Nagoya Castle
Nagoya has a special attraction because it is a fusion of historical and industrial city that creates economic power, while displaying the modern side of this city. Nagoya, which has an area of 326.5 km2 and a population of 2.3 million people, has a railway station which was recorded in the Guinness book of records because transportation facilities are under a skyscraper, and became part of the first underground shopping center at Japan. Heritage that can be visited include Nagoya Castle was built by Shogun Tokugawa in 1612 that became a symbol of the city of Nagoya.Nagoya Castle was built in 1610 on the order of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He appointed Kato Kiyomasa and Todo Takatora as contractors for the colossal project. Most of the castle’s materials were sourced from Kiyosu. The Donjon construction was completed in 1612, while Hommaru Palace, located on the south side, was completed three years later. The palace that once housed the Owari Tokugawa clan of the Tokugawa family for 17 generations had secured the important Tokaido line, a road that linked the two capitals of Kyoto and Edo (now Tokyo), and repelled attacks from Osaka.
Almost all the buildings in this complex were destroyed by fire in May 1945, during the World War II. The main donjon, a smaller three-storey donjon adjacent to it and the Hommaru Palace were burned down. What remained were three towers at the corner of the complex, three gates and most of the paintings on the walls and sliding doors of Hommaru Palace. This historic complex was reconstructed on a large scale in 1959.
On the first and third floor, a variety of war armaments, agriculture tools, kitchen utensils and everyday trinkets used by the people of the time are displayed. One of the more interesting exhibits is the replica of the bookstore “Honya” from the Edo period (1603-1868). The exhibit halls are very modern; matching those of world-class European museums complete with full atmosphere control, elevators connecting every floor and careful orchestra of lighting and ethereal background music that indomitably take us back 400 years to the time when the shoguns ruled the land. Also available on the first floor is a three-dimensional theatre showing films about Hommaru Palace. The palace, which stands on the south side of the donjon, is touted as an architectural masterpiece of modern Japanese castles along with the Ninomaru Palace at Nijo Castle, Kyoto.
The Nagoya city government is now trying to reconstruct Hommaru Palace. The building will be opened in stages beginning later this year and targeted to be completed in 2018. To support the plan, they launched the “Nagoya Castle Hommaru Palace Fund”, which aims to solicit donations from the public and private parties. Once completed, the palace is to be the showroom for the remaining paintings that had been salvaged from the fire tragedy in 1945. These paintings are particularly significant because they were produced by master artists such as Kano Sadanobu and Kano Tanyu from Kano School, a legendary painting school in the history of Japan. Since 1992, the paintings were in for a restoration project to restore their faded colours.
The exterior of Nagoya Castle looks stunning no matter which angle you observe it from. It is made even more stunning thanks to the presence of a variety of blooming flowers that follow the changing seasons. In the winter, visitors can see the Japanese witch hazel, Japanese quince and wintersweet. Then in the summer there appear iris, plantain lily and hydrangeas. Without a doubt the most elegant vista comes in the spring, when the cherry blossoms, wisteria and even peonies (one of the rarest and most expensive flowers) all bloom in perfect unison in the Ninomaru Garden, on the east side of the main donjon. Nagoya Castle (www.nagoyajo.city.nagoya.jp) is open daily from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm with an admission fee of 500 yen or about Rp 54,000.
Nagoya Castle
Nagoya Castle
reference : garuda magazine
Photo : Okinawa Soba and Rekishi no Tabi
