NAGOYA, Japan >> Nagoya is thinking about installing small elevators in Nagoya Castle to make the structure accessible to disabled visitors. The addition would come during a wooden reconstruction of the tenshukaku, or main tower keep. 

Users would be able to reach the top of the keep through a series of small elevators that travel between just two floors.

According to city officials, the lifts will be based on small elevators used in narrow spaces, such as inside ships. They would have a capacity of four people, allowing wheelchair users to ride with companions.

Users would need to change elevators on each floor.

Elevators initially were not included in a reconstruction plan pushed by Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, who insisted that the rebuilt castle be as faithful to the original as possible. But advocacy groups for the disabled opposed his plan.

So a year ago, Nagoya requested ideas from the public for making the keep accessible, and a business owner proposed the lifts.

The original tower keep was completed in 1612. In 1930 it became Japan’s first castle structure to be designated a national treasure.

In 1945 the keep burned down in an air raid during World War II and was reconstructed using concrete in 1959. But since the concrete structure is not earthquake resistant, the castle will be rebuilt using wood.