■清水門 旧江戸城の広大な遺構の中には我々が出入り出来る門はたくさんあるが、その中で一番江戸期の雰囲気を残しているのがこの清水門だ。 高麗門を抜けると枡形構造の広場になり、この写真の櫓門に至る。 櫓門を抜けるとU字型に大きくカーブして階段を上る構造であり、少なくても我々が出入り出来る他の門でこういう原初の雰囲気を残してる門はない。 ここは北の丸公園に通ずる門なのでこの他の構造物で江戸期を感じる事は出来ないが、この付近の石垣にも多くの刻印を見る事が出来る。

■Shimizu Gate of the former Edo Castle Edo Castle(Edo-jo)was built in 1457. Tokugawa Ieyasu who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan(1603-1867) started using it as a base in 1590. In 1592, he began large-scale reconstruction work develop the castle as his residence and administration centre. Shimizu Gate(Shimizu-mon)is located at the northeast part of the north citadel(Kitanomaru). It consists of several parts, including a Korai-mon style outer gate, a Yagura-mon style inner gate, and highly-stacked stonewalls, which from a defensive narrow square. An inscription on the outer gate states that Shimizu Gate was built in 1658. The gate is of high national value as one of the existing buildings at the former Edo Castle whose year of construction can be identified. Shimizu Gate has been protected by the national government as important Cultural Property since 1961.