The Imperial Palace's "Hidden" Store

Above, the main gate to the Imperial Palace at the Nijubashi Bridge.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

RocketNews24 has an article about a shop that even not many Japanese are aware of, and it's located on the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

It begins with:

The Imperial Palace of Japan is a popular destination for tourists around the world. Aside from being the residence of the modern line of Japanese emperors, it’s also known for being the location of Edo Castle, home to the Tokugawa Shogunate. Being such a place steeped in culture and history, it’s definitely worth checking out, but that’s not the only reason. Tucked away in the imperial palace is a little known shop humbly called Kunaicho Seikatsu Kyodokumiai (Imperial Household Agency Cooperative) which sells food and items related to the imperial household. These items can only be found at this shop and they can’t be bought on-line.

The article contains photos of different items that are available for purchase. They sell items "from food to stationery to alcohol."

There's one catch:  The only way one can go shop at Kunaicho Seikatsu Kyodokumiai is by reservation. You don't need a reservation to just visit the store, but you need to make reservations for the Imperial Palace tour, and it is a very popular tour. A stop at the store is part of the tour. Reservations are accepted up to about two months in advance for the Imperial Palace tour. A stop at the store is part of the tour. The article provides more details on this.

To read the article, go here.