Kanazawa Castle
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"These large and complex and skilful restoration projects are important, not just for attracting visitors, but in maintaining traditional crafts and skills".
War, fire and earthquakes have had a major impact on historic buildings in Japan. Castles were among those structures destroyed by these events. We look at the castle restoration.
The castle complex was the stronghold of the Maeda clan.
A series of fires over the centuries have destroyed the buildings in the Kanazawa Castle complex. Major fires occurred in 1602 when the castle’s original Donjon was destroyed by lightening (this has never been rebuilt), fire again in 1631, after which the same buildings we see today are likely to have been built in their original form. After the 1631 fire the second enclosure was expanded. The moats were also constructed around this time.
The original buildings from post 1631 were then again destroyed by a major fire in 1759 which destroyed much of the complex, rebuilt, and destroyed by fire again in 1808, they were rebuilt yet again and remained until the Meiji Period, destroyed again by fire in 1881. The buildings destroyed in the most recent fire are being reconstructed to their 1850s appearance.
Not all of the buildings were destroyed, an example, the Ishikawa-mon Gate (1788) stands adjacent to Kenrokuen Garden. The earlier castle complex also contained other storage facilities including the Sanjikken Nagaya (30 ken) rebuilt in 1858 and a survivor of subsequent fires. Yonjikken Nagaya (40 ken), Nanajikken Nagaya (70 ken) and the Kyuikken Nagaya (90 ken) were the other storage facilities, so the scale of activity was remarkable.
A great deal of investment, detailed planning and care has gone into the reconstruction of these historic buildings at a cost of around 4.6 billion yen. The reconstructed buildings have one new feature, an extensive sprinkler system.
The reconstruction of the structures in Kanazawa Castle Park were based on various historical records, original plans from the Edo Period, as well as photos of the buildings from the Meiji Period.
Traditional wood and stone were the structural materials used in the construction of Japanese castles. The traditional wooden structure recreated here uses a combination of pillars and beams on which to construct a floor or ceiling. The timbers used in the reconstruction you see today are Japanese Cypress and American White Cedar.
Walls were also constructed using earth mixed with straw. The method was to place balls of earth and straw within a bamboo framework, fine earth material was then used to fill up the gaps between the relatively coarse balls. The outer sections of wall are then smoothed down using iron tools to plug any gaps or joins. The walls were allowed to dry and then coated with sand and plaster. Finally the walls were coated with a finish of white plaster. You will notice from the images in this blog that the style was also to attach tiles to the walls, hardening the joins with a surrounding plaster feature resembling a sea cucumber.
The skilfully built stone foundations and walls, often using very large stones, intricately assembled, form the base of the wooden structure of the castle building itself.
The doorways and sliding doors attached to the windows are made using a wooden base structure and woven bamboo. Earth is then applied to the surface and finished with a plaster coat. This means the doors are very heavy so wheels have been attached to the base so they are easy to open and close. This traditional building style is used to protect from outside fire.
The restoration of the castle buildings used the traditional methods of carpentry. We show you a number of details of the exquisite joinery here. So these restoration projects are important, not just for attracting visitors, but in maintaining traditional crafts and skills.
Gojikken Nagaya, the main storehouse, originally used for storing weapons and supplies is a two-storey structure which stretches for 50 ken (98metres). During times of war this building would have functioned as the main stronghold for battle. The Gojikken Nagaya, connects the Hishi Yagura, a three-storey watch tower, the highest structure in the castle to a second watchtower and command post, the Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagara.
The Gojikken Nagaya has several ishi-otoshi, these are windows that have a hatch in the floor below them. The hatch can be removed so that during battle stones could be thrown through the slots and other weapons could also be fired to stop enemy soldiers climbing the walls of the castle.
The castle moat runs below the Gojikken Nagaya. The castle gates are an important feature and were crucial to the defence of the castle.
The Kanazawa Castle Park, is adjacent to Kenrokuen Garden, originally the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle, and adjacent to the cultural precinct formed by a number of Kanazawa’s public galleries and museums. This means the precinct is walkable and it is worth spending two or three days here gently exploring the cultural heritage, histories and contemporary art of this district. The place makes a good introduction to Japan if you have never visited before and is an exemplar of old meets new in Japan. There are also some great places to eat in.
The castle complex was the stronghold of the Maeda clan.
A series of fires over the centuries have destroyed the buildings in the Kanazawa Castle complex. Major fires occurred in 1602 when the castle’s original Donjon was destroyed by lightening (this has never been rebuilt), fire again in 1631, after which the same buildings we see today are likely to have been built in their original form. After the 1631 fire the second enclosure was expanded. The moats were also constructed around this time.
The original buildings from post 1631 were then again destroyed by a major fire in 1759 which destroyed much of the complex, rebuilt, and destroyed by fire again in 1808, they were rebuilt yet again and remained until the Meiji Period, destroyed again by fire in 1881. The buildings destroyed in the most recent fire are being reconstructed to their 1850s appearance.
Not all of the buildings were destroyed, an example, the Ishikawa-mon Gate (1788) stands adjacent to Kenrokuen Garden. The earlier castle complex also contained other storage facilities including the Sanjikken Nagaya (30 ken) rebuilt in 1858 and a survivor of subsequent fires. Yonjikken Nagaya (40 ken), Nanajikken Nagaya (70 ken) and the Kyuikken Nagaya (90 ken) were the other storage facilities, so the scale of activity was remarkable.
A great deal of investment, detailed planning and care has gone into the reconstruction of these historic buildings at a cost of around 4.6 billion yen. The reconstructed buildings have one new feature, an extensive sprinkler system.
The reconstruction of the structures in Kanazawa Castle Park were based on various historical records, original plans from the Edo Period, as well as photos of the buildings from the Meiji Period.
Traditional wood and stone were the structural materials used in the construction of Japanese castles. The traditional wooden structure recreated here uses a combination of pillars and beams on which to construct a floor or ceiling. The timbers used in the reconstruction you see today are Japanese Cypress and American White Cedar.
Walls were also constructed using earth mixed with straw. The method was to place balls of earth and straw within a bamboo framework, fine earth material was then used to fill up the gaps between the relatively coarse balls. The outer sections of wall are then smoothed down using iron tools to plug any gaps or joins. The walls were allowed to dry and then coated with sand and plaster. Finally the walls were coated with a finish of white plaster. You will notice from the images in this blog that the style was also to attach tiles to the walls, hardening the joins with a surrounding plaster feature resembling a sea cucumber.
The skilfully built stone foundations and walls, often using very large stones, intricately assembled, form the base of the wooden structure of the castle building itself.
The doorways and sliding doors attached to the windows are made using a wooden base structure and woven bamboo. Earth is then applied to the surface and finished with a plaster coat. This means the doors are very heavy so wheels have been attached to the base so they are easy to open and close. This traditional building style is used to protect from outside fire.
The restoration of the castle buildings used the traditional methods of carpentry. We show you a number of details of the exquisite joinery here. So these restoration projects are important, not just for attracting visitors, but in maintaining traditional crafts and skills.
Gojikken Nagaya, the main storehouse, originally used for storing weapons and supplies is a two-storey structure which stretches for 50 ken (98metres). During times of war this building would have functioned as the main stronghold for battle. The Gojikken Nagaya, connects the Hishi Yagura, a three-storey watch tower, the highest structure in the castle to a second watchtower and command post, the Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagara.
The Gojikken Nagaya has several ishi-otoshi, these are windows that have a hatch in the floor below them. The hatch can be removed so that during battle stones could be thrown through the slots and other weapons could also be fired to stop enemy soldiers climbing the walls of the castle.
The castle moat runs below the Gojikken Nagaya. The castle gates are an important feature and were crucial to the defence of the castle.
The Kanazawa Castle Park, is adjacent to Kenrokuen Garden, originally the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle, and adjacent to the cultural precinct formed by a number of Kanazawa’s public galleries and museums. This means the precinct is walkable and it is worth spending two or three days here gently exploring the cultural heritage, histories and contemporary art of this district. The place makes a good introduction to Japan if you have never visited before and is an exemplar of old meets new in Japan. There are also some great places to eat in.
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