Changes

==History==

==History==

First established by [[Ota Dokan|Ôta Dôkan]] in [[1457]], the castle was a secondary center of power within the Kantô, under [[Odawara castle]], through much of the [[Sengoku period]]. Following the [[Siege of Odawara|fall of Odawara]] in [[1590]], [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] established [[Edo]] as his new center.

First established by [[Ota Dokan|Ôta Dôkan]] in [[1457]], the castle was a secondary center of power within the Kantô, under [[Odawara castle]], through much of the [[Sengoku period]]. Following the [[Siege of Odawara|fall of Odawara]] in [[1590]], [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] established [[Edo]] as his new center. Ieyasu undertook extensive renovations beginning in [[1592]].<ref name=shimizu>Plaque on-site at the Tokyo Imperial Palace Shimizumon[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/18200797571/sizes/h/].</ref>

The castle then became the center of shogunal residence & rule, from [[1603]] onwards. The castle grounds were expanded significantly, including the construction of complexes of moats and gates (''mitsuke''), such that they came to encompass an area twice that of [[Osaka castle]], the next-largest castle compound in the archipelago.<ref name=fujitani40>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 40.</ref> The grand ''tenshukaku'' (tower keep), the tallest ever built in Japan at 58 meters high & five stories high from exterior view, was begun in [[1607]] and completed in [[1638]], following a series of repairs to the castle as a whole in [[1622]]. It suffered severe damage from fire on a number of occasions, perhaps most grievously in the [[1657]] [[Great Meireki Fire]], when the ''tenshu'' (main keep) was destroyed; the ''tenshu'' was never rebuilt.

The castle then became the center of shogunal residence & rule, from [[1603]] onwards. The castle grounds were expanded significantly, including the construction of complexes of moats and gates (''mitsuke''), such that they came to encompass an area twice that of [[Osaka castle]], the next-largest castle compound in the archipelago.<ref name=fujitani40>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 40.</ref> The grand ''tenshukaku'' (tower keep), the tallest ever built in Japan at 58 meters high & five stories high from exterior view, was begun in [[1607]] and completed in [[1638]], following a series of repairs to the castle as a whole in [[1622]]. It suffered severe damage from fire on a number of occasions, perhaps most grievously in the [[1657]] [[Great Meireki Fire]], when the ''tenshu'' (main keep) was destroyed; the ''tenshu'' was never rebuilt.