KYOTO–Although the safety of imperial family members was never really in question, wartime authorities constructed 11 air-raid shelters in the grounds of the Kyoto Imperial Palace after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Asahi Shimbun learned of this activity through an information disclosure request of the Imperial Household Agency’s archives.

With the Meiji Restoration, the imperial family moved from this ancient capital to Tokyo in 1869. Even so, 11 shelters were constructed and seven more in the neighboring Omiya Imperial Palace and Kyoto Gyoen garden.

The structures were built primarily to protect palace employees and others, as well as ensure that the imperial family’s assets remained safe.

According to the documents, the 18 bomb shelters were constructed between December 1941 and February 1942. Allied forces started bombing mainland Japan on April 18, 1942.

Asahi Shimbun article