Japanese throne room?
Herald of Fire
Posts: 3,504
Ever on the prowl for Edo-themed goodies, I find myself in need of a throne room for a long-running project. Somewhere fit for an emperor to rule over their land and conduct business. If anyone has some ideas of where I can get one, I'd greatly appreciate the help. It's not urgent, but I do need to plan ahead for this particular project, so I'll be looking to build one if I'm unable to find one for purchase.
As mentioned, it should be Edo period as is fitting with the project.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
By any chance would you have reference images or video that would show the type of Edo Period throne room you are looking for? (Not easy images to obtain BTW.)
I'm very reluctant to mention this, but I am working on Far Eastern models and there is a possibility that I could provide you with a customized throne room. I can't say for sure without more information though and I have my reasons for making this offer. ;-)
Are you imagining a throne room anything like the ones depicted below? Any details about the layout and decoration for the type of throne room you are looking for would be helpful.
Image 1 - is a real Japanese throne room.
Image 2 - is a real Korean throne room.
Image 3 - is a fake throne room from a game.
I was just doing a search and images of anything Edo Period associated with the emperor are tough to find!
Do you guys know if the throne room was called "Matsu no Ma" as it was during the Meiji Period?
I'm something of a Japanese history buff myself. I'm guessing you probably know some of this already, but in case it's helpful...
During the Edo Period, the real seat of power was that of the shogun, who ruled from Edo (the city now called Tokyo). The shogun's throne room in Edo Castle might have looked like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Tokugawa_ietsugu.jpg
The reigning emperor lived in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, and had a largely ceremonial role. The Kyoto Imperial Palace was established at its current location in 1331 and rebuilt in 1855 (during the late Edo Period). It's been well-preserved since then.
Some photos of the exterior and interior: http://www.taleofgenji.org/kyoto_imperial_palace.html
Here's the throne, but it seems to be just a ceremonial one, not what the Emperor would typically sit on (and might be more recent than the Edo Period...it was used in the Taisho Era and I have no idea if the same one was used previously as well): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Taisho_enthronement.jpg
One of the greatest source of inspiration about japanese lifestyle ,city, houses, props,..etc is on the "Two Worlds 2" game .
Unfortunately you have to play a while this game to have access INSIDE on some houses or houses of the rich people. It's in chapter 2 and around level 25-30 .
I never saw such of medieval japanese details in a game so far .I played this game and i intend to reinstall and play again to get my inspiration for 3D modelling props ;-) when i'll be good enough for advanced modelling .I've heard there is a 3D ripping program called 3D Ripper DX but i don't know if its working on the two worlds 2 .
There is a tool for editing the game http://www.insidetwoworlds.com/showthread.php?t=32155 the WD unpacker but i didnt modded this game yet. However should be easy to extract files from WD game archives as i did , i created some mods/maps, modded items/quests the Ubisoft' Anno 1404 Venice game but the worst part is when you'll have to convert the file to be seen by a 3D application as meshes.
TWO WORLDS 2 - Exploring the JAPAN Island (and this is just a small 2 min video)
or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V0czrBpoDg&list=SP7B3A368BE5CEA12F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QcRMF661Bc&list=SP7B3A368BE5CEA12F
for more videos search on youtube "Let's play Two Worlds 2" and look for the japanese island area
So many details that im not wonder if someone from devs team travelled to japan to gather data for this game :coolsmirk:
There is no japanese palace in this game but at least you'll find a great source of inspiration (such as room interiors, umbrellas, trophees, bonsai, boxes, libraries,clothes, even guards armor,dragon statues,bridges, etc..) ;-P
As you mentioned, it's very difficult to actually get images of actual Japanese throne rooms. This is largely because photography in many of the older castles and temples is actually forbidden, and that's assuming they let you enter. That's probably why so many shows and games take a bit of artistic license to it.
The actual Japanese throne room is very much the style I'm after, though the lack of images might make it difficult to work with. I am very curious about your Far-Eastern projects, but I won't pry. I think I'd rather look forward to the results. In an ideal world, I'd have some of the interior of Matsumoto Castle to work with as well, but it's hard to get a decent set of images to work from for modelling it.
While we're on the subject, if anyone knows any good Edo-period fonts which work well with Chinese kanji, I'd appreciate a link. Thanks.
I think I have some Japanese castle interior photos...I'll have to check. I lived in Japan for a time, and visited four castles while I was there. Not Matsumoto, unfortunately.
If you haven't checked out http://edogoyomi.art.coocan.jp/projects/index.html and http://www.3dchaya.com you may want to poke around the freebies there to see if anything is helpful.
@ Ebajoy... Thank you for the links.
@ HeraldOfFire... You stated that your need isn't urgent, but I was wondering if you could give me a general time frame on when you would need the throne room? I'm trying to figure out if I can fit it into my schedule.
@ Scott-Livingston... I'd love to see any interior pictures you may have. ;-)
General time frame? Well, I hope to have the bulk of the project finished by September, so as you can see it's quite a large project. The scenes involving the throne room are quite important, but luckily aren't too numerous so if worst comes to worst, I can get them done post-September to tie things all up neatly.
OK. That is a lot more time then I feared I might have. I have a couple of projects to finish up and then I'm going to work on the throne room as part of a larger project I already have planned. I intend for this to be a detailed and quality oriented model, which I think you will be happy with. If you help me test it out a little by using it in your work I'd be happy to have you use it free of charge under a standard use agreement. Sound good?
I'll be in touch again in a week about this project and will start to share some roughs and images of the model with you after that, if things move forward and until the Poser/Studio model is completed. This way you and others can comment on the model before it is completed (or perhaps I'll start a 'work in progress' thread in the proper forum and link it here). In addition to this thread I may also send you PMs to share any confidential project information/images not ready for public display/release.
To OP:
I have some books about Edo era. But my main interest is life for ordinary people that days, so I do not have much knowladge about 江戸城(Edo Castle).
Anyway,I found some images. May be ollowing two images are what you are looking for.They may be "大広間(Ohhiroma)" at "本丸(Honmaru)" in Edo castle.
http://atky.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2013/01/16/553pxtaisehokan.jpg
http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/mugai_de_iai/imgs/3/8/38760c0a.jpg
The plot of Edo castle can see following sites.
http://www.viva-edo.com/edojou.html
http://www.max.hi-ho.ne.jp/khori/Edo_castle_plan.htm
I also find site include description for Edo castle for kids.
http://library.kodaira.ed.jp/local/tkk/tkk41/tkk41_10.html
http://library.kodaira.ed.jp/local/tkk/tkk41/tkk41_01.html
About fonts: I do not know about chinese kanji.
But you mean japanese kanji for edo era, I reccomend something like "毛筆(mouhitsu)" fonts.
There are some free Mouhitsu fonts.
http://www.hakusyu.com/download/natsu/shikidl_natsu.html
http://www.forest.impress.co.jp/library/software/aoyagifont/
If you want fonts using at "歌舞伎(Kabuki)", you need "勘亭流（Kan-tei-ryuu)" font (I can not find free one).
To 7thStone:
Your first image is "首里城" at Okinawa. It's made about 14 century and bit deffrent from main stream of japanese histrory.
These two images are amazing!!! Thank you very much for posting them!
I'm not sure how many kokuji (国字) they actually had during the Edo period, so I'd imagine the bulk would still be using Chinese kanji. Some kanji have different meanings in Japanese, but still use the same character, and only the kokuji characters would be missing. Thanks for the fonts though, one of them in particular is ideal for my needs.
It's only really for things like signs and scenery. The bulk of the project is actually English but I want the setting to be as authentic as possible, so I've been doing research into the Edo period as well as their use of certain slang terms. No small task, I can assure you. Thanks for the great links. I've bookmarked some of them as I think they'll be very useful in my research.
I think "国字(Kokuji)" is a different story.
Basically, "国字(Kokuji)" is made in countries outside chana(http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/国字). So their purpose or pronunciation may be different.
For example following (PDF) refferes Kokuji in "節用集"(kind of dictionary made from Muromachi era through Shouwa era).
http://rc.moralogy.jp/ronbun/14エツコ.pdf
Some of them of Kokuji are included in normal japanese font set.
http://www.kanjijiten.net/japanese.html
For not included in above like this:
http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2128022122851572501
I'm not sure but possible be included in "T Font Project" by Tokyo University.
http://charcenter.t-engine.org/tfont/about.html
Thank you. Yes, very true.
___
@ HeraldOfFire... You didn't respond to my previous post, but I am assuming you still want the throne room model.
Do you want the throne room to be more clean of design and open in size and form as shown in the two pictures posted by ytetsu? Again, describing what you want in detail is important. There is no other way to guarantee that my vision will match yours.
I am assuming there no longer is any interest in having the throne room modeled due to lack of replies.
Have a good day.
Sorry for my apparent ignorance. Posts have a habit of being pushed off the page, so it's not always easy to spot when one is added. I am still interested. Part of the problem I have though is that I'm aiming for historical accuracy, yet paradoxically have very little data to go on. I've seen images which tell a tale of an extremely basic open plan room, while others show a more grandiose affair.
That said, I did find this image of the Imperial Palace throne room in Tokyo. I can't find any information directly related to how it looked during the Edo period, but it might be a good starting point if you're still looking to model it.
Edit: Replaced the chinese room with the only image I could find of the actual Edo throne room. Technically it's from the Meiji period though, so who knows how accurate it is.
It's your project, so I don't mind the historical accuracy.
But your attached image comes from "Ciudad Prohibida" in china.
( You may search similar images by Google's image search. You can do that by clicking the camera icon in the search field.)
Interesting. The site I got it from claimed it was the Tokyo Imperial Palace. I think I'm even more confused than I was before. Tracking down usable images is like trying to comb the desert for gold dust. Edited the post with a more accurate picture, though perhaps not a particularly good reference due to the period.
LOL, that post reminds me of that Commercial, "On the internet. They can't post anything that's not true on the internet." Dude looks at the girl,"Where did you hear that?" Both at at same time, "On the internet."
More close, but it was "正殿(State Chamber?)" of ”明治宮殿(Meiji Palace)” that was opened at Meiji-era(1888) located in "Nishinomaru(西の丸)" of Edo Castle (and burned down at WW2).
Before ”Meiji Palace”, we didn't have that kind (western style?) of throne room.
More close, but it was "正殿(State Chamber?)" of ”明治宮殿(Meiji Palace)” that was opened at Meiji-era(1888) located in "Nishinomaru(西の丸)" of Edo Castle (and burned down at WW2).
Before ”Meiji Palace”, we didn't have that kind (western style?) of throne room.
Yeah, I had a feeling it wasn't the correct period. Like I said, getting images of the right era is extremely difficult. There aren't even many drawn references to go by.
@ HeraldOfFire... Since throne rooms did not exist per se during the Edo Period in Japan I think the closest you are going to come to an authentic throne room is a Reception Hall, like those found at Nijo Castle in Kyoto Japan (See pictures bellow). The Japanese didn't go in for a lot of decoration and flamboyant design, as did the Chinese and others in the Far East. Japanese architecture was usually rather clean in form and decoration and this is how I would expect an authentic reception hall to look. It would seem to me that a so called throne room was whatever location the ruler decided to use to hold court, so to speak, and could be a hall, a room, an outdoor platform, or the back of a horse. The primary question in my mind is... would a grand but simple reception hall meet the staging needs of your story, or would you want to brake a little with authenticity to better serve the needs of your story telling, and if so in what ways?
BTW: Have you seen the mini series "Shogun"? I've bee trying to find the time to look through it again to see what they might have used for Reception Halls. I've also been trying to think of other Japanese period pieces and films that may exhibit examples or interpretations of reception halls . If you haven't looked at films for reference I would humbly suggest you think about them as a possible resource. Although not of the correct period "The Last Samurai (2003)" does have a simple throne room featured at its end. Off hand I can't think of any throne rooms or reception halls in Akira Kurosawa's great films, though there may have been.
Yeah, the open plan room seems to best suit the era. The rooms with the raised area depicted in your post are probably the closest I've found in all the artwork and photos I've browsed. Simple yet elegant. Thankfully I have some wonderful models of various Japanese castles for exterior shots.
Long story short, I think the room depicted in the first image in your post is the sort of thing I need to aim for.
BTW; The first four pictures in my post above are all of the same hall. I wasn't sure that was obvious. ;-)
Another possible option, instead of one big reception hall, might be a small suite of rooms like you would typically find in a Japanese castle. The pictures bellow are good examples.
Haha, you're right. Now that I look at them again, I can see it's the same room. Not sure why I didn't pick up on that at first. Either way, it's probably the most accurate representation I'm likely to find. As for the suite of rooms, I actually have an Edo prop which has something very similar, though a bit more compact than the examples in your post.