Nagoya Castle’s main tower to be rebuilt

     

Below in an article taken from the Mainichi Daily News. The story has since been removed from the Mainichi site so I thought I would reproduce it here its original form. The now, non-existent article was here and dated August 23, 2009.

Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle in 1933. image: Wikipedia

Donjon at Nagoya Castle to be restored to its original wooden form

NAGOYA — Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura has announced that the city government will move ahead with restoring Nagoya Castle’s donjon to its original form.

Kawamura told reporters during a regular news conference on Aug. 10 that the municipal government will officially start discussions on restoring the current donjon at the city’s symbolic Nagoya Castle — currently constructed of concrete — to its original wooden structure.

“Many citizens have claimed that Nagoya has nothing to be proud of, and this makes me very sad,” Kawamura said. “We would like to build a wooden castle as something Nagoya’s citizens can be proud of today, and for the next 1,000 years.”

The city will launch a project team on Monday, aiming to include research expenses in the fiscal 2010 budget draft, the mayor said.

The original castle buildings, including the donjon and Honmaru Palace, were burnt down during an air raid in 1945. However, detailed blueprints and photographs of the castle survived the war, and the current concrete donjon was reconstructed in 1959 using such documents.

“We must carry out thorough research on relevant laws and ordinances, such as the Fire Service Law and the Building Standards Law. It is also essential to determine whether the stone walls are strong enough to support the wooden donjon,” said the city’s office for castle development.

Kawamura also announced that the city will continue with the reconstruction of Honmaru Palace, even though he had pledged to review the project during his mayoral election campaign. The restoration is scheduled to be completed by 2017.

“I noticed that everyone in the open debate held on June. 14 shared a common feeling that Nagoya needs something that its citizens can be proud of,” said Kawamura.

However, in response to the criticism of the large costs for the palace project, Kawamura said that they will scrutinize the plan in an attempt to cut back expenses.

Japanese Castle Explorer: Nagoya Castle Profile

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  • http://chaari.wordpress.com Toranosuke

    Hey, hey! Now that’s exciting!

    I haven’t been to Nagoya, but I must say I have always cited it as an example of the way the Japanese don’t maintain or rebuild or care for tradition the way they should. Or something like that.

    In any case, a new wooden tenshu would be a wonderful thing. A victory for tradition over the concrete guilds!

  • admin

    It just doesn’t seem right that traditional buildings be made using modern materials. Of course, it is kind of good that many castles have been rebuilt where otherwise there would have been a vacant square at the top of stacked rocks. More than once though, I have not entered a castle (despite whatever historical goodies may be on display) due to the repellent concreteness.

    They certainly were mad for it in the 50′s & 60′s. They god it’s changing. So much rebuilding using traditional methods/materials has been taking place, Kanazawa castle & Saga castle to name but two and it is so much more appealing.