Surrounded by a forbidding moat and impressively massive stone walls, the fortress known as the Castle of Nagoya lies within. To this day, the castle is one of the most impressive in all Japan. I can feel the impressiveness as I look up over 300 feet, and am unable to see the other side of the castle limits. It is no secret that the castle caused fear throughout the nation. Even today it attracts visitors from all over the world for its beauty and intellection of bringing history together. As I walked the outside fence, I look down at the hundred foot long moat, and the stone wall that rise another hundred feet overlooking the moat, that made foreign invasion almost impossible. Once inside the gate, there are several smaller castle wings, which edge the outer wall. On the way up the path, there is a statue with the famous figure, Kiyomasa standing on top of a stone during the walls construction, which would incite the people pulling stones, for this reason they call it Kiyomasa's stone pulling. On the way to the main castle itself I pass a second moat and a massive stone wall, and an entrance to a picture perfect view of the castle. Once inside the main gate, there are several gift shops, that sell anywhere from ice-cream and small swords. Outside the shop there are several machines, one of which is an alcohol vending machine. From this view you can see the whole front of the castle and smaller castle wing which is the entrance to the castle. Going through the castle wing, I see more of the defense system. The entrance has two steel doors that are over two feet wide, which would stop even the most desperate of on-comers, then a small path leading to another set of doors on the castle itself and into the basement. ... ... middle of paper ... ... to the final floor, I feel the energy from excited travelers, and as I reach the top I find out what was making the visitors so excited. At the top I am overlooking the city limits, and all the way to the mountains on some parts of the view. It is a 360 degree view of the area surrounding the area and extending to the view of the proceeding horizon and mountains. There are several picture taking binocular machines around that allows for a stunning picture of a mountain view. In the center of the room lies one of the biggest souvenir shops in Nagoya, selling items ranging from gold plated clocks, to a child’s play sword and even sold real swords. As I am leaving the castle, I take a look back at the magnificent view of a four hundred year old history artifact, and one of Japan’s most famous castle’s even to this day, drawing in a crowd at all times of the day.
Nardo, Don. The Medieval Castle. San Diego, Calif: Lucent Books, 1998. Print. Building History Series.
Much of what is considered modern Japan has been fundamentally shaped by its involvement in various wars throughout history. In particular, the events of World War II led to radical changes in Japanese society, both politically and socially. While much focus has been placed on the broad, overarching impacts of war on Japan, it is through careful inspection of literature and art that we can understand war’s impact on the lives of everyday people. The Go Masters, the first collaborative film between China and Japan post-WWII, and “Turtleback Tombs,” a short story by Okinawan author Oshiro Tatsuhiro, both give insight to how war can fundamentally change how a place is perceived, on both an abstract and concrete level.
Did you know that Henry I was the first monarch to use Windsor Castle as a home? During his reign, the wooden keep and walls were replaced with stone and served as a stronger structure for the castle to survive upon. Windsor Castle has housed many kings and queens throughout its lifetime, and has become a monument in England’s history. It has been refurbished over the years, but still has remained with the same layout. The interior is the extent of the changes made around the castle over its lifetime, besides the walls being substituted with stone.
Kisho Kurokawa is a Japanese architect, who was born on April 8, 1934 in Kanie, Aichi. During Kurokawa’s Childhood it was bad times in Japan, Japan had just came back from war and many of the Country was destroyed. People were hungry and had very little. Kurokawa growing up had to burn books for heat and eat leafs that he found. His father, Miki Kurokawa was an architect but during that time busy repair and rebuilding Japan. His father later opened his own architecture company and built over 100 buildings in Nagoya city. His father was big on contemporary style then the old Japanese style. His father was a big influence in his son carrier, growing up his father expected him to be an architect and when he came home make his son sketch his own
Queen Regaena insisted on overseeing the construction of the castle herself. No detail was to be overlooked. In planning such a large and magnificent castle, Queen Regaena knew that she would need a large workforce. She gathered a large number of sturdy men from near and far and forced them to build her castle. She required the men to form lines, standing side by side, and pass the materials from man to man until they reached their assigned destination. This was difficult work since most of the materials had to be transported from the valley to the summit of the mountain. But goal was to complete the castle in Regaena’s lifetime so she could enjoy it. Finally, the glorious castle was completed and she named it St. Hilarion Castle. Its unsurpassed grandeur impressed all who beheld it. Queen Regaena should have been joyful at the completion of St. Hilarion, however, she was worried.
Orrin certainly knew how to spruce up a fortress. He waved the scepter again, and it was as if the battle had never occurred. The rubble was transformed into a massive six-story castle with gargoyles on the corners of the roof, soaring spires, ornate turrets, and stained glass transom windows, all amid a moat crammed with snapping purple crocodiles.
What a monument is portraying is an important factor, the message that a monument displays is one of the reasons it may “stand” or get neglected and moved from one museum to another until it finds it’s way into a dumpster. Amongst the most important parts in the construction of monuments or
Onishi, Norimitsu. “In Japan, the World Heritage Label Transforms a Ghost Town Into a Boomtown.” The New York Times 5 Sept. 2008 : A10. Print.
The Himeji castle was built in Himeji japan on high ground in the city. The name of the hill on which it was built is Himeyama hill. This castle is known as a prototypical Japanese castle. From the looks of the castle, right away you cal tell it is Japanese and it it well made. The architecture of the building dates the style of the building according to Japanese culture. The start of the himeji castle project began in the early 1300’s. However, the end of the himeji castle project ended in the the late 1700’s. This was due to the amount of expansions that the castle went through during the years. The first expansion started in the year 1581 when Hashiba Hideyoshi decided to add a three story tower to the castle. This addition to the castle is called a keep. A keep is basically a castle tower within a castle. The keep was first originated around the medieval time period. A keep was designed to be a last resort in the case of an emergency. So if the rest of the castle should parish, the the keep would be intact. The origin of this tower is totally credible to the time period of modernization in the 1500’s. The last restoration and modernization done to the castle by rulers of the castle happened close o the time that the last restoration took place. Honda Tadamasa who ruled over the himeji domain for around fifteen years added a complex of buildings to the castle. The construction of this portion of the castle took only around a year to complete.After this no more additions to the castle were made by any kings or rulers.
‘Fuji-yama, the sacred mountain, refuge of mysterious legends and of ancient naturalist dreams, rises up in the coolness of blue mornings and in the gold of evening… Japanese art never a more sustained contemplation of a theme; never did its painters approach nature with such solemnity.’(Focillon, 1914 cited in Bouquillard, 2007) As this quote shows Mount Fuji has been taken a significant position to Japanese culture and people’s life. Hokusai’s ‘Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province’ is one of the series of the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, which is a woodblock prints of merchant culture in Edo Period. ‘Mt. Fuji’ by Kanō Tanʼyū is a six panel folding screen which had practical and decorative functions and often used in samurai culture. This essay
Figure 1 shows a perspective view, created in 1875, of the palace grounds and the outlying temples, placed among the mountainous region. Each palace serving a different purpose, each was placed in accordance with the “poetic” views of the resort’s landscape, as these framed pieces of nature were among the most significant aspects of the resort itself. As though were the eight lakes in the Lake Area, the vast grassland of the Plains and the valleys of the Mountain Area. A scenic view is made up of two parts: the view itself and the space for the view to be admired. A perfect Chinese garden will be able to alternate the scenic views by alternating the depths of field seeing the view. Some scenes in the resort, all named by the Kangxi Emperor and the Qianlong Emperor, were given poetic names referring to the scene’s original model of inspiration, which might’ve been a garden, a mansion, or a
The first castles built (Motte and Bailey) were made of wood and quick to build, but they were burnt and worn down easily, so the next castles were made of stone. (Square keeps) They were tall, strong, large and lasted long, but attackers would surround the castle and wait for ages for the people inside to come out. The third castles (Shell Keeps) were even stronger, but because they were made of heavy stone, they might collapse. So finally, the fourth castles (concentric) were built and they were the strongest, largest most defensive and most expensive castles built.
Perched atop of Castle Rock, an extinct volcano, Edinburgh Castle is well protected to the north, south and west by ragged cliffs that rise 400 feet above sea level. It is no wonder that this castle has been a fortification for more than 2,000 years. To get to the castle there is a steep road coming up on the east side. The castle offers awesome views of Edinburgh.
As Nuttgens eloquently expressed, architecture is a “vital…expression of the experience of mankind.” It is more than just buildings used for storage, housing, religious purposes, simple functionality; it is a great manifestation of the commonality of man, the great connecting factor of humankind. However, it can be argued that the ancient and classic forms or architecture are in essence more “profound…lasting… [and] inexhaustible” than those of their modern counterparts, because of some key differences in the ways ancient and modern architecture are practiced.