ABSTRACT
The capital, Edo, was founded by the Tokugawa family, but there was nothing original in its civilization. The plan of Edo Castle was drafted by Lord Todo Takatora, under whom were employed the artisans who took part in the constructions of Adzuchi Castle by Nobunaga, and the Osaka Castle by Hideyoshi, or apprentices of those artisans, and Edo men had no particular share in it. When the castle was completed, it was observed of the inner architectures, furnishings, and decoration that everything had the air of lyeyasu's very economical habits and customs, and there was no such dazzling display of gold and silver as in Osaka Castle, Its massiveness, and the large scale on which it was built, gave it due dignity as the palace of the Shogun; but if there was anything of artistic design in the architecture of Edo Castle it was an imported idea from Kyoto and Osaka, and had nothing characteristic of Edo itself, so that the construction of this building does not make an epoch in the industrial and fine arts as was the case with Adzuchi Castle and Osaka Castle.
