Mr. Hubbard to Mr. Bayard.
Tokio , February 5, 1889. (Received March 1.)
Sir: I have the honor to inform the Department that His Majesty the Emperor removed on the 11th ultimo to the new Imperial palace which has just been completed on the site of the palace burned in 1873.
When the Emperor removed from Kyoto to Tokio in 1868 he took up his residence in the palace formerly occupied by the Tycoon. This palace was burned in May, 1873, and since that time His Majesty has occupied the spacious premises in another part of the city known as the Akasaka Palace.
The new palace proper and the Imperial household department offices are, while distinct in architecture, closely connected by covered passages. The head of the household department, it should be remarked en passant, is a cabinet minister.
The palace proper was constructed entirely under the direction of Japanese architects, in Japanese and foreign styles of architecture. The department buildings have been constructed in the foreign style of architecture, and by Japanese architects assisted by foreign architects.
The cost of the palace and the department buildings amounted to 3,967,231.56 yen.
After the completion of the new palace a large number of Japanese and foreign residents were permitted by the Government to visit it, and a number of our countrymen availed themselves of the opportunity.
I have, etc.,