The imperial palace

Current Japanse imperial palace is located in Tokyo, and what is interesting is that the site in which the palace has been set had been used as a military castle by previous Japanese administrator during Edo period. Edo period started in 1603 and ended in 1868, and the castle has been called Edo-jou or Edo castle.  That is to say, two famous Japanese historical places are contained in on place, in other words, Edo castle and The Imperial Palace mean one same place.

Although public people surely cannot enter inside of the palace, its external appearance -a castle towering in the pond surrounding it as if an island- is superb. Many people jog around the palace, and it has been familiar scene of Tokyo.

During Edo period, Edo castle had been used as a headquarters of military government, Edo Bakuhu, ruled by Samurai class. After that, imperial government usurp the power from military government through a war which is like an intermediate form between revolution and military coup. 

In the war, Edo castle was bloodlessly surrendered to the new government from Edo Bakufu. Such miracle was the event that it has been used as a theme for various form of drama for years. Involvement of many historically famous figures is another reason of its popularity. 

Its main structure, a deluxe five-story tower that is called 'Tenshukaku', however, was burned down by a fire in 1657. Although some reconstruction plans were proposed, they weren't realized because a plan of such a huge tower had already become out of date, and reconstruction of the city area was given priority.

Eventually, a small tower called  'Fujimi-Yagura' was designated to take the place of the main structure 'Tenshukaku.' By the way, Fujimi means looking Mount Fuji. The place where Tenshukaku was standing on has been exhibiting only its basement since then.

The Basement of Tenshukaku

Until the end of the WWII, Japanese emperor had been holding an absolute power, and the imperial palace was the icon of its entity. Japanese citizens had never heard their imperial's voice until he declared the end of the war through a radio broadcasting.
This broadcasting was not accomplished so easily because a part of army rebelled against its implementation, occupying the imperial palace. The army coup, of course, ended up in failure and its leaders committed suicide as the disk recording imperial's voice was not sought out.

Thus the Imperial's announcement was finally broadcasted. And the footage in which citizens heard it at the park in front of the imperial palace, falling on their knees, has repeatedly been on-aired in many documentary TV programs.

While general people living before the end of the WWII were not able to look even the photograph of the Imperial, citizens living in today can have a chance for visiting the imperial palace including its main shrine in special occasions designated by the relevant authority, the Imperial Household Department.

the main shrine of Imperial Palace

The fact that Imperial palace and Edo castle mean same place may not be known even by many Japanese except for those living in Tokyo, because it rarely is mentioned in Newspapers or TV programs and modern history doesn't take so much time in history classes at high school level.

Shijou-Ohashi

Shijou-Ohashi is a bridge hanging over the Kamo River in Kyoto. Kyoto is famous for its history that ancient Japanese emperor had been living there. Needless to say, it has been renovated several times, and existing one is paved with asphalt.

Kamo river is one of the popular spots in Kyoto, and in medieval times, its river beach had been a sort of amusement park which has created some of today's Japanese traditional cultures such as Kabuki. Kabuki is a sort of Japanese classic opera.

In 1996, when then-French President Jacques Chirac visited Kyoto, he proposed the construction of a bridge which imitates Pont des Arts, a bridge hanging over the Seine river in Paris, at the meeting with then-Kyoto city mayor Kakimoto, which was meant to be a token of the 40th anniversary of sister city agreement between Paris and Kyoto.

However, this attempt was not realized because of oppositions from both sides. While some Japanese citizens welcomed the idea saying it would be creating new sightseeing spot, others criticized it saying 
the bridge would not match with the scenery around there. And even prestigious French newspaper Le Monde posted an article which criticized the plan. In the end, it has been retracted in 1998- an episode that was very typical of France as it contained the artistic issue and showed the spirits of criticism which sometimes target even themselves. 

Nara Palace Site Histrical Park

Nara Palace is known as Heijo-Kyu among most of Japanese people. It was an imperial residence in Japanese capital city Heijo-Kyo (Today's Nara). And the period in which the capital city was placed in Nara is called Nara period.

Today, there is a few structures remaining and keeping their original appearance. Above photograph is of its entrance gate called Suzak-mon. Its color and design represents the influence of Chinese Buddhist temple. In those days, Japanese culture was under the strong influence of Chines and Korean peninsula's it.

The photo below is Daiichi -Daigokuden, a national palace of the administration in those days, and its height is eighty meters from the ground level. Although existing one is a restored model, it could be said as the most attractive structure in the park. 

While Nara is now known as one of the rural prefectures in Japan which boasts deers and giant statue of buddha, it still is a historically valuable town along with Kyoto. Since Nara, however, is more ancient than Kyoto, there is not so many historical places or architectures as in Kyoto.

Horyuji

Horyuji was built in the seventh century and is located at Nara prefecture. It is deeply associated with Shotoku Taishi, one of the most famous historical figure in Japan. And a part of it is the world's most oldest wooden architecture. 

Its most popular attraction is the five-storied pagoda, seen in the right side of above photograph. And the structure means five elements of our world: earth, water, fire, wind, and air, from the bottom. That is a buddhistic vision of the universe.

Horyuji is, in a sense, a showcase of buddhist art and was registered on Unesco's World Heritage List in 1993. It has experienced several times of repairs, and the last one has finished in  1985. The five-storied pagoda has been standing through many earth quakes over 1300 years. 
The secret of the ability to resist earthquake is in its structure. This ancient wooden structure employs flexible structure for absorbing the shock of earthquake. This idea has been  used  in modern high-rise buildings and it is very typical of Japanese culture, I think.

Japanese Historical Architectures

1) Horyuji Temple
2) Nara Palace Site Histrical Park
3) Shijou-Ohasi
4) The imperial palace
5) Sazae-Dou Temple
6) Izumo-Taisha
7) Goryokaku
8) Glover House
9) Fukushima Sekisho
10) Yasukuni Shurine
11) Battleship Island
12) Old Tokyo Station
13) Kiyomizu-dera
14) Byodo-in
15) National Diet Building
16) Yubikan
17) Suwa-Taisha
18) Yoshinogari-Iseki
19) Former Kaichi School
20) Former Abashiri Prison
21) Yakushiji