Ruins of Ninomaru of Hiroshima Castle

The Ninomaru, or secondary compound, of Hiroshima Castle is marked by a series of wooden gates and towers that contrast with the concrete keep looming behind them. Built as a defensive circle around the heart of the castle, this area served as a station for soldiers and cavalry to gather if the castle faced an attack. While the structures here were leveled during the atomic bombing of nineteen forty-five, they were reconstructed between nineteen eighty-nine and nineteen ninety-four using traditional Japanese timber-frame building methods and original materials.