This weekend across Japan the movie Hiten No Shiro (The Castle of Heavenly Flame) opened across the nation. It tells the story of Okabe Mataemon, a carpenter ordered to build the most splendid castle ever for the warlord Oda Nobunaga. Okabe's family had been carpenters for Nagoya's Atsuta Shrine, the 2nd most important shrine in all Japan. His work had been appreciated by Nobunaga, who was a protector of the shrine, and so Okabe was commissioned to build Azuchi Castle.
Okabe built the magnificent castle on the shore of Lake Biwa, and later a giant statue of the Buddha for Toyotomi Hideyoshi after the death of Nobunaga, and later, the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu had him work on various aspects of Nagoya Castle. When I heard about the movie, I wanted to go see it. On Saturday, while researching for a book, I discovered Okabe was from Nagoya, and upon further research found the site where his house once stood.
The site of the Okabe family home is now a modern day multi storey office building facing the grounds of Atsuta Shrine. Nothing remains of the property but the historical marker. That and the remarkable story of a man forced to build a castle that became a symbol of the mid period of civil war. Incidentally, the part of Okabe is played by Nishida Toshiyuki, who played Pigsy in the 70's cult TV series Monkey.
This weekend across Japan the movie Hiten No Shiro (The Castle of Heavenly Flame) opened across the nation. It tells the story of Okabe Mataemon, a carpenter ordered to build the most splendid castle ever for the warlord Oda Nobunaga. Okabe's family had been carpenters for Nagoya's Atsuta Shrine, the 2nd most important shrine in all Japan. His work had been appreciated by Nobunaga, who was a protector of the shrine, and so Okabe was commissioned to build Azuchi Castle.
Okabe built the magnificent castle on the shore of Lake Biwa, and later a giant statue of the Buddha for Toyotomi Hideyoshi after the death of Nobunaga, and later, the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu had him work on various aspects of Nagoya Castle. When I heard about the movie, I wanted to go see it. On Saturday, while researching for a book, I discovered Okabe was from Nagoya, and upon further research found the site where his house once stood.
The site of the Okabe family home is now a modern day multi storey office building facing the grounds of Atsuta Shrine. Nothing remains of the property but the historical marker. That and the remarkable story of a man forced to build a castle that became a symbol of the mid period of civil war. Incidentally, the part of Okabe is played by Nishida Toshiyuki, who played Pigsy in the 70's cult TV series Monkey.
give a brief report of the building
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