workers. GO TOKYO describes a fairly easy 5.3 km flat run with no cars or traffic lights, taking in the outskirts of the Imperial Palace.¹ The loop circles the moat, so it passes gates, stone walls and watchtowers that belong to old Edo Castle. For a visitor the run doubles as a first tour: you will see the grounds from the outside before you walk through the East Gardens on another day.

The park authority puts the wider area in context. The grounds are a little over a square kilometer, with a plaza, 12 moats and Kitanomaru Garden.^7,8 The loop is a path along the outside of that.

A short distance suits a first visit, and it fits easily into a morning before sightseeing, with time left to shower, eat and still reach the museums when they open. On a 5.3 km loop you can plan a fast circuit or a slow circuit with photographs, and the flat surface suits runners of any level.¹

You do not need to arrive in running kit. GO TOKYO names Runners Station next to Kojimachi Station, Joglis at Hanzomon Station and Adidas Runbase at Nagatacho Station as places to rest and change.³ All have rental lockers, refreshments and showers for a fee.⁴

The same guide notes that the route has runner stations with showers, refreshments and maps.¹⁶ There are also drinking fountains and clean bathrooms along the route.¹⁷

Those details come from an older GO TOKYO guide, so confirm prices and opening hours with each station before you rely on them. Station lockers elsewhere remain the fallback for a bag, and a hotel front desk can usually hold luggage if you prefer to run light. Choose a station by where you are staying: the three sit on different sides of the loop, so the nearest one saves a long warm-up walk.

The park is a national garden, and its rules apply to runners as well. Smoking, including e-cigarettes, is prohibited,³⁵ and sports other than jogging and marathons are prohibited along with play equipment.³⁸

The park authority also asks for permission before group runs. Permission is required for jogging or marathons in groups of over 20 people.¹⁵ The Japanese guidance adds that group use by 20 or more people, unless a stroll rather than sport, needs approval from the Kokyo Gaien office.⁶

For ordinary runners, none of that applies. Run as an individual or in a small group and you can start whenever you like, as long as you keep to the direction and the etiquette. Keep headphones low enough to hear a bell or a call from behind, and step aside before you stop for a photograph.

GO TOKYO lists other courses in the same guide. Komazawa Olympic Park has a tree-shaded 2.1 km course,¹³ and Meiji Jingu Gaien has a 1.5 km path looping around the park.¹²

Many people run the 9 km stretch along the Sumida River from Asakusa to Tsukishima.¹⁴ The palace loop is the one that gives you history in every bend, with the moat on one side and gates on the other. A slow lap with a camera is a perfectly good way to use it, and nobody on the path will mind.

Pair the run with a walk, a coffee and a slow look at the stonework you ran past. After a shower at a runner station, the East Gardens are free to enter and a short walk away.⁴¹ The Viator walking tour behind this site starts from $13. Runners share the path with walkers, so keep to the outer edge and pass with care.