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West of Harimaya-bashi, at the end of the Obiya-machi shopping arcade, is the hilltop castle of Kochi-jo (daily 9am-4.30pm; Y350 to enter the donjon). Construction was begun in 1601 by the feudal lord Yamaguchi Katsutoyo and finished in 1611, when the outer walls went up, but what you see today dates mainly from 1748, when reconstruction of the donjon turrets and gates was completed, following a major fire 21 years earlier. The main approach is through the Ote-mon, an impressive gateway flanked by high stone walls at the end of Otesuji-dori. On the walk up to the donjon you'll pass a statue of Itagaki Taisuke, the founder of the People's Rights Movement, which promoted democracy in Japan during the early years of the Meiji era. For his efforts, Itagaki suffered an assassination attempt, during which he cried out "Itagaki may die, but liberty never!" The politician survived the knife attack, living to the ripe old age of 82, and his defiant phrase was adopted across Japan as the patriotic cri de coeur for democracy. In the anti-feudal fervour that heralded the start of the Meiji era, almost all the castle's buildings were demolished, leaving the steeply sloping walls surrounding empty courtyards. The exception was the three-storey donjon, within the inner citadel ( honmaru ), reached through the Tsume-mon gate. To left of the entrance there's an exhibition of old samurai armour and a scroll from 1852 showing the English alphabet, written by John Mung . In the main building look out for a beautifully painted palanquin, before you ascend to take in the superb view from the uppermost storey. To the right is the corridor leading to the daimyo 's main chambers. By the time the donjon was rebuilt, the threat of war had evaporated, so these rooms did not need to be heavily fortified; hence the sliding screens and wooden balconies. From the castle, it's only a five-minute walk south along Kenchomae-dori to Kochi's other main building of historic interest. The Kyu-Yamanouchi-ke Shimoyashiki Nagaya , on the banks of the Kagami-gawa, and next to the Sansuien Ryokan . Once the barracks of foot-soldiers during the late Tokugawa period, the narrow two-storey wooden building is now a National Treasure and houses a small museum (daily 7am-5pm; free) with some mildly interesting models of boats and displays showing the original use of the rooms. In stark contrast is the stylish modern building housing Kochi's Museum of Art (Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; Y350). Set in landscaped grounds some 3km east of the city centre, the two-storey facility houses an impressive permanent collection of modern Japanese and Western art, including a gallery of lithographs and paintings by Marc Chagall, and a theatre with a specially designed stage for No plays. Films and other performances are occasionally held here, too and there's a decent restaurant, Pizzicato . The museum is a fifteen-minute tram journey east of Harimaya-bashi (ask to get off at Kenritsu Bijutsukan-dori).
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