Beneath the Chrysanthemum
On the Karamon Gate at Nijo Castle, golden chrysanthemum crests can be seen among its elaborate decorations.
In Japan, the chrysanthemum crest represents the Imperial Family.
Nijo Castle, however, was not built by the Imperial Family. It was constructed in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu as the shogun’s base in Kyoto.
The Tokugawa family used a different crest: the three-leaf hollyhock, known in Japanese as the mitsuba aoi.
Why, then, does a castle built by the Tokugawa carry the Imperial chrysanthemum?
After the Tokugawa shogunate ended, Nijo Castle was used by the new government and later housed offices of Kyoto Prefecture. In 1884, it became Nijo Imperial Villa, a residence belonging to the Imperial Family.
A castle of the Tokugawa had become an Imperial villa.
It is believed that some of the Tokugawa hollyhock crests were replaced with Imperial chrysanthemum crests during this transition.
More than a century later, conservation work revealed a physical trace of that change.
During the restoration of the Karamon Gate from 2011 to 2013, craftspeople removed some of its decorative metal fittings. Beneath the visible chrysanthemum crests, they discovered the Tokugawa hollyhock crests.
The two crests had not been displayed side by side.
One had been placed over the other.
The chrysanthemum visible on the surface represents the years when Nijo Castle served as an Imperial villa. The hollyhock concealed beneath it recalls the castle’s earlier life as the Tokugawa government’s base in Kyoto.
Within a single piece of metalwork, two different periods of Japanese history had been preserved.
Today, Nijo Castle is undergoing an extensive conservation project intended to protect Ninomaru Palace and its other cultural properties for future generations.
Because its historic buildings are made largely from natural materials such as wood and earth, regular conservation is essential. The project is expected to continue for more than twenty years, at a total cost exceeding ¥10 billion.
One way the public can support this work is through the Nijo-jo Castle Owners’ Fundraising Campaign.
Anyone can participate by donating at least ¥1,000. The program does not grant ownership of the castle. Instead, it uses the idea of becoming one of its “castle owners” to invite people to help preserve this shared cultural heritage.
During my visit to Nijo Castle, I also completed the process of joining the campaign.
A castle once built to represent the authority of the shogun is now being supported, little by little, by people who want to carry it into the future.
Just as the Tokugawa crest remained beneath the Imperial chrysanthemum, history does not always disappear when one era replaces another.
Traces of different periods can remain layered within the same building.
Preserving Nijo Castle also means preserving those layers for the generations that follow.
