Photo/Illutration A stone wall of Edo Castle found on the grounds of Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. This photo was taken on April 13. (Tatsuro Sugiura)

A 400-year-old stone wall once part of Edo Castle, discovered only last year at what is now the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, is likely the castle’s oldest existing remnant ever unearthed, officials said.

“It is a groundbreaking discovery of the castle’s remains that we could have seen only in drawings or other records,” said an official of Chiyoda Ward, where the palace is located. “We can expect to find out more about the environment back then and how the castle was built.”

Unlike many of the castle’s other remains found at the palace, this stone wall is believed to have never been rebuilt or repaired since it was constructed between around 1608 and 1624 during the Keicho and Genna eras of the Edo Period (1603-1867).

The roughly 4-meter-high stone wall was discovered in November last year on the grounds of Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) in the palace’s East Gardens.

A subsequent investigation led officials to conclude it is likely the oldest of the castle’s remains, dating to the earliest part of the Edo Period.

The ward government and the Imperial Household Agency said they have no plans to open the site where the stone wall was discovered to the public, as work to rebuild the museum there is currently under way.

However, they said they are considering putting items excavated at the site on public display.

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