- Type
- Ruin
- Origins
- 1457 · 15th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Commissioned by
- Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ōta Dōkan
- Coordinates
- 35.6883°, 139.7544°
History
The first castle on the hill above the bay was built in 1457 by the warrior-poet Ōta Dōkan. Tokugawa Ieyasu took it over in 1590, and after he became shogun in 1603 a huge rebuilding began, with feudal lords from all over the country made to contribute. Under Iemitsu, Edo became the largest castle in Japan, crowned by a keep taller than any other. The keep burned down in the great fire of 1657 and was never rebuilt. In 1868 the castle was surrendered without a fight to imperial forces, and Emperor Meiji moved here from Kyoto, turning the fortress into his residence.
What to see
Most of the grounds are taken up by the Imperial Palace, but the East Gardens are open to visitors. There you can see the massive stone base of the former keep, surviving corner towers, guardhouses and gates, including Ōte-mon and Sakurada-mon. A walk around the broad moats with their stone ramparts shows the sheer scale of the old fortress, and the plaza in front of the palace looks across to the famous Nijūbashi double bridge.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q865913
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