Remains of the Honmaru Goten and Ninomaru Goten
The black tiles on the lawn in front of the castle mark where the Honmaru Goten once stood. The Honmaru Goten was both the castle lord’s residence and an administrative center where audiences were held and ceremonies were conducted. It covered roughly 2,320 square meters of the main bailey.
The Honmaru Goten burned down in 1727, but the flames did not spread to the castle. After the fire, the castle’s administrative functions were moved to the Ninomaru Goten, a smaller building located in the second bailey. A century and a half later, this building also burned down. An excavation of the site was carried out between 1979 and 1984, and the objects unearthed there provide a picture of daily life at the castle. Some of these artifacts are displayed on the second floor of the Great Keep.
While the Honmaru Goten and the Ninomaru Goten no longer exist, recreations of these and other structures of the castle can be seen using the StreetMuseum smartphone app.