Having alighted at Nijubashi Station, we made our way across Kokyogaien National Garden, the large plaza in front of the Palace that leads to the main entrance to the Palace grounds, the Nijubashi (Double Bridge). The stone bridge in front is called Meganebashi (Eyeglass Bridge) while the one in the rear, formerly a wooden bridge with two levels was apparently the actual Nijubashi.
As it turned out, despite sharing a name with the bridge Nijubashi station wasn’t that close.
Once we’d hiked across the plaza and taken the photos to prove we’d been there we needed a guide book or map that would give us some idea about what we wanted to look at. It wasn’t as if we were actually going to gain admission to the actual Palace grounds. They’re only open to the public on January 2 for the New Year's Greeting and December 23 (the Emperor's Birthday).
There was a police officer on duty next to the bridge, and he wasn’t entirely sure about maps, guide books and such either. He did, however, point us back the way we came, suggesting there were restrooms over that way, and, possibly, an information booth.
As it turned out, he was right, though the whole thing was a bit further than expected.
Once we’d investigated, got our bearings, checked out the options and made a decision we headed off towards the section of the Palace complex that was open to the public, the old Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru compounds that now comprise the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace.
There was, however, a slight technical difficulty. The East Gardens are “open to the public throughout the year except on Mondays, Fridays and special occasions. Predictably we’d made our way all the way along the outer moat to the bridge that takes you to Otemon Gate, and could, I suppose have consoled ourselves by continuing around the moat towards Kitanomaru National Garden, where we could have checked out the Budokan Hall, the Science Museum and the National Museum of Modern Art, but lunch somewhere in the Tokyo Station complex sounded like a far better idea.
And it was closer.