KYOTO (Kyodo) The two main buildings of Kyoto's Nijo Castle, a World Heritage site listed by UNESCO, will undergo quake-resistance examinations in the fiscal year that starts in April, the municipal government said Monday.
Ninomaru Palace, a national treasure, is more than 400 years old. Honmaru Palace, an important cultural asset, began leaning over after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
The city has budgeted 20 million yen for the checks, municipal officials said.
Kyoto will also raise the annual budget for repairing more than 900 murals in Ninomaru Palace to 68 million yen for the five years from fiscal 2006, five times the outlay for the current fiscal year, to shorten the restoration period to 24 years from the initially planned 100.
Many of the paintings have cracks and layers of ink have peeled off, the officials said.
The city will come up with an overall mid- to long-term plan to repair Nijo Castle based on the quake-resistance examinations, they said.