The Sentō Imperial Palace, immediately adjacent to the main Imperial Palace inside Kyoto Gyoen, was historically the residence of retired emperors. The palace buildings themselves were destroyed by fire in 1854 and never rebuilt, but the gardens — a Kobori Enshū design of 1630, modified by Emperor Go-Mizunoo himself — survive and have continued in use, hosting visiting heads of state and members of the imperial family.
The gardens are arranged around two ponds joined by a stream, with a teahouse on the bank of the north pond and a long curving cobbled shore (suhama) on the south. Access is by free guided tour with passport and pre-booking through the Imperial Household Agency. The visit takes about an hour and is one of the best windows in Kyoto onto early-Edo aristocratic garden design.