Edo Castle
Edo Castle (江戸城 -jō) was built in
1457 by
Ōta Dōkan in what is now the
Chiyoda ward of
Tokyo, but was then known as
Edo, Toshima District,
Musashi Province.
Tokugawa Ieyasu established the
Tokugawa shogunate here, and as the residence of the shogun and location of the
bakufu, it functioned as the military capital during the
Edo period of
Japanese history. Along with the
Meiji Restoration, it became the residence of the
Emperor of Japan, with the name
Kokyo. Some
moats, walls and
ramparts survive. However, during the Edo period, the grounds were much more extensive, with
Tokyo Station and the
Marunouchi section of the city lying within the outermost moat. It also encompassed Kita-no-maru Park, the
Nippon Budokan Hall and other landmarks of the area.
Around the end of the
Heian or the beginning of the
Kamakura period, Edo Shigetsugu became the first the warrior to establish his base in the area. He built his residence in what is now the Honmaru and Ninomaru part of Edo Castle. The Edo clan perished in the fifteenth century as a result of uprisings in the
Kanto region, and
Ota Dokan, a retainer of the
Ogigayatsu Uesugi family, built Edo Castle in 1457.
The castle came under the control of the
Late Hojo clan. The
Siege of Odawara of 1590 left the castle vacant, and when
Toyotomi Hideyoshi offered
Tokugawa Ieyasu six eastern provinces, Ieyasu accepted, making Edo Castle his base. He later defeated
Toyotomi Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi, at the
Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and emerged as the political leader of Japan.
Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of
Seii Taishogun in 1603. Edo Castle was the center of Tokugawa administration. The grounds grew with the addition of Nishinomaru, Nishinomaru-shita, Fukiage, and Kitanomaru to the existing Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru. The perimeter measured 16 km. Ieyasu mobilized the
daimyo to carry out the construction, which reached completion in 1636, while his grandson
Iemitsu was shogun.
At times, Edo Castle had a
donjon in the style typical of
castles of Japan. However,
earthquakes and
fires took their toll, and throughout most of the Edo period (and since), it had no such structure. Despite this,
jidaigeki (such as
Abarembo Shogun) set in Edo usually depict Edo Castle as having a donjon, and substitute
Himeji Castle for that purpose.
On April 21, 1701, in
Matsu no Ōrōka (the Great Pine Corridor) of Edo Castle,
Asano Takumi-no-kami drew his
short sword and attempted to kill Kira Kozuke-no-suke for terribly insulting him. This triggered the events of the
Forty-seven Ronin.
Many place names in Tokyo derive from Edo Castle. Otemachi ("the town in front of the great gate"), Takebashi ("the Bamboo Bridge"), Toranomon ("the Tiger Gate"), Uchibori Dōri ("Inner Moat Street"), Sotobori Dōri ("Outer Moat Street"), and Marunouchi ("Within the enclosure") are examples.
Edo castle was renamed
Tokyo-jō (東京城, "Tokyo castle") in October, 1868, then
Kōjō (皇城, "Imperial castle") in 1869, and
Kyūjō (宮城, "Palace castle") in 1888. Finally, it became the
Kōkyo (皇居, "Imperial Palace", literally "Imperial Residence") in 1948.
Image:EdoCastleMoatWallBuilding.jpg|Moat, wall, and building at Edo CastleImage:TokyoEdoCastleBase.jpg|Stone foundation of the main tower at Edo CastleImage:MatsuNoORoka.jpg|Marker at the site of Matsu no Ōrōka, the Corridor of Pines, where the events of the tale of the Forty-seven Ronin beganImage:SakuradaGate2.jpg|Sakurada Gate, outside which Ii Naosuke was assassinated in 1860
