Edo Castle - History

History

The warrior Edo Shigetsugu built his residence in what is now the Honmaru and Ninomaru part of Edo Castle, around the end of the Heian or the beginning of the Kamakura period. The Edo clan perished in the 15th century as a result of uprisings in the Kantō region, and Ōta Dōkan, a retainer of the Ogigayatsu Uesugi family, built Edo Castle in 1457.

The castle later came under the control by the Late Hōjō clan. The castle was vacated in 1590 due to the Siege of Odawara. Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo Castle his base after he was offered six eastern provinces by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He later defeated Toyotomi Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi, at the Siege of Osaka in 1615, and emerged as the political leader of Japan. Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of Seii Taishōgun in 1603, and Edo became the center of Tokugawa's administration.

Initially, parts of the uninhabitable area were lying under water. The sea reached the later Nishinomaru area of Edo Castle, and Hibiya was a beach. The land was changed for the construction of the castle. Most construction started in 1593 and completed in 1636 under the grandson Tokugawa Iemitsu. By this time, Edo had a population of 150,000.

The grounds extended with the addition of Nishinomaru, Nishinomaru-shita, Fukiage, and Kitanomaru areas to the existing Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru areas. The perimeter measured 16 km.

The daimyō were required by the shōgun to supply building materials or finances, a method used by the shogunate to keep the powers of the daimyo in check. Large granite stones were moved from afar, the size and number of the stones depend on the wealth of the daimyo. The wealthier ones had to contribute more. Those who did not supply stones were required to contribute labor in tasks, such as digging the large moats and flattening hills. The earth that was taken from the moats were used as landfill for sea-reclamation or to level the ground. Thus the construction of Edo Castle laid the foundation for parts of the city where merchants were able to settle.

At least 10,000 men were involved in the first phase of the construction and more than 300,000 in the middle phase. When construction ended, the castle had 38 gates. The ramparts were almost 20 meters and the outer walls were 12 meters high. Moats that were throughout the rough concentric circles were dug for further protection. Some moats reached as far as Ichigaya and Yotsuya areas, and parts of the ramparts survived to this day. This area is surrounded by either the sea or the Kanda river, and therefore allow ships to navigate.

Various fires over the centuries damaged or destroyed parts of the castle. Edo and the majority of the buildings were constructed out of wood.

On April 21, 1701, in the Great Pine Corridor (Matsu no Ōrōka) of Edo Castle, Asano Takumi-no-kami drew his short sword and attempted to kill Kira Kōzuke-no-suke for insulting him. This triggered the events involving the Forty-seven Ronin.

After the capitulation of the shogunate in 1867, the inhabitants including the shogun had to vacate the premises. The castle compound was renamed Tokyo Castle (東京城, Tōkei-jō?) in October, 1868, and then renamed Imperial Castle (皇城, Kōjō?) in 1869. In the year Meiji 2 (1868), on the day 23 of 10th month, the emperor moved to Tokyo and Edo castle became an imperial palace.

A fire consumed the old Edo Castle on the night of May 5, 1873. The area around the old donjon, which burned in the 1657 Meireki fire, became the site of the new imperial Palace Castle (宮城, Kyūjō?) built in 1888. Some Tokugawa era buildings which were still standing were destroyed to make space for new structures for the imperial government. The imperial palace building itself, however, was not constructed on the same location as the shogun's palace, which was located in the Honmaru, but in the Nishinomaru enceinte.

The site suffered substantial damage during World War II, and the destruction of Tokyo.

Today the site is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. The government declared the area an historic site and has undertaken steps to restore and preserve the remaining structures of Edo Castle.