Hommaru Palace, Nagoya

Hommaru Palace was an architectural masterpiece completed in 1615 as the residence and administrative headquarters of Tokugawa Yoshinao, the first lord of the Owari Domain. Constructed largely from high-quality Japanese cypress, it was lavishly decorated with paintings applied to walls, sliding doors, and screens covered in gold leaf. Tigers, leopards, auspicious birds, animals, trees, and flowers filled the rooms, while carved transoms and ornamental metal fittings added to the richness of the interiors.

Soon after its completion, Yoshinao moved his main residence and administrative functions to the Ninomaru Palace, and Hommaru Palace was increasingly reserved for visits by the shogun. After the end of feudal rule, the palace came under the control of the Imperial Household Agency in 1893 and became the Nagoya Detached Imperial Palace. Members of the imperial family stayed there on several occasions before the complex was transferred to Nagoya City in 1930. That same year, the palace, keeps, and several other structures were designated National Treasures.

Hommaru Palace was destroyed during the air raids of 1945. Fortunately, many of its original wall and screen paintings survived because they had been removed and placed in storage before the bombing. Reconstruction began in 2009 using surviving architectural drawings, photographs, measurements, and traditional building techniques.

Inside, visitors pass through a sequence of increasingly formal rooms, from the entrance halls to the richly decorated audience chambers. The reproductions follow the original layouts and decorative schemes, while many surviving original paintings are preserved separately and displayed on rotation in the Nishinomaru Okura Museum.