The Takanawa Gate was located on the northeast side of the Sengakuji intersection on
Japan National Route 15. Initially, the main entrance to Edo was built in 1616 at
Shibaguchi, near what is now
Hamamatsucho Station; however, as the city rapidly expanded, the gate was moved 700 meters to the south, just outside
Shinagawa-juku. The new structure was completed in 1710. The wooden gate was set up between earthen ramparts measuring nine meters wide by 7.2 meters thick by three meters high, and was painted black. The gate itself was abolished during the latter half of the
Edo period, although the security checkpoint remained to enforce the Shogun's regulations that no weapons be permitted into Edo, and no women were permitted to leave, without official permission. The gate was opened at dawn and closed at dusk.
Inō Tadataka, famed for his maps of Japan, used this location as the
base point for his surveys. The stone wall on the west side was removed in the first year of the
Meiji period, and now only the stone wall on the east side remains. The site is marked by a monument, and is short walk from the A4 exit of
Sengakuji Station on the
Toei Asakusa Line. On March 14, 2020
Takanawa Gateway Station on the
JR East Yamanote Line opened nearby. ==See also==