The Jurakudai or Jurakutei () was a palace constructed at the order of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, Japan. Construction began in 1586, when Hideyoshi had taken the post of , and required nineteen months to complete. Its total area was almost equal to the Imperial Palace Enclosure. It was decorated exceptionally lavishly, but had thick walls and a moat more reminiscent of fortresses such as that at

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. It was located in present-day Kamigyō, on the site where the Imperial palace had stood in the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

. In late 1587, following the Jurakudai's completion, Hideyoshi moved there from his castle at Osaka, just after his victory over the

Shimazu family The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contr ...

in Kyūshū. He made it the base for his administration and invited Go-Yōzei, the reigning emperor, to stay there in the first month of 1588. Maeda Geni, one of his Five Commissioners, studied previous receptions of emperors and the requisite protocols. The emperor was escorted by many Court nobles, mounted samurai (including Hideyoshi's foremost generals), and "innumerable men at arms". Hideyoshi rode immediately afterwards, the highest ranking Court official in his capacity as Kampaku. Within the Jurakudai itself, the great awaited the emperor, most importantly

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

and Oda Nobukatsu. The emperor stayed in the palace for five days, and the gathered there were asked to sign an oath to the following principles: # "We who are assembled here weep tears of gratitude for the presence of His Majesty." # "If any evil persons should attempt to confiscate Crown estates or the property of Court nobles, we will take action against them, and we bind ourselves and our descendants to carry out this undertaking." # "We swear that we will obey the commands of the Regent down to the smallest particular." Kusunoki Masatora is the source for these events, having recorded them in his diary. In 1589, the most important Court nobles and were again invited to the Jurakudai. Here Hideyoshi displayed a vast amount – approximately – of gold and silver heaped on plates; it was then distributed among those gathered. When Hideyoshi resigned from the post of Kanpaku in 1591, his nephew

Toyotomi Hidetsugu was a daimyō during the Sengoku period of Japan. He was the nephew and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier and ruler of Japan from 1590 to 1598. Despite being Hideyoshi's closest adult, male relative, Hidetsugu was accused of atrocities ...

assumed the position; he took up residence at Jurakudai with Hideyoshi's other nephew, Toyotomi Hidekatsu. Hidetsugu hosted a second visit for Go-Yōzei. However, Hideyoshi began to construct his new castle in 1594 and when Hidetsugu was forced to commit seppuku in 1595, the Jurakudai was dismantled, with many parts being moved to Fushimi and reassembled. Myokakuji Kyoto 01

Some buildings of the Jurakudai survive, among them the Hiun-kaku at Nishi Hongan-ji, the

Karamon The is a type of gate seen in Japanese architecture. It is characterized by the usage of '' karahafu'', an undulating bargeboard peculiar to Japan. ''Karamon'' are often used at the entrances of Japanese castles, Buddhist temples and Shinto s ...

Daitoku-ji is a Buddhist temple, one of fourteen autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. It is located in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The "mountain name" ('' sangō'') by which it is known is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex today covers more ...

, and the front gate at Myōkaku-ji (all in Kyoto). Recent excavations have yielded some tiles bearing gold leaf.

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* {{Coord, 35, 01, 30, N, 135, 44, 45, E, region:JP-26_type:landmark_source:kolossus-jawiki, display=title Houses completed in 1587 Former buildings and structures in Japan Former palaces Buildings and structures in Kyoto