kido 城戸

Sometimes also written 木戸. A castle door or gate. The entrance and exit to a medieval castle. A simpler structure than the gates of early modern castles, a medieval castle normally had a series of three doors. The first doorway ichi-no-kido 一の城戸 nearest the outside of the castle, the second doorway ni-no-kido 二の城戸 further inside the castle, and the third doorway san-no-kido 三の城戸 situated nearest the inside of the castle complex. A kido usually consisted of a braided bamboo door sudo 簀戸 in a square frame hung from the crossbar of the castle gate *kabukimon 冠木門. This was lifted for entry and exit.