Okay so it's not actually the Brass Tower, that might just be a straight up mistranslation. In the Japanese they are originally named the Suzu Tower (スズのとう) and the Gong Tower (カネのとう) referring to Ho-oh's tower and Lugia's tower respectively. Kane カネ refers to the so-named gong style bell thing but the kana used can also be read as metal (金) and the golden brass colour was chosen to compliment the silver coloured Tin. Ironic, considering Suzu in common portrayals tend to be a brassy golden colour themselves and the colour names fit much better reverse, silver representing Lugia and gold being associated with Ho-oh. Conversely, I think I may have mentioned it way back when, but yes the スズ in "Suzu Tower" is used both as a word referring specifically to the small shinto bells and to the tin used to make them, hence where the name Tin Tower came from during early localization.
Whatever the case, yes, the Bell Tower or Suzu Tower (called Tin Tower in English originally before the name was clarified in the Gen IV remakes) is your pretty classic pagoda building. It seems to be primarily inspired by two different Japanese temples. The first being Ginkaku-ji "Silver Pavillion", originally created as a retirement villa for the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa during the 15th century, as he had planned it as a counterpart to his grandfather Yoshimitsu's Kinkaku-ji or "Golden Pavillion". However the Onin War proceeded to escalate the fuck out of his hands and he died before it could be completed. After the destruction of Kyoto, in 1485 Yoshimasa became a Buddhist monk, and after his death Ginkaku-ji was made into a temple. The construction was in fact never complete, and after some time the lacquer finish applied to the wooden outer walls of the buildings was no longer restored, meaning that the reflection of the surrounding waters no longer provided their namesake silvery appearance.
The second inspiration, however, is even more on the nose. Tō-ji or "The East Temple", also known as Kyō-ō-gokoku-ji (教王護国寺, The Temple for the Defense of the Nation by Means of the King of Doctrines), specifically being modelled after the temple's legendary five storey pagoda. Not only is it the tallest wooden structure in Japan, it was rebuilt four times since its original creation some time in the 9th century. And much like the two towers of Ecruteak City in game, in the real Kyoto, Tō-ji in the east was once accompanied by the similar Sai-ji (西寺, simply The West Temple) in the West, but Sai-ji burned to the ground in 1233 and never rebuilt, while Tō-ji was preserved to this day and is still a listed national heritage building.
As for rambling about the interior construction of the tower, while the no doubt frictionless hardwood floorboards and the wacky jump ramps are fun, I'm sure, the most obvious internal feature of Suzu Tower is merely its largest load-bearing structural member. I believe the whole idea is to help protect the (frankly ridiculous) ten storey tall pagoda from earthquake damage by allowing its structure relative freedom to move around its tall and flexible wooden beam core. The central beam rising high up out of the thatched roof may have something to do with how the Gong Tower ended up burned down by a lightning strike. But if you wanted anything more in depth than that I'm afriad I don't exactly have a degree in historical Japanese structural engineering concepts.
Boy all of this really is implying that Ecruteak is basically Kyoto, isn't it?
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branchandroot
The Burned Tower, The Bell Tower, and Ecruteak:
Date: 2022-06-25 01:42 pm (UTC)Whatever the case, yes, the Bell Tower or Suzu Tower (called Tin Tower in English originally before the name was clarified in the Gen IV remakes) is your pretty classic pagoda building. It seems to be primarily inspired by two different Japanese temples. The first being Ginkaku-ji "Silver Pavillion", originally created as a retirement villa for the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa during the 15th century, as he had planned it as a counterpart to his grandfather Yoshimitsu's Kinkaku-ji or "Golden Pavillion". However the Onin War proceeded to escalate the fuck out of his hands and he died before it could be completed. After the destruction of Kyoto, in 1485 Yoshimasa became a Buddhist monk, and after his death Ginkaku-ji was made into a temple. The construction was in fact never complete, and after some time the lacquer finish applied to the wooden outer walls of the buildings was no longer restored, meaning that the reflection of the surrounding waters no longer provided their namesake silvery appearance.
The second inspiration, however, is even more on the nose. Tō-ji or "The East Temple", also known as Kyō-ō-gokoku-ji (教王護国寺, The Temple for the Defense of the Nation by Means of the King of Doctrines), specifically being modelled after the temple's legendary five storey pagoda. Not only is it the tallest wooden structure in Japan, it was rebuilt four times since its original creation some time in the 9th century. And much like the two towers of Ecruteak City in game, in the real Kyoto, Tō-ji in the east was once accompanied by the similar Sai-ji (西寺, simply The West Temple) in the West, but Sai-ji burned to the ground in 1233 and never rebuilt, while Tō-ji was preserved to this day and is still a listed national heritage building.
As for rambling about the interior construction of the tower, while the no doubt frictionless hardwood floorboards and the wacky jump ramps are fun, I'm sure, the most obvious internal feature of Suzu Tower is merely its largest load-bearing structural member. I believe the whole idea is to help protect the (frankly ridiculous) ten storey tall pagoda from earthquake damage by allowing its structure relative freedom to move around its tall and flexible wooden beam core. The central beam rising high up out of the thatched roof may have something to do with how the Gong Tower ended up burned down by a lightning strike. But if you wanted anything more in depth than that I'm afriad I don't exactly have a degree in historical Japanese structural engineering concepts.
Boy all of this really is implying that Ecruteak is basically Kyoto, isn't it?