Interior of Kumamoto Castle's rebuilt palace
There’s a lot of rebuilding (castle-related of course) going on around Japan these days. And unlike in the 50′s & 60′s, where designers pretty much did as they pleased, all work must be completely authentic & accurate.
Things are so strict some government bodies are offering rewards for evidence that can provide precise details of the original buildings. Many restoration projects have in fact stalled due to lack of reference materials.
Perhaps many castles would benefit from the (slight) easing of such regulations but that isn’t the cost I’ll be refering to from here on in. I got a question about the actual cost of reconstructions, and so after a bit of research (googling), came up with the following figures.
| Where | What | Cost – JPY | Cost – USD |
| Ōzu Castle | Main tower | ￥2,000,000,000 | $22,000,000 |
| Himeji Castle | Main tower (restoration) | ￥2,800,000,000 | $30,900,000 |
| Nagoya Castle | Palace | ￥15,000,000,000 | $165,700,000 |
| Kumamoto Castle | Palace | ￥5,400,000,000 | $59,650,000 |
| Saga Castle | Palace | ￥2,000,000,000 | $22,000,000 |
| Kumamoto Castle | Iida Turret (5 story) | ￥760,000,000 | $8,400,000 |
| Kumamoto Castle | Inui Turret (3 story) | ￥460,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
| Kumamoto Castle | Hitsujisaru Turret (3 story) | ￥300,000,000 | $3,300,000 |
| Kumamoto Castle | Taiko Turret (1 story) | ￥230,000,000 | $2,500,000 |
| Kumamoto Castle | Minami Ōtemon Gate | ￥610,000,000 | $6,700,000 |
| Fukuoka Castle | Shimonohashi Ōtemon Gate | ￥300,000,000 | $3,300,000 |
| Kanazawa Castle | Imori moat | ￥1,000,000,000 | $11,000,000 |
I am glad they are trying to be a accurate to the originals as they can. I think authenticity is more important than building it quickly.
Comment by Tornadoes28 — March 24, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
Wow! That’s incredible!!! It pays to be a castle reconstructor, eh. Maybe you can go into the consulting biz!
Comment by 真秀 — March 24, 2010 @ 12:58 pm
Absolutely, Tornadoes28. I think many people/governments are unhappy to be stuck with these aging, concrete castles. I had been reading last year that Nagoya was putting plans together to replace their Tenshu with a wooden one. That would be huge if they did that.
I would rather see nothing (I mean just the stone foundations) than see a concrete building. They don’t age well.
Comment by admin — March 24, 2010 @ 1:01 pm
Mr pool of Zen, I have actually considered hitch-hiking to Himeji to get a job pushing around a wheelbarrow. If I could look back on my life & say to the grand kiddies, you know what, when I was younger Zzzz… Zzzz…
I would love to be able to tell that story. Including the bit after I woke from my sudden nap.
Comment by admin — March 24, 2010 @ 1:05 pm
Some people may think that the numbers are ludicrous. But restoring the tenshu of a UNESCO site like Himeji castle is praiseworthy at the cost.
Comment by Rad — March 24, 2010 @ 2:08 pm
Hi Rad,
I think it’s great money is being spent to get this work done. I really do. And to be completely honest, I don’t care how much gets spent – it’s not my money.
What is ludicrous, is that Fukuoka Castle’s Shimonohashi Ōtemon, which is basically single-story, log cabin that’s the size of a one-room apartment, can cost as much as it did. It makes me wonder how much of the USD$3,300,000 went into the actual structure & how much went into meetings and “related expenses”.
But like I said, I’m glad things are getting rebuilt.
Comment by admin — March 24, 2010 @ 2:32 pm
I wish they would rebuild Okazaki castle to be more like the original. Outside it is beautiful (except the wire surrounding the balcony at the top), but inside… it is one of the typical concrete museums, but it is also without a doubt one of the *uglyest* concrete museum “castle” interiors I have been in in Japan. How did this stuff ever get approved? Maybe they thought no one would actually go inside….
Comment by JapanDave — March 24, 2010 @ 4:32 pm
JapanDave
“How did this stuff ever get approved?” good question but thank goodness those days are over. As for Okazaki Castle, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clear picture of it. There always seems to be trees or other buildings in the way. It that how it is?
Comment by admin — March 24, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
It’s a tough building to get a decent photo of. Trees all around it and a large shrine tight on one side. I have taken a few, but never posted them because of bad light. I’m going tomorrow to see the new building you tweeted me about, so I’ll see if I can’t snap a decent shot and tweet it to you.
Comment by JapanDave — March 26, 2010 @ 9:00 am