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.
In his 1996 chapter of “The Grand Shrines of Ise and Izumo: The Appropriation of Vernacular Architecture” of the Architecture and Authority in Japan, William Howard Coaldrake explores the history and the purpose of the Grand Shrines of Ise and Izumo.
Nardo, Don. The Medieval Castle. San Diego, Calif: Lucent Books, 1998. Print. Building History Series.
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.
‘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
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
the western wing of the castle and thought of a plan to prevent possible robbery. This particular chamber had a window which opened onto an enormous precipice and had a breathtaking view of the valley far below. Sitting at this window, she devised an evil plan to protect her treasure.
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.
People visit the extravagant grounds of Versailles every day with joy, hearing about all the historical and cultural events that have taken place there. Since the palace is massive, the tourists only have a select area in which they can see. They get the chance to walk in the footsteps of royalty and the gorgeous gardens and visit the grand apartments of the king. Versailles sets a cultural ground for people to see and experience everyday. Today, the people of France, view Versailles as a cherished, historical monument, and a part of the French culture that reflects the past.
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
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.
Many of the imperial garden scenes and the building establishments of the garden exhibit an imperial love of nature. The scenes themselves imply the visitor’s participation in the “path” they follow along through the resort, transporting the visitor through the visual experience of the physical environment around them. As the visitor is immersed in the composure of nature and the liveliness of the perspectives the resort has created of man-made nature, they truly become one with the “way.” The scenes also show a distinction of abstracting nature, through the formulation of man-made lakes, streams, and hills; abstraction is typically a design principle of a Japanese garden or building yet it is infused here at the resort as well. Fortunately for the resort, none of the architectural elements – the temples, palaces or the pagoda – do not dominate or intrude on nature’s role, as they lie within nature rather then next to, or on top
Onishi, Norimitsu. “In Japan, the World Heritage Label Transforms a Ghost Town Into a Boomtown.” The New York Times 5 Sept. 2008 : A10. Print.
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.
Its elements can be found in artifacts which insinuate a solid technological base of undisputable value. It also possesses an oral tradition which is comprised of a rare assortment of practical accomplishments and inspiring philosophies.(Chidozie et al, 2014) Cultural heritage can provide a sense of unity and belonging within a group and allows us to understand previous generations better and the history of where we come from. Over time, the meaning of cultural heritage has been opened to modification and criticism; it has advanced from being an architectural edifice as objects of art to cultural landscapes, historic cities, and serial properties. Moreover, contemporary practice extends the concept of cultural heritage beyond “tangible heritage,” to the intangible dimensions of heritage . This means the entirety of the capital of knowledge derived from the development and experience of human practices, and from the spatial, social and cultural constructions can be linked together and encapsulated in the