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Created page with "*''Date: 1573, Belgium'' The Kunouzan Toshogu clock, as it might be called, is the oldest extant Western-made clock in Japan. It is held at the [[Kunouzan Toshogu Museum]..."
*''Date: [[1573]], Belgium''
The Kunouzan Toshogu clock, as it might be called, is the oldest extant Western-made clock in Japan. It is held at the [[Kunouzan Toshogu Museum]] in [[Shizuoka]], and has been designated an [[Important Cultural Property]].
The clock, made primarily of brass, is about 21.5 cm in height, 12.5 cm in width, and weighs about 2.8 kg. It was a gift to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] from King Philip III of Spain, as an expression of gratitude for the crew of a Spanish ship being rescued after being shipwrecked off the coast of [[Chiba prefecture]] in [[1609]].
For centuries, the clock has been believed to date to [[1581]], and to have been made in Madrid by the Flemish clockmaker Hans de Evalo, official clockmaker to the Spanish monarchy, as is written on a plaque affixed to the back of the clock. However, scholars discovered in 2014 or 2015 that a set of markings on the clock, beneath that plaque, indicate a date of [[1573]]. Scholars now believe the clock was made in that earlier year, in Brussels, and by a different clockmaker.
{{stub}}
==References==
*"[http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201504040034 X-ray reveals Western clock given to Tokugawa Ieyasu made in Belgium, not Spain]," ''Asahi Shimbun'', 4 April 2015.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Art and Architecture]]
The Kunouzan Toshogu clock, as it might be called, is the oldest extant Western-made clock in Japan. It is held at the [[Kunouzan Toshogu Museum]] in [[Shizuoka]], and has been designated an [[Important Cultural Property]].
The clock, made primarily of brass, is about 21.5 cm in height, 12.5 cm in width, and weighs about 2.8 kg. It was a gift to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] from King Philip III of Spain, as an expression of gratitude for the crew of a Spanish ship being rescued after being shipwrecked off the coast of [[Chiba prefecture]] in [[1609]].
For centuries, the clock has been believed to date to [[1581]], and to have been made in Madrid by the Flemish clockmaker Hans de Evalo, official clockmaker to the Spanish monarchy, as is written on a plaque affixed to the back of the clock. However, scholars discovered in 2014 or 2015 that a set of markings on the clock, beneath that plaque, indicate a date of [[1573]]. Scholars now believe the clock was made in that earlier year, in Brussels, and by a different clockmaker.
{{stub}}
==References==
*"[http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201504040034 X-ray reveals Western clock given to Tokugawa Ieyasu made in Belgium, not Spain]," ''Asahi Shimbun'', 4 April 2015.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Art and Architecture]]