Japan's Imperial Palace partly opens to public for autumn leaves

Visitors view the autumn leaves along the Inui road of the Imperial Palace of Japan, Dec 3, 2014. [Photo/IC]??

TOKYO -- Part of the Imperial Palace of Japan was opened to the public from Wednesday to Sunday to commemorate Japanese Emperor Akihito's 80th birthday on Dec 23 last year, local media reported.

The five-day event will allow visitors to view the autumn leaves along the Inui road, which is across the palace in the middle. A similar event in April drew about 385,000 people to see the cherry blossoms.

The Inui road is open from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. during the event. Before the gate opened on Wednesday, more than 6,000 people had lined up at the entrance near the Tokyo station.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, the number of visitors had reached 47,510 by afternoon. Except for the agency and the east gardens, the palace is generally off limits to the public.