Nagoya Castle's keep to be rebuilt in wood

[bikkuri bahn]

Encouraging sign, and something that helps preserve traditional carpentry and building techniques.

NAGOYA--Nagoya Castle’s main keep will be restored to its original wooden structure after an argument was settled over the schedule of the 50-billion-yen ($490 million) project, the city government said June 27.

Scheduled for completion in about a decade, the keep will be the first of a castle designated a special historic site by the government to return to its original form.

The agreement was reached on June 27 by Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, who had been pushing for an early completion of donjon, and a majority faction of the city assembly, which urged him to take a more cautious approach.

Standing in the middle of this city in central Japan, the castle’s 36-meter-tall main tower was built in 1612 and was destroyed in a May 1945 U.S. air raid during World War II.

The keep was rebuilt in 1959, but it was made of reinforced concrete that only imitated the appearance of the original wooden donjon.

 

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201606280051.html

 

*my first ride on the shinkansen was to see this castle, back in 1980 or thereabouts.