Wed, Apr 27, 2022
The second installment of “Preserving Japan’s cultural treasures” is on Nagoya’s conservation efforts to keep its source of pride in good shape.
Nagoya Castle, located in the third largest city of Japan, was once the residence of the Owari Tokugawa family, which ranked first in seniority among the Three Houses of the Tokugawa Clan. The castle was built in 1610 as a fortress to fend off Toyotomi clan loyalists remaining in Osaka (after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600). During the Meiji era (1868-1912), when Japan entered modernity, it was praised as being the epitome of Japanese castles, but its keep (castle tower) was later burned down in war.
The stone walls of the castle (total length: 8.2 kilometers) were built by a tozama (outsider) daimyo (feudal lord), a former vassal of the Toyotomi clan. The walls remaining today are the third largest by scale after Osaka Castle and Edo (Tokyo) Castle, retaining the grandeur of pre-modern times and representing the stateliness of the castle’s history.
Not so long ago, however, the lower layers of the well built walls had begun to swell due to the heavy pressure from what was on top of them, and that was not the only problem beginning to manifest itself. Accordingly, local authorities took to dismantling the Karamete-umadashi stone walls on the east side of Honmaru (the core region of the castle) in fiscal 2002 to avert the risk of a collapse. They will start rebuilding the walls this year.
In Japan, the techniques applied to conserve the nation’s cultural properties are registered by the government as Selected Conservation Techniques. In Nagoya, an association of artisans bearing the selected techniques will participate in the effort to restore the castle’s stone walls. The opportunity to have a hands-on experience with a historic castle does not come around often. Conservators and researchers involved in the project see this as a good chance for artisans involved in conservation work to nurture their skills.
There was one other occasion a few years ago, when repair experts of cultural properties had a chance to hone their techniques. 2018 saw the completion of the restoration of Nagoya Castle’s Honmaru Palace.
The original Jorakuden chambers of the Honmaru Palace were built to accommodate the shogun during his visit to Nagoya and known for their lavishness. They were burned down along with the keep during World War II, but restoration work began in 2009 to bring back the chambers in its original form began based on architectural drawings from the Edo period (1603-1867) and prewar photos. The number of carpenters, stone masons, plasterers, metalsmiths and other artisans involved in the project counted more than 2,000.
According to an advisor at the city’s Nagoya Castle General Administration Office, “The artisans gathered from various parts of Japan and put their engineering marvel to work.”
The president of a construction company in Nagoya, who was in charge of supervising the carpenters, was particular with his choice of wood and worked meticulously to reproduce the curved roof, which would ultimately define the beauty of the entire building. He said he was proud of being able to participate in the project as a local and that there were no regrets.
The keep of the castle was rebuilt with a concrete structure after the war. However, the local authorities are planning to replace it with a new keep, this time, bringing it back to its original state using wood. The new blueprint will likely be compiled by the end of fiscal 2022.
An official in charge of conservation and maintenance at the Nagoya Castle General Administration Office said: “Conserving the castle such as by protecting the stone walls and other remains, and utilizing the castle (as a cultural asset) to promote proper understanding of the original form of the Edo-period castle should both be emphasized as we continue to maintain and better the castle.”
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun and other sources)
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