The stone walls of Naka-no-mon at Edo Castle (the Imperial Palace) across from Palaceside Building continue.
In the large-scale repair (August 2005–March 2007) I wrote about on January 22 in this blog, "evidence" of Edo-period repairs was unearthed.
The Naka-no-mon stone walls were first built in 1638 (Kanei 15), burned in the Meireki Great Fire of 1657, and rebuilt in 1658 (Manji 1) by Kumamoto domain lord Hosokawa Tsunatoshi, then damaged again in the 1703 (Genroku 16) earthquake and repaired the following year, 1704, by Tottori domain's third lord Ikeda Yoshiyasu＝photo right. I have already written that those walls remain today.
The inscription from the 1704 repair reads as follows ＝top photo.
Hoei first year kinoe-saru fourth month
Lord of both Inaba and Hoki
Matsudaira Uemon-no-kami Yoshiaki built this
Why "Matsudaira Yoshiaki" instead of "Ikeda Yoshiyasu"? Yoshiaki was Yoshiyasu's childhood name; the Ikeda house, though originally tozama (outside retainers), was permitted to use the Matsudaira surname.
A brief explanation. Yoshiyasu's roots lie with Oda retainer Ikeda Tsuneoki. After the Honno-ji Incident he sided with Hideyoshi and distinguished himself, then died in battle with his eldest son Nagayoshi at Komaki-Nagakute (Hideyoshi vs. Ieyasu). Second son Terumasa served Hideyoshi well, was treated generously including permission to use the Toyotomi name, and in 1594 (Bunroku 3) married Ieyasu's second daughter Tokuhime through Hideyoshi's mediation, keeping good ties with the Tokugawa—fortunate at Sekigahara, where he fought for the eastern army and became a great daimyo of 520,000 koku at Himeji. Terumasa's younger brother Nagayoshi entered Tottori with 60,000 koku, creating Tottori domain; after various exchanges within the Ikeda clan, in 1615 (Genna 1) Terumasa's eldest son Toshitaka's heir Mitsumasa received 320,000 koku and entered Tottori, establishing rule over nearly all of present Tottori Prefecture. In 1632 (Kanei 9) Toshitaka's younger brother Tadao's heir Mitsunaka came to Tottori domain. Officially Mitsunaka is counted as the first lord.
It is rather complicated, but the point is that Terumasa became Ieyasu's son-in-law. Toshitaka also deepened ties with the shogunate by marrying Tsuruhime, an adopted daughter of second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada. Blood ties are fearsome, perhaps.
Thus the house was given status comparable to Tokugawa kin (shinpan). Normally when daimyo entered Edo Castle they had to leave swords with retainers at the entrance, but Tottori Ikeda could carry swords as far as the entrance platform—a privilege said to be granted only to shinpan, the Maeda of Kaga domain, and Tottori Ikeda.
It may be "just gate repair," but dig for hidden stories and the tale expands.