Shōgun

Edo's Origins

Edo in Shōgun closely mirrors its historical counterpart. Although Tokugawa Ieyasu's (Toranaga in Shōgun) home castle was in Okazaki, Hideyoshi (The Taikō) granted him the Kantō region with Edo (modern Tokyo) as its capital in 1590.&nbsp;At that time, there was only an old castle and a small village at the site, but with its location at the crossroads of a network of roads and waterways, and with Hibiya Bay as an opening to the sea, Edo looked promising for further development as a castle city.

Edo's Development

By accepting Hideyoshi's order, Ieyasu lost his domains in Mikawa, but this did not deter him. Upon moving to Edo, Ieyasu immediately began building, reinforcing and expanding the castle. Over the next few years, the Main Palace and the Second Palace were enlarged, and a new Western Palace was added within the new walls. The Western Palace was to become Ieyasu's retreat while his son lived in the Main Palace.&nbsp;The Hirakawa River, which flowed into Hibiya Bay, was intricately branched to serve as the castle's moat. By 1600, the castle had been considerably enlarged, but it didn't have a large tower keep like Osaka Castle. The famous Tenshukaku of Edo Castle was not completed until 1607.Just as in Osaka, where Hideyoshi ordered all the warlords to build their residences around the castle, Ieyasu ordered his retainers to build their residences on the north, east, and south sides of the castle to provide an extra layer of protection. With so much construction going on, many laborers settled in the city, and a commercial center developed east of the castle.&nbsp;The swamps surrounding the new city were drained. To improve transportation, bridges were built over the rivers flowing west and east of the city. The great wooden Nihonbashi Bridge in the center of Edo was not built until 1603.In 1600, at the time of our story, Edo was still very much a work in progress, with a constant flow of building materials brought in by sea and land, and the sound of carpentry echoing throughout the city. Compared to the gigantic city of Osaka, however, Edo was still a small town.

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Edo | FX Shōgun Viewers Guide

The City of the Future

Edo's Origins

Edo's Development

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