O-doi
I've just finished reading This Island of Japon by Joao Rodriques c. 1620 account, edited by Michael Cooper, which has some good firsthand descriptions of Kyoto....
Regarding the Odoi embankment that Paul, Gordon and myself visited earlier this year, Rodrigues writes...
"Hideyoshi ordered the construction of broad, high earthworks wiht their moats around the city in the place of walls and had them all planted with large thick bamboo transplanted from different places: they entangled together and thus formed a thick bamboo wall. The earthworks to the north and south are two leagues long and one and half wide."
I like the idea of a bamboo wall composed of different kinds of bamboo. Much more fun than the ludicrous dolphin aquarium that the present city rulers have come up with! Michael Cooper notes that the earthen rampart called O-doi was begun in Jan 1591 and completed five months later. It had a circumference of fourteen miles. My question is about the word O-doi. Presumably the O refers to big.... what on earth is a doi?!
"Hideyoshi ordered the construction of broad, high earthworks wiht their moats around the city in the place of walls and had them all planted with large thick bamboo transplanted from different places: they entangled together and thus formed a thick bamboo wall. The earthworks to the north and south are two leagues long and one and half wide."
I like the idea of a bamboo wall composed of different kinds of bamboo. Much more fun than the ludicrous dolphin aquarium that the present city rulers have come up with! Michael Cooper notes that the earthen rampart called O-doi was begun in Jan 1591 and completed five months later. It had a circumference of fourteen miles. My question is about the word O-doi. Presumably the O refers to big.... what on earth is a doi?!
posted by Vikingslav @ 11:30 PM
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