Vandals carve words into Nagoya Castle palace pillars

NAGOYA -- The central palace at Nagoya Castle here has been vandalized, with the culprits carving at least two words into the wooden building's interior pillars, the city revealed on Sept. 10.

According to the castle administrative office, phonetic hiragana characters spelling "ryoji" and measuring about 8 centimeters by 2 centimeters were found carved into a pillar in the palace on Aug. 24. Katakana phonetic characters spelling "kai" or "sai" and measuring 2.5 by 2 cm were found on a nearby pillar on Aug. 27.

Nagoya officials have said that the damage will be made less obvious, but cannot be repaired entirely. City officials consider the incident a malicious prank, and are poised to file criminal complaints with the Aichi Prefectural Police.

The Honmaru Palace and other major castle buildings were destroyed by fire in World War II U.S. bombing raids. An ambitious project to rebuild the palace in its original form began in 2009, and the restored structure was opened to the public in June last year.

The castle office stated that it had taken measures to protect the palace from damage by visitors, such as by prohibiting them from taking in ballpoint pens. However, the vandalized pillars were in a spot difficult to see for the staff posted nearby. Castle officials have committed to strengthening preventative measures, including by addressing visitors directly when needed.

Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura commented, "It's a regrettable incident. This (castle) is something we've got to protect for the next millennium, so everybody, please be careful."

(Japanese original by Ayuko Nomura, Nagoya News Center)