Hirakawa-mon

In front of you is Hirakawa-mon, the castle's back door. Maidservants from the Ōoku, the shogun's women's quarters, came and went through this gate, along with castle officials on everyday business. But this gate had a darker job too. A second, smaller gate here was used to carry out the dead, and to lead away those who had fallen into disgrace. In 1701, the lord Asano Naganori is said to have left this way to take his own life after drawing his sword inside the castle. Notice how the gates sit at right angles to each other. An enemy who broke through the first would have to turn inside a cramped square, with defenders above. Many gates around the palace follow this layout, known as masugata. Before you move on, take a look at the bridge posts. The bronze caps on top, called giboshi, are engraved with era names from the early 1600s. The wooden bridge itself is modern, but some of those caps have been here for around four hundred years. Few things in Tokyo have stood still for that long.