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44.Nagoya Castle Part3

The present Main Tower should survive.

What will happen?

Kawamura has first applied for the demolition of the present Main Tower to the Agency for Cultural Affairs while the tower has been closed since 2018. However, the agency has not given him the approval because he hasn’t answered how the stone wall base will be preserved and what the new Main Tower will look like. Their goals are likely completely different. Unless they make a compromise, nothing may happen for a while.

The Small Main Tower (on the left) and the Large Main Tower (on the right)

The Main Tower can be seen behind the Honmaru Main Hall

My Opinion

I think Nagoya City should give up the replacement and repair the present Main Tower, because the present one has its own value. It is said that one of the reasons why the present one is made of concrete is that people believed it would never burn down in the future (the main reason was the restriction by the law at that time). A wooden Main Tower would be burned down like Shuri Castle.

*The Main Tower (on the left) and the Southwest Corner Turret (on the right)*

No matter how the wooden one resembles the original one, it is just a replica that people might be bored of soon. In addition, the more similar the replica and the original are, the less useful for general purposes and more expensive for the maintenance they are. If the city can get enough funds for the castle, it should use the money to repair remaining items such as the stone wall base and restore many other buildings that have been lost. This would make people understand what the whole castle looked like.

*The ruins of the First Front Gate at the Main Enclosure*

The old photo of *the First Front Gate at the Main Enclosure* (*licensed under Public Domain via Wikipedia Commons*)

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 5 minutes away from Marunouchi Exit on Nagoya Expressway Ring Route
The castle park offers parking lots.
By train, it takes about 5 minutes on foot from Shiyakusho Station on the Meijo Subway Line.
To get Shiyakusho Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the Tokaido Shinkansen Super Express, get off at Nagoya Station, transfer to the Higashiyama Subway Line, transfer at Sakae Station to the Meijo Subway Line.

Links and References

・Special Historic Site, Nagoya Castle

That’s all.
Back to “Nagoya Castle Part1”
Back to “Nagoya Castle Part2”

44.名古屋城　その３

現在の天守は残されるべきです。

これからどうなる？

河村市長はまず現在の天守を撤去することを文化庁に申請しており、2018年から天守への入場を停止しています。ところが文化庁は、河村氏が石垣がどのように保存されるか、また天守がどのようになるのか答えていないため承認していません。双方のゴールは完全に異なっているようです。何らかの妥協がない限り、しばらく何も起こらないかもしれません。

私の意見

私は、名古屋市は現在の天守の建て替えではなく、修繕を行うべきだと思います。現在の天守に固有の価値があるからです。現在の天守がコンクリートで作られた理由の一つは、将来二度と燃えないようにと考えたからだと言われています（主たる理由はは当時の法規制によるものですが）。木造の天守は首里城のように燃えてしまう恐れがあります。

木造の天守がどんなに元の天守に似ていたとしても、それはレプリカに過ぎず、人々はすぐに飽きてしまうかもしれません。更には、そのレプリカと元の天守が似れば似るほど、一般的な利用には供されず、維持の費用も高額となります。名古屋市がこの城のために十分な予算を確保できるなら、天守台石垣のような現存物の修繕や失われている他の多くの建物の復元に使うべきです。その方が城全体がどのようであったのかより理解できるからです。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：
名古屋高速都心環状線の丸の内出口から約５分のところです。
名城公園に駐車場があります。
電車の場合は、地下鉄名城線の市役所駅から歩いて５分のところです。
市役所駅に東京または大阪から行くには：
東海道新幹線に乗って名古屋駅で降り、地下鉄東山線に乗り換え、栄駅で地下鉄名城線に乗り換えます。

リンク、参考情報

・特別史跡、名古屋城（公式ウェブサイト）
・「よみがえる日本の城３」学研
・「日本の城改訂版第２、４号」デアゴスティーニジャパン
・「歴史群像６９号、戦国最強要塞　名古屋城」学研

これで終わります。
「名古屋城その１」に戻ります。
「名古屋城その２」に戻ります。

44.Nagoya Castle Part2

The castle makes Nagoya what it is.

Location and History

Nagoya Castle revived

There was another Nagoya Castle which had the same name and was built at the same place as the present Nagoya Castle in the middle 16th century during the Sengoku Period. It is said that the famous warlord Nobunaga Oda was born at the old Nagoya Castle. Nobunaga eventually moved his home base to Kiyosu Castle before the old Nagoya Castle was abandoned. Since then, Kiyosu Castle (about 10km away from Nagoya Castle on the northeast) had been the center of Owari Province (what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture). In 1609, the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to build a new castle in place of Kiyosu Castle which often suffered from floods. They needed a stronger castle for their relatives to prepare for a battle with the Toyotomi Clan at Osaka Castle. The castle was named Nagoya Castle once again.

The location of Nagoya Castle and Kiyosu Castle

A view of Nagoya Castle from the ruins of Kiyosu Castle *(licensed by 名古屋太郎 via Wikimedia Commons)*

Simple but Strong Castle with one of Largest Main Tower

The area of the castle was very large but built simply and strongly. The center of the castle, the Main Enclosure, was protected on all directions by other enclosures such as the West Enclosure. The Second Enclosure was added on the southeast of the Main Enclosure, which had the Ninomaru Main Hall for the lord of the castle. The largest Third Enclosure was on the south of all other enclosures, which was used as the senior vassals’ houses.

The drawing of Nagoya Castle in Owari Province (exhibited by the National Diet Library)

The aerial photo around the castle

The Main Enclosure had the five-layer Main Tower, one of the largest main towers on record. The two golden grampuses on the top were particularly popular among people. It is said the first generator of them used 215 kilograms of gold. The enclosure also had the Honmaru Main Hall, but it was only for the Shogun’s stay. Actually, just three Shoguns used it. People have been saying that “The castle makes Nagoya what it is.”.

An old picture of the original Main Tower and the Honmaru Main Hall at the Main Enclosure *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Destruction and Revival

After the Meiji Restoration, the large enclosures such as the Second and Third Enclosures were turned into a Japanese Army base. However, the government decided to maintain around the Main Enclosure as a castle. Many traditional buildings including the Main Tower and the Honmaru Main Hall remained as they were. They were designated as the first National Treasure for a castle in 1930. It is regrettable to say this, but almost all of them were burned down in 1945. Only three turrets and three gates remain now.

The remaining Southwest Corner Turret at the Main Enclosure

The remaining Second Front Gate at the Main Enclosure

After 14 years from the tragedy, people in Nagoya rebuilt the Main Tower which we now see. One third of the fund for rebuilding it came from the citizens’ donation. The appearance of the tower is almost the same as the original one, but it is a modern concrete building on a huge caisson inside the original stone wall base. The original golden grampuses, which were also burned in 1945, were restored at the same time. The present ones include 88 kilograms of gold. In 2018, the Honmaru Main Hall in the Main Enclosure was restored using the original methods. The enclosure is returning to its former appearance.

The restored Hommaru Main Hall at the Main Enclosure

To be continued in “Nagoya Castle Part3”
Back to “Nagoya Castle Part1”