Edo Castle

Plans for building the present magnificent castle started in February of 1603, but the actual construction didn't start until four years later. This castle, (in its earliest form), was built by Oota Doukan in 1457, but in 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu captured it. He then began to plan an expansion of the castle.

The Uesugi clan had control of this castle before Tokugawa Ieyasu captures it. When the clan still had the castle, the town of Edo, (present day Tokyo) was just like any other town, but after Ieyasu took control, the city prospered and became the central town in Japan. The Edo Castle grew along with the town and was largest castle of the time, but tragedy struck on January 18-19, 1657 when the Meineki fire occurred. The castle's tenshu was destroyed along with many other sections of the castle grounds. Even though the tenshu has never been rebuilt, the Tokugawa family has ruled Japan for 264 years from the Edo Castle. In 1868, they lost the castle due to the defeat in the Boshin War. A great part of the Edo Castle was again lost in World World II by U.S. bombings.

One part of the castle grounds that has not been destroyed and was a part of the original castle was the stone walled moats. Its large size and methods of construction have let it stand until today.

The baileys of the Edo Castle are famously numberous. The honmaru is located at the center of its castle grounds with the ninomaru to its east and the sannomaru and nishimaru to its west. Because of its central location and symbolism of central authority, the shogun and his government officials would stay in the honmaru. The Sannomaru was closely built to the honmaru and so that was where the shogun's son would stay. In the northern castle grounds is where the hokkaku is situated. The fukiage bailey is even further west than the sannomaru and nishimaru and is where the other members of the Tokugawa family stayed. At the fukaige grounds, there were beautiful gardens for the family to enjoy. There were even more baileys in the southeast direction from the honmaru. These buildings were for the residence of the shogun's vassals and lower officers. All of these structures were planned in a spiral shape and encompassed an area of around 320 acres.

The present day Edo Castle grounds has a large palace where the emporer lives. Though it is not open to visitors, other parts of the castle grounds are: Higashi-gyoen (east gardens) and the honmaru.