Reconstruction of “Honmaru Goten”
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The former national treasure, “Honmaru Goten(Main Palace)”of
Nagoya
Castle was destroyed by the air-raid on May 14,1945.
It was a
traditional Shoin style establishment which symbolizes the
samurai culture
of late Edo era. If it existed today,it could stand
shoulder to shoulder
with the Ninomaru Goten of Nijo Castle in Kyoto,
a national treasure.Its
interior was also phenomenal in terms of
architectural and artistic
value.
There are people who have been working on realizing the
reconstruction
of Honmaru Goten. Mr. Fujiwara, President of APS
International Inc. is
one of them. As an established architect and
passionate art lover,he is
showing strong interest in it from many years
ago and producing events
to promote it.
Size
Nagoya Castle was built in 1615 by the order of the Shognate
Tokugawa
Ieyasu.It was the transition period from the feudal to peaceful
time,so
the castle has quite an elegant look and much work had been put to
the
construction of Goten(lord's residence and guest house). The
castle's
floor arce is 3,390,000㎡, the largest ever in history. Goten takes
up
3,300㎡ of it.
Museum Quality
The interior of Honmaru Goten was a phenomenal
collection of art works.
The space surrounded by the transom windows,the
ceiling,and the sliding
screens painted by Kano Tanyu (an outstanding
painter of the time) and
others had the clear concept in accordance with
the purpose of the room.
Architecture, art and craftsmanship were
integrated in the room and
being there would have been just like being in a
museum.
Fortunately 1,047 sliding screens were taken out of the castle
before
the air-raid and remain in tact. Now what we need to do is to
appreciate
them, but not themselves alone but in the space where they
should be.
Toward the new creation
Some people say that castles were built merely
to show off the anthority
of the feudal lords. However, the skill and
energy that carpenters,
painters, curvers, and craftsmen poured into appeal
to us beyond the
intention of those lords and time.
The traditional
culture is valuable because it expresses the spirit of
the era and even
stimulates the modern creation.
As widely known, the number of craftsmen
who possess the traditional
technique is decreasing rapidly. They say that
the reconstruction of
Honmaru Goten is possible but it would take ten some
years.If it is
undertaken immediately, still there will be time to learn
the technique,
record,and make it open to the public. We should restore and
preserve
the Goten as the world's asset to be shared. We really want to
make it
happen.
In the past, the authorities or the wealthy few supported the culture
to
flourish. We think now it is the time for the citizens to take turn
and
be the patron of the culture.
