Everything about Edo Castle totally explained
Edo Castle (江戸城 Edo-jō), also known under the name
Chiyoda Castle (千代田城 Chiyoda-jō), is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by
Ōta Dōkan in what is now the
Chiyoda ward of
Tokyo, but was then known as
Edo, Toshima District,
Musashi Province.
Tokugawa Ieyasu established the
Tokugawa shogunate here, and as the residence of the shogun and location of the
bakufu, it functioned as the military capital during the
Edo period of
Japanese history. During the
Meiji Restoration, it became the residence of the
Emperor of Japan, or in Japanese
kōkyo. Some
moats, walls and
ramparts survive. However, during the Edo period, the grounds were much more extensive, with
Tokyo Station and the
Marunouchi section of the city lying within the outermost moat. It also encompassed Kita-no-maru Park, the
Nippon Budokan Hall and other landmarks of the area.
Early history
Around the end of the
Heian or the beginning of the
Kamakura period, Edo Shigetsugu became the first warrior to establish his base in the area. He built his residence in what is now the Honmaru and Ninomaru part of Edo Castle. The
Edo clan perished in the fifteenth century as a result of uprisings in the
Kantō region, and
Ota Dokan, a retainer of the
Ogigayatsu Uesugi family, built Edo Castle in 1457.
The castle came under the control of the
Late Hōjō clan. The
Siege of Odawara of 1590 left the castle vacant, and when
Toyotomi Hideyoshi offered
Tokugawa Ieyasu six eastern provinces, Ieyasu accepted, making Edo Castle his base. He later defeated
Toyotomi Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi, at the
Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and emerged as the political leader of Japan.
Edo period
Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of
Seii Taishogun in 1603. Edo Castle was the center of Tokugawa administration. The grounds grew with the addition of Nishinomaru, Nishinomaru-shita, Fukiage, and Kitanomaru to the existing Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru. The perimeter measured 16 km. Ieyasu mobilized the
daimyo to carry out the construction, which reached completion in 1636, while his grandson
Iemitsu was shogun.
Originally, Edo Castle had a
tenshu, or central
donjon, in the style typical of
castles of Japan. However, the tenshu was destroyed along with many other sections of the castle grounds in the 1657 Meireki fire; it was never rebuilt. Despite this,
jidaigeki (such as
Abarembo Shogun) set in Edo usually depict Edo Castle as having a donjon, and substitute
Himeji Castle for that purpose.
On
April 21,
1701, in
Matsu no Ōrōka (the Great Pine Corridor) of Edo Castle,
Asano Takumi-no-kami drew his
short sword and attempted to kill
Kira Kōzuke-no-suke for terribly insulting him. This triggered the events of the
Forty-seven Ronin.
After the capitulation of the Shogunate, the inhabitants including the Shogun had to vacate the premises and the emperor and his court moved in. The Edo castle compound was renamed
Tokyo-jō (東京城, "Tokyo castle") in October, 1868, and then renamed
Kōjō (皇城, "Imperial castle") in 1869.
- Meiji 2, on the 23rd day of the 10th month (1868): The emperor went to Tokyo; and Edo castle became an Imperial palace.
A fire resulting from the carelessness of a chambermaid in improperly extinguishing some embers consumed the whole of the old Edo Castle on the night of
5 May 1873. The area around the old donjon, which burned in the
1657 Meireki fire, became the site of the new Imperial Palace
Kyūjō (宮城, "Palace castle") built in 1888. The imperial palace building itself however isn't on the same location as the Shogun's palace, which was locatedin the Honmaru.
After World War II and the destruction of the Meiji-era palace, the new palace was constructed on the western part of the site. The whole area was renamed
Kōkyo (皇居, "Imperial Palace", literally "Imperial Residence") in 1948. The east part was renamed
Higashi-Gyoen (東御苑, "East Garden") and is as a park since 1968 (It is opened from 9:00 to 16:00 except on Monday and Friday).
Modern Tokyo
Many place names in Tokyo derive from Edo Castle. Ōtemachi ("the town in front of the great gate"), Takebashi ("the Bamboo Bridge"), Toranomon ("the Tiger Gate"), Uchibori Dōri ("Inner Moat Street"), Sotobori Dōri ("Outer Moat Street"), and Marunouchi ("Within the enclosure") are examples.
Further Information
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