The "Inui-dori Public Opening" for Imperial Palace autumn colors ran for five days through Wednesday the 9th and ended successfully. Palaceside Building peeked into view across the moat just before Inui-mon＝photo above.
Held twice in 2014 for cherry blossoms and autumn colors to mark His Majesty's 80th birthday in December 2013, the event was so popular it became regular from this year (though suspended next autumn and spring 2017 for tree renewal).
As the second round, crowds were somewhat lighter than last year. Someone who went mid-afternoon on the final day said entry at Sakashita-mon was quicker than the year before, with time to enjoy brilliantly red iroha maples along the west side of Hasuike Moat to Inui-mon at an easy pace＝photo right. Last year topped 300,000; the first three days this year drew 110,000, so the final total was probably around 200,000.
Palaceside Building opened specially on Sunday, December 6, when we are normally closed. With few restaurants nearby, the dozen or so open outlets saw a fair number of customers. On other days, normal
operations brought more foot traffic than usual at lunch and other times＝photo at left.
Next up: cherry blossoms next spring, likely overlapping Chiyoda Ward's "Sakura Festival" period on Inui-dori. Look forward to it.