page_title: Nagoya Castle
section_title: Early restoration and expansion
hierarchical_section_title: Nagoya Castle / History / Early restoration and expansion
caption_attribution_description: English: Print from the Owari meisho zue depicting Nagoya Castle in the late Edo period seen from the west. From right: Tōshō-gū, "cormorant's neck" moat, main keep, northwestern turret, and the retreat of Lord Tokugawa Naritomo (徳川 斉朝) in Horibata-chō (堀端町) on the left. The Hori river is running below.
context_page_description: Nagoya Castle is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, central Japan. During the Edo period, Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the most important castle towns in Japan, Nagoya-juku, which was a post station on the Minoji road linking two of five important trade routes, the Tōkaidō and the Nakasendō. Another way of pronouncing Nagoya Castle is Meijō. This name is used for many city institutions, such as Meijō Park, the metro's Meijō Line and Meijo University, reflecting the cultural influence of this historic structure.
context_section_description: In January 1610 (Keichō 15), the site was roped off and work began. Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered various daimyōs to help with the construction of what was to become the new capital of the existing Owari Province. Katō Kiyomasa, Fukushima Masanori, and Maeda Toshimitsu were among the 20 feudal lords from the northern and western part of Japan who were assigned to assist in the project. The inscriptions of feudal lords and their vassals, carved on the stones they carried, are still visible today. In August 1610 the stone foundation of the main keep (tenshu) was completed, and by December construction of the stone walls for the Honmaru, Ninomaru, Nishinomaru, and Ofukemaru buildings was almost finished.  In June 1611 (Keichō 16) a canal that today is the Hori River was built. The source for much of the building material for the new castle was the smaller Kiyosu Castle, including its tenshu, which was rebuilt as the northwest turret. In mid-1612 (Keichō 17), the construction of Honmaru Palace began, and the main keep was completed in December of that year.
  Artists including Kanō Sadanobu painted the walls, ceilings, and sliding doors of Honmaru Palace in 1614 (Keichō 19). Construction of the gates and the Sannomaru moat were completed in July, and in November of that year the Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada came for an inspection. Honmaru Palace was finished in February 1615 (Keichō 20) and Ninomaru Palace  in 1617 (Genna 3). The Tōshō-gū shrine was established in the Sannomaru enceinte in 1619 (Genna 5), and the northwest turret, the former Kiyosu Tower of the Ofukemaru, was completed. In 1620 (Genna 6), Tokugawa Yoshinao (1601–1650) moved into Ninomaru Palace, where in 1627 (Kan'ei 4), a sanctuary was also constructed.
  Overall renovation began on Honmaru Palace in May 1633 (Kan'ei 10) in preparation of the upcoming visit of Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu on his way to the imperial capital at Kyoto. Additional chambers, bathrooms, and halls, such as Jorakuden and Oyudonoshoin, were constructed. Kanō Tan'yū and other artists painted the walls, ceilings, and sliding doors in the new extensions in 1634 (Kan'ei 11). Work was completed in June, just in time for the shōgun's visit in July of that year.
  For the next hundred years there was ongoing maintenance and renovation of the existing structures. In 1669 (Kanbun 9), repairs were made to the main keep walls and roofs. In November 1685 (Jōkyō 2), repairs were again made to the main keep roof; in March 1709 (Hōei 6) to the first and second stories of the main keep; in August 1720 (Kyōhō 5) to the chidorihafu gables on the third and fourth levels of the main keep; and in December 1726 (Kyōhō 11) to the third-level roofs, karahafu gables, the fourth-level roofs, and the copper tiles of the fifth-level roofs of the main keep. Repairs were also made to the golden shachi of the main keep, replacing their wooden core. Further work was carried out in August 1728 (Kyōhō 13) on the shingled roof of Honmaru Palace, remodeling it into a lightweight, informal roof. Repairs were made to the second-, third-, and fourth-level roofs of the main keep.
  In November 1730 (Kyōhō 15), the golden shachi were recast for the first time and covered in wire mesh.  In 1752 (Hōreki 2), the large-scale "Restoration of Hōreki" corrected the tilt of the keep, caused by unequal subsidence of its stone wall, and the roofs from the second level upward were tiled with copper.  By 1788 (Tenmei 8), the accumulated debt of the Owari branch since 1767 (Meiwa 4) amounted to 215,000 ryō. As a result, the golden shachi had to be melted down and recast with less gold in 1827 (Bunsei 10). A finer wire mesh covered the shachi to hide the fact that they were less golden. In 1846 (Kōka 3), they were again melted down and recast for a third time.
caption: Print from the Owari meisho zue depicting Nagoya Castle in the late Edo period seen from the west. From right: Tōshō-gū, "cormorant's neck" moat, main keep, northwestern turret, and the retreat of Lord Tokugawa Naritomo (徳川 斉朝) in Horibata-chō (堀端町) on the left. The Hori river is running below.
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