Hyakunin Bansho Guardhouse
This is the largest of three guardhouses that have survived from the Edo period (1603–1867). Located between the San no Mon and Naka no Mon gates, this guardhouse controlled access to the honmaru main compound of Edo Castle. The name means “100-Man Guardhouse.” The 45-metre-long building was manned day and night by four shifts of samurai, each consisting of one hundred low-ranking doshin samurai and twenty higher-ranking yoriki samurai.
PHOTO CAPTION
1. Hyakunin Bansho with the wooden doors open