Curiosity

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters Site

Address: 2-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Area: Tokyo, Japan

Mon: 09:00–16:00
Tue: 09:00–16:00
Wed: 09:00–16:00
Thu: 09:00–16:00
Fri: 09:00–16:00
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Hours: Tours run on weekdays at 09:00, 10:45, 13:00 and 14:45; unavailable on public holidays and during the year-end/New Year holidays.
How to visit: The interior is accessible only through a guided tour with advance telephone reservation. Photography is allowed only in designated areas; video and audio recording are prohibited. The usual minimum age is third grade of elementary school.
Hours: Book ahead
Hours: Good with children
Hours: Fine in the rain
Hours: About 75 min

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters Site — Nesnad, CC BY 4.0

Why it is worth the detour

Rebel troops occupied the police headquarters beside Sakuradamon early on February 26, temporarily neutralizing the civilian force expected to defend the capital. The police leadership rejected proposals for a direct armed counterattack, leaving the army to suppress its own mutiny.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters Site is a hidden gem known for its historical significance during a 1936 mutiny. It offers a unique glimpse into Tokyo's tumultuous past.

What else is close by

The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.

450 m
Sakuradamon Gate
The 1620s gate of Edo Castle where in 1860 the shogun's chief minister Ii Naosuke was assassinated in the snow.
500 m
Hibiya Park
Opened in 1903 as Japan's first Western-style modern urban park, Hibiya became a stage for concerts, demonstrations and mass politics.
600 m
National Diet Building
The Lockheed scandal became national theater here when Marubeni executives testified before the House of Representatives Budget Committee in February and March 1976. Their denials about coded “peanuts” receipts were later judged to be false testimony, fixing the word “peanuts” in Japan’s political vocabulary as shorthand for covert money.
750 m
Prime Minister's Official Residence (Former Prime Minister's Office)
Rebels stormed this 1929 building seeking Prime Minister Okada Keisuke but killed his brother-in-law, Matsuo Denzō, after mistaking him for Okada. The prime minister hid inside for more than a day and escaped among visitors arriving to mourn his supposed death; the historic building was later shifted within the compound and converted into the official residence.
1.0 km
Tokyo Imperial Palace
The Imperial Palace and its gardens in Chiyoda.
1.0 km
Sukiyabashi Bridge Monument
This small monument recalls the bridge that carried travelers across Edo Castle's outer moat at the entrance to Ginza. The moat was filled and Sukiyabashi removed in 1958, turning a waterside gateway famous from the radio drama and film Kimi no Na wa into an ordinary patch of city ground.