Let's climb to the former Edo Castle! ～Walking around the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace～

The Imperial Palace East Garden in Otemachi was once the site of Edo Castle's Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru. The various feudal lords who served the Tokugawa shogunate passed through the Otemon gate and went to have an audience with the shogun. Now, let's climb to the former Edo Castle and feel like a feudal lord at the time.

Otemon is the main entrance to Edo Castle

During the Edo period, Otemon was the main gate of Edo Castle, where imperial envoys from the imperial court, feudal lords, and shoguns entered and exited.
For this reason, the Otemon gate was heavily guarded, with 10 guards, 20 guns, and 10 bows. From here, the daimyo passes through the Otemon Gate in a palanquin with only a small number of his attendants. It was customary for the retainers of the daimyo to wait in front of the inner moat until the lord returned. The one at the back of the road is Komamon Gate, and the one you can see on the right is Toyagura Gate. The road used to be covered by the Otemon Bridge. On the left and right of the road is the inner moat of Edo Castle. Currently, Otemon is one of the entrances to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. Now, like a feudal lord ascending a castle, let's go through the Komamon gate in front of the castle and head towards the main keep.

After passing through Komamon Gate, there is a square plaza surrounded by a castle wall. It is called Masugata Square. When an enemy attacks through the Korai Gate, you close the Watari Gate, open a shooting window called Ue-Hasama, and take aim with a gun or bow. All of these are collectively called Otemon. The construction of Otemon was undertaken by Date Masamune's Sendai domain.

At the Doshin Bansho, the Daimyo leaves the palanquin and walks on foot.

There are large stone walls on the left and right. Once upon a time, there was a gate called Otesan-no-mon on this stone wall. Doshin Bansho is located in Ishigaki no Ura on the right. At this point, the feudal lords got off their palanquins and ascended the castle on foot. However, the three feudal lords of the Tokugawa clan, Owari, Kii, and Mito, were an exception and were able to move on with their palanquins.

This is Doshin Bansho. The first Ueno roof tile on the roof features the Tokugawa Aoi emblem. The people who were stationed here were the retainers of the Tokugawa shogunate, who had jobs similar to what we would now call police officers. After passing this concentric guardhouse, turn left along the road and you will see an even more gigantic 5 meter high stone wall.

The huge stone walls made the feudal lords realize the power of the Tokugawa.

There was also a square square around the Doshin Bansho, just like the Otemon Gate. And the Watiyagura Gate, which was even bigger than the Otemon Gate, towered in front of the daimyo who was walking down the palanquin. The stone wall you can see in the back on the right is the stone wall of the inner gate that leads to the main enclosure. The mansion you can see on your left is the Hyakunin Bansho.

The mansion on the left is the Hyakunin Bansho. This was the biggest checkpoint to check on the feudal lords entering Edo Castle. It is the largest guardhouse in Edo Castle, protecting the main castle and the second castle. It is called Hyakunin Bansho because the 100 gunmen are stationed there. The 100 Gunmen Group was made up of the Negoro-gumi, Iga-gumi, Koga-gumi, and 25 Cavalry-gumi, taking turns. Each was guarded 24 hours a day in shifts by 20 Yoriki and 100 Doshin soldiers. After getting checked here, head to the gate inside the huge stone wall on your right. The inner gate is protected by a jubako turret, which is larger and wider than the previous gates.

Behind the inner gate is the main guard station. This is the last guard post to check on the daimyo as they ascend the castle. The people stationed here were the yoriki and doshin, who had a higher status than the doshin bansho and hyakunin bansho. If you follow the road from the main guard station, you will come to the Nakajakumon gate, which is the last gate to the Honmaru Palace.

Finally, to the Edo Castle Honmaru

This is Chujakumon. It was also called Shoinmon. On top of the stone wall in front of the Honmaru Palace, the Jubako Yagura and Shoin Double Yagura, which were larger than ever before, looked down on the feudal lords walking to the castle, demonstrating the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Once you pass this stone wall, what you will see in front of you is the Honmaru Palace of Edo Castle.

The large trees and lawn space in front of you is where Edo Castle's Honmaru Palace once stood. From the front to the back, there was a series of front, middle and back areas. Omote was the place where the feudal lords had an audience with the shogun, and it was also the shogun's workplace. Beyond that is Naka-oku. This was the place where the general lived his daily life. And even further back was Ooku. O-oku was the place where the general's wife and her maids lived. It was always decided that the feudal lords who went to the castle would have an audience with the shogun at the front of the castle, and the waiting rooms and meeting rooms for the feudal lords were also located on the front. The above is the process by which a daimyo ascends to Edo Castle.

The castle tower that became a phantom castle tower

As you walk deeper and deeper into the Honmaru Great Lawn, the former site of the Honmaru Palace, you
will see a mysterious castle tower built in the Edo period. The castle tower itself was first built in the era of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1606. It is said to have been about the same height as the current National Diet Building. His son Hidetada removed the Keicho castle tower in 1622. He also built a large castle tower. Furthermore, in 1638, Iemitsu built a castle tower with a five-story exterior and a six-story interior, measuring 58 meters in height. Iemitsu's castle tower was destroyed in the great fire of Meireki. The fourth shogun, Ietsuna, attempted to rebuild the castle tower, and the tower that remains today was built by the Maeda clan of Kaga, but it was built by Masayuki Hoshina, the lord of the Matsudaira clan of Aizu, Iemitsu's half-brother and uncle of Ietsuna. However, he advised that ``A castle tower is a useless thing in a peaceful world.Reconstruction of Edo Castle is what we need to do now,'' and after only the castle tower was rebuilt, the plan for the castle tower was canceled. Therefore, the castle tower that remains today is that of the phantom castle tower.

Ninomaru Garden is a famous place for irises.

After taking a walk to the Edo Castle castle tower, head down Shiomizaka and take a walk around the Ninomaru ruins of the former Edo Castle. Ninomaru is the site of the shogun's villa and the palace of his successor. The garden of the palace was designed by Kobori Enshu, and for the opening of the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, he restored the strolling style garden of the era of the 9th shogun, Ieshige Tokugawa. The specialty of Ninomaru Garden is the iris field. There are 84 types of irises in Ninomaru Garden, and the best time to see them is from late May to early June and from late June to early July. There are also carp swimming in the pond.

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How did you like it? Admission to the performance at the Imperial Palace main building, which was once Edo Castle, is free. By the way, the park is closed on Mondays and Fridays, but it is open on public holidays, so feel free to take a stroll through the Otemon gate and feel like you were a feudal lord. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

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