Running the Imperial Palace Loop: A Complete Guide to Tokyo's 5K

The Imperial Palace loop is the most famous running route in Japan, and for once the famous thing deserves it: a 5km circuit around a 400-year-old moat with no traffic lights, no intersections, and no way to get lost.

Here is everything you need to run it.

The Imperial Palace loop at a glance

• Distance: almost exactly 5 km for one lap
• Direction: counterclockwise — everyone runs this way
• Surface: paved footpath, one sustained climb on the western side
• Start point: Sakuradamon Gate (Sakuradamon Station, Yurakucho Line), or Nijubashi-mae, 3 minutes away
• Cost: free, open at all hours
• Best time: weekdays, 5:00–6:30am
• Facilities: no lockers on the loop itself; runner's stations nearby, roughly ¥800–1,000

Full access details, facilities and seasonal notes are on the Imperial Palace Loop course page.

Why run the Imperial Palace loop first

Most travellers fight jet lag. Runners get to use it.

If you land in Tokyo from the US or Europe, your body will wake you between 4 and 5am whether you like it or not. That is precisely when this loop is at its best.

One clean lap around the palace moat needs no navigation — keep the moat on one side and you end up where you started. At almost exactly 5km it also makes a perfect measuring stick: one lap for an easy shakeout, two for a real session, three if you're training through your trip.

Here's what the guidebooks don't tell you: this run works best on your first morning, at dawn, precisely because of jet lag. The loop at 5:30am is a different place than the loop at 6pm. In the evening it's a runner's highway — hundreds of people, a steady stream. At dawn, you get the moat glassy and still, herons standing in the shallows, the stone walls catching the first light, and the office towers of Otemachi glowing behind 400-year-old fortifications. That contrast — Edo-era stone against glass skyscrapers — is the single most Tokyo view I know.

Which direction do you run the Imperial Palace loop?

The loop has etiquette, and locals notice:

• Run counterclockwise. Everyone does. Running against the flow marks you instantly as someone who didn't do their homework — and at busy times it's genuinely disruptive.
• Keep left, pass right. Same as Japanese roads.
• No headphones blasting, no side-by-side walls of runners. The path is shared with cyclists and commuters.

That's it. Three rules and you'll blend right in.

The Imperial Palace running route, kilometre by kilometre

Start anywhere — it's a loop — but the classic starting point is Sakuradamon Gate, easy to reach from Sakuradamon Station (Yurakucho Line) or a short jog from Tokyo Station or Hibiya.

Running counterclockwise from Sakuradamon:

1. Sakuradamon to Hanzomon (km 1–2): This is the climb. The loop's only real hill, a long steady grade up the western side. It looks gentle and it lies. Pace yourself.
2. Hanzomon to Chidorigafuchi (km 2–3): The reward. You're at the top now, and if you're here in late March or early April, Chidorigafuchi is one of Tokyo's great cherry blossom spots — the moat turns into a pink tunnel. Even outside sakura season, this stretch has the best greenery on the loop.
3. Kudanshita down to Takebashi (km 3–4): The descent. Open up your stride. The moat widens, the views open toward the modern city.
4. Takebashi to Otemachi to Sakuradamon (km 4–5): Flat, fast, and skyline the whole way. This is where you get that stone-walls-and-skyscrapers shot everyone posts. It's better in person.

Lockers, showers, water and toilets near the palace

Lockers and showers: You don't need to run from your hotel. The area around the palace has several runner's stations (ランステ) — small gyms built specifically for palace runners, offering lockers, showers, and towel rental. Run Pit near Hibiya and the stations around Kanda/Jimbocho are popular options; expect to pay roughly ¥800–1,000 for a locker-and-shower visit.

Water: There are vending machines near the gates and water fountains at a few points on the loop, but at 5am, grab a bottle from a konbini beforehand. (And after the run, konbini protein — but that's a whole separate article. It's linked at the bottom.)

Toilets: Public toilets near Sakuradamon and in the parks along the route. Clean, because this is Japan.

When to go:

• Best: Weekday, 5:00–6:30am. Quiet, cool, magical light.
• Busiest: Weekday evenings 6–9pm and weekend mornings. Still fine, just crowded.
• Avoid: Midday in July–August. Tokyo summer is not a joke — 32°C with humidity that makes it feel like running through miso soup.

How many laps should you run?

Here's my honest advice: do one easy lap on your jet-lagged first morning, no watch pressure, just take it in. Then come back later in your trip and race yourself. The loop has kilometre markers, and the vending machine at the end tastes like victory.

If you track your runs, the palace lap is one of the most-run Strava segments in Japan — search "Imperial Palace" in the segment explorer and you'll find the standard counterclockwise loop, along with a leaderboard that will humble you. Half the fun of running here is seeing how deep the local field goes.

By your second lap you'll notice the regulars — the 70-year-old man who's clearly been running this loop since before you were born, the office workers squeezing in a session before their 9am, the occasional national-team-looking athlete floating past like gravity is optional. You're not a tourist out there. You're just another runner on the loop. That's the whole point.

If 5 km a lap is more than you want to commit to on day one, the other properly marked loop in Tokyo is at Komazawa Olympic Park in Setagaya — a flat 2.1 km circuit around a park built for the 1964 Games. Once you start the palace loop there is no sensible way to cut it short; at Komazawa you get an exit every two kilometres, which is the more forgiving arrangement when you have no idea what your legs are going to do. It is also where local clubs do their intervals, so you will have company.

Have you run the palace loop — or is it on your list for your first Tokyo morning? Tell me when your flight lands and I'll tell you exactly what the light will look like.

Prefer to run with a local? Our guided Kamakura Sunrise Run works the same jet-lag magic one hour south of Tokyo — temples, ocean, and the Great Buddha at opening time. Launching soon.

Run Eat Japan — run, eat, explore. Real routes, real food, no tourist traps.