Fujimi 500829 Edo Castel

Edo Castle (another name: Chiyoda Castle) is a Japanese defensive structure currently located in Tokyo in the Chiyoda district. Today, it is one of the elements of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the main and official seat of the Japanese emperor. The castle was built in 1457 on the initiative of the samurai poet Ota Dokan. In the 17th century, the castle became the official seat of the Tokugawa shoguns, who de facto ruled Japan until the mid-19th century. The castle also performed important military functions at that time. In 1657, part of the building was destroyed by fire. Once again the castle was struggling with a major fire in 1873. At the beginning of the Meiji era (in 1868), which led to the rapid and radical modernization of Japan in a Western fashion, Edo Castle was symbolically abandoned by the shogun, replaced by the emperor. The castle suffered some damage during World War II as a result of American bombings. Its partial reconstruction took place in the 1960s.