JAPAN: THE MAJOR ISLANDS

JAPAN: THE MAJOR CITIES

THE SAMURAI JAPAN

The years from the Medieval Period to the Modern Age marked the era when samurai warriors rose to power, and Japan was divided into small states in which many castles were built. The early castles were forts built mostly in mountainous districts for warfare purposes. With the coming of the Modern Age, many enormous castles were constructed during the Edo Period when the Shogun ruled over Edo (present-day Tokyo) as symbols of the wealth and power of the daimyo (feudal lords) who ruled over provincial domains. The graceful Himeji-jo, which is registered as a World Heritage Site, is one such castle.

EDO CASTLE, TOKYO• Edo Castle (Edo-jo) was the home castle

of the line of Tokugawa shoguns who ran the Edo government which ruled Japan for roughly 260 years (from the beginning of the 17th century until 1867). It was originally built in 1457 by the daimyo Ota Dokan, who was also well-known as a poet. As it was the castle of the founding shogun of the Edo government (Tokugawa Ieyasu), it became the building that symbolized the prestige of successive shoguns, and was also the center of political power. It was the largest castle in Japan in those days, with the inner compound measuring roughly 8 km in diameter, and the outer compound measuring around 16 km. The castle donjon with a five-tiered façade was an enormously high building with a stone wall measuring 51.5 m from ground level. This was destroyed, however, in the great fire of 1657. It is currently the Imperial Palace of the Emperor of Japan.

Kyoto Imperial Palace, which was the residence of the Imperial family until the capital was moved to Tokyo in 1869, is located in Kyoto Gyoen park. Within the Imperial Palace grounds, which are enclosed by a roofed earthen wall, are the Seiryo-den (Palace Hall) and the Kogosho (Minor Palace) – reminiscent of the dynastic age.

KYOTO IMPERIAL PALACEKYOTO IMPERIAL PALACE

NIJO CASTLE, KYOTONIJO CASTLE, KYOTO Nijo Castle (Nijo-jo) was

built in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founding shogun of the Edo shogunate which ruled Japan from the beginning of the 17th century, for use as a base when he was in Kyoto. the imposing exterior, the opulent interior structure and the splendid garden arranged with megaliths tell us of the dominance of the shogun of the time. The castle ground measures roughly 500 m. east to west and about 400 m north to south, and is designated a Historic Site.

The Imperial Palace was known as Edo Castle, a place where samurai warriors lived from the 17th to 19th centuries.

IMPERIAL PALACE, TOKYOIMPERIAL PALACE, TOKYO