The New Honmaru Goten Palace

See the royal palace in a new light

Vicky Amin Jun 15, 2019 - 2 min read

Honmaru Goten entrance area. The palace's elements of wood and touches of gold can be seen from here

The high number of visitors here (due to Nagoya caste's main keep being closed until 2022) creates a long queue for Honmaru Goten - however the inside of the palace is not too crowded

The doors and walls inside Honmaru Goten are decorated with lavish paintings of animals, birds, plants, and seasons. These works of arts are created by skillful Japanese artists only.

Tigers and leopards are two animals familiar to the first rooms of the palace. What's unique is that the artists had actually never seen any of the animals, and did their job only based on people's verbal descriptions and the animals' skins brought from across Asia.

Several rooms inside Honmaru Goten are let open wide, but visitors aren't allowed to step in so they can enjoy the view completely from the distance.

Despite the enormous size, visitors will never miss even the smallest corners of Honmaru Goten because the visitors route is really clear and in order. Each rooms are also complemented with information panel for visitors to discover more of the history and usage of the rooms.

The front rooms of the palace are built as the waiting rooms for officials and imperial guests based on their ranks. The higher their social status, the closer they will be placed to the shogun's main room.

Jorakuden, the most extravagant and the most beautiful room in the palace. Along with Jodan-no-ma next to it, these areas are the residents for Tokugawa shoguns when they were visiting Nagoya.

Stepping out of the palace building and you will be greeted by the main keep!

Notice

The wooden restoration of Nagoya Castle’s main tower keep is delayed and there is no scheduled completion date. Visitors cannot enter the structure anymore as it is not considered earthquake resistant.

Latest on Nagoya Castle

There is no better timing for the revival of Nagoya Castle's Honmaru Goten Palace. Its long reconstruction took almost a decade to complete, and finished just before its main keep, which had always been the main attraction in the whole complex, closes its doors and gets torn down for renovation in 2019—and will not be open until 2022. Honmaru Goten which now has a whole new level of beauty, caters to those who are hungry for Nagoya history.

The palace has always been the finest example of samurai-style architecture across the nation, influencing lots of other similar buildings including Ninomaru Palace in Nijo Castle, Kyoto. It uses only the hands of skillful artists and craftsmen, using only traditional woodwork techniques, with the aim of not only replicating the old building, but to revive the authenticity of the original architecture built by shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1615. Meanwhile, the inside of the palace is covered in a blanket of gold, with lavish paintings upon walls and sliding doors.

If you may think that the wooden elements of this building is too strong, there is a reason for it. Honmaru Goten uses hinoki cypress wood, the same material used to construct the palace 400 years ago. The excessive usage of wood and the fragrant aroma of the cypress is intentional, to make visitors feel the same experience of visiting the original palace as royal guests.

Follow the virtual tour in Honmaru Goten Palace through these series of photos. If you're planning to visit Nagoya, the palace and Nagoya Castle complex can all be visited even if you only have one day to explore.

More info

Find out more about Nagoya Castle.

Vicky Amin @vicky.amin632

A traveler, budding travel writer, and amateur author. Writing is my way to redo my amazing journey all over again. I started "Cheating the World" project and with it, I've made two of my annual trips in a form of a book: "Cheating Southern Vietnam", and "Cheating Hong Kong & Macau" (still in Ba...