Changes

Upon entering the ''genkan'', one would turn left to enter the ''ôhiroma'' (大広間, great audience hall). Consisting of a number of connected rooms roughly 500 tatami mats in area,<ref name=fukai22>Fukai, 22.</ref> in total, the ''ôhiroma''  was among the spaces closest to the entrance to the castle, and thus furthest from the center of the complex. It was used for audiences with foreign emissaries or powerful ''tozama daimyô'', and for other highly formal ceremonies.

Upon entering the ''genkan'', one would turn left to enter the ''ôhiroma'' (大広間, great audience hall). Consisting of a number of connected rooms roughly 500 tatami mats in area,<ref name=fukai22>Fukai, 22.</ref> in total, the ''ôhiroma''  was among the spaces closest to the entrance to the castle, and thus furthest from the center of the complex. It was used for audiences with foreign emissaries or powerful ''tozama daimyô'', and for other highly formal ceremonies.

Two "studies" (''shoin''), also used as audience halls, were located in the western part of the ''honmaru''. Known as the ''shiroshoin'' ("white study") and ''kuroshoin'' ("black study"), they lay on either side of an open garden (''nakaniwa''). The ''shiroshoin'', to the north of the ''ôhiroma'', was somewhat closer to the ''genkan'' than the ''kuroshoin'', and was used for more public/official meetings, while the ''kuroshoin'', located to the north of the ''shiroshoin'', deeper into the interior of the complex, was used for meetings on more everyday matters. The ''shiroshoin'', constructed in white wood, was divided into several rooms including the ''Teikan-no-ma'', covering in total around 300 tatami in area. The ''kuroshoin'', constructed in black lacquered wood, was similarly divided into several rooms, and covered a somewhat smaller 190 or so.<ref>Arai Hakuseki, Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 289n38.; Fukai, 32-33.</ref>

Two "studies" (''shoin''), also used as audience halls, were located in the western part of the ''honmaru''. Known as the ''shiroshoin'' ("white study") and ''kuroshoin'' ("black study"), they lay on either side of an open garden (''nakaniwa''). The ''shiroshoin'', to the north of the ''ôhiroma'', was somewhat closer to the ''genkan'' than the ''kuroshoin'', and was used for more public/official meetings, while the ''kuroshoin'', located to the north of the ''shiroshoin'', deeper into the interior of the complex, was used for meetings on more everyday matters. The ''shiroshoin'', constructed in white wood, was divided into several rooms including the ''Teikan-no-ma'', covering in total around 300 tatami in area. The ''kuroshoin'', constructed in black lacquered wood, was similarly divided into several rooms, and covered a somewhat smaller 190 or so.<ref>Arai Hakuseki, Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 289n38.; Fukai, 32-33.</ref> The ''shiroshoin'' was connected to the ''Ôhiroma'' by the ''Matsu-no-ôrôka'' ("Great Hallway of Pines"), the second-longest such hallway in the complex. This was the site of the famous [[1701]] attack by [[Asano Naganori]] against [[Kira Yoshinaka]] which precipitated the later attack on Kira's mansion by the [[47 Ronin]] (former retainers of Asano's, seeking revenge for Asano's execution).

[[File:Ohiroma.JPG|center|thumb|750px|A model of the ''Ôhiroma'', Edo castle's largest audience hall, on display at the Edo-Tokyo Museum]]

[[File:Ohiroma.JPG|center|thumb|750px|A model of the ''Ôhiroma'', Edo castle's largest audience hall, on display at the Edo-Tokyo Museum]]