Okurumayose

The Tsuiji-bei wall surrounding the Kyoto Imperial Palace has six gates, each used for different purposes. Among them, the Gishumon Gate, located in the southwest, was used by the Emperor Emeritus, Imperial family members, and highest-ranking court nobles, who officially visited to the palace. Therefore, the gate was also called as the"Kugemon “, which refers to “the gate for highest-ranking court nobles".　
As you pass through the Gishumon Gate, diagonally to the right, you can see the Okurumayose with its karahafu (curved gable) roof. The Okurumayose served as the official entrance for high-ranking court nobles, which is derived from the entrance created in the middle of the corridor in aristocratic residences during the Heian period. The Okurumayose is created in the middle of a long north-south corridor. Heading north leads to the office of court officials and the other buildings situated further north of the Kogosho, while heading south leads to the rooms of the Shodaibu-no-ma and the Seiryōden.　
The use of the Okurumayose was exclusively reserved for the highest-ranking court nobles. Furthermore, among them, only a select few were permitted to bring their vehicles directly to this entrance. Others had to enter the palace building from the Shodaibu-no-ma, located south of the Okurumayose.　When entering the Okurumayose with a palanquin or other vehicle, it was customary to get into a palanquin from the front and get out from the rear.　
In the late Edo period, the shogun's visit to Kyoto occurred for the first time in about 230 years. In 1863 (Bunkyū 3), the Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi got out of his palanquin outside the Gishumon Gate and walked on foot to the Okurumayose to enter the palace. The following year, during his second visit, his treatment was improved, and he was permitted to ride his palanquin directly to the Okurumayose to enter the palace.