Aichi: Replica of castle steep staircase open to climb

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:42 JST, May 10, 2022

NAGOYA — An exhibit featuring a replica of a section of the staircase of Nagoya Castle’s tower keep reopened at a facility in Naka Ward, Nagoya, on April 17 after being closed for more than a year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Kaidan Taikenkan (staircase experience building), or Step Nagoya, is open to the public every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. free of charge.

The Nagoya city government also aims to reconstruct a wooden version of the castle’s tower keep. The staircase at the facility is a reproduction of the portion that connects the first and second levels of the keep. Visitors are free to walk up and down the stairs, which are quite steep and feature a maximum incline of approximately 47 degrees.

Other exhibits at the facility include a 1/100-scale model of the restored tower keep, hinoki cypress pillars that will be used for reconstruction and cut red pine logs from Iwate Prefecture that will be used for the beams.