Showing posts with label castle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label castle. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Matsue Castle

 


Matsue Castle is considered to be one of the 12 original castles remaining in Japan.


There are many more castles throughout Japan, but what distinguishes the 12 is that their central tower, tenshu in Japanese, commonly called keep in English, is not a modern reconstruction. The keep at Matsue was registered as a National Treasure in 2015.


Matsue castle was built in just 5 years by Horio Yoshiharu and completed in 1611.


He was given control of the domain following the Battle of Sekigahara and at that time the domain castle was Gassan Toda, located south of what is now Yasugi.


Though Gassan Toda was a great castle, he decided that the area around it was not suitable for the building of a castle town and so selected the area that became Matsue.


The castle and domain passed to the Matsudaira clan, and Matsudaira Fumio (1751-1818) a renowned tea master was responsible for making Matsue a centre of the Tea Ceremony.

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The castle has a large and extensive moat system that connects to several waterways and boat trips around the castle are a popular activity.


The inside of the keep is explored using steep stairways and there are many exhibits of samurai armor and castle-related displays. From the top, there are great views over Matsue and Lake Shinji.


In 1873 the Japanese government began dismantling the vast majority of the castles in the country, and in Matsue all the former buildings were removed but the keep was spared due to local pressure. The keep has six floors, though appears from the outside to have five. Its black walls led to it being given the nickname Chidori, "plover" Castle.


The extensive castle grounds are now a park known for cherry blossom viewing. There are also several shrines and other buildings within the grounds that I will cover in later posts.


The samurai district on the north side of the moat has some of Matsue's top attractions, including Lafcadio Hearns former home, a restored samurai residence, and the Meimei-an Teahouse and garden.


The previous post in this series on Matsue was on the weeping cherry tree of nearby Senjuin Temple.


Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Kochi Castle

 


Kochi Castle is not one of the biggest Japanese castles, but is known as being the best preserved.


Whereas only 12 Japanese castles still have their original tenshu, central tower or keep, Kochi castle is the only one that retains all of the original structures within the Honmaru, or inner bailey.


This includes the Daimyo's "palace" which was attached to the main keep.


Kochi Castle is situated on top of a small hill in the middle of what is now Kochi City on the southern coast of Shikoku.


Fortifications had been built upon the hill, Otakayama, during the late Heian or Early Kamakura Periods, After being defeated by Hideyoshi in 1585, Motochika Chosokabe started to build a new castle on top of the older fortifications, but because the area was prone to flooding moved to Urado on the coast to the south.


In 1600, following the Battle of Sekigahara, control of the domain was given to the Yamauchi Clan and they decided Urado castle was not suitable so began enlarging the castle on Otakayama which was renamed Kawanakayama Castle and later Kochi Castle.


A major fire burned down most of the castle in 1727 and it was rebuilt from 1729 until 1753. Most of the current buildings date from this period.


As well as the main keep and the Daimyo's palace, six gates still remain.


The Yamanouchi held the castle until it was decommissioned in 1868.


It was spared the government ordered destruction that befell the vast majority of Edo Period castles, and also was unscathed during the bombings of WWII


Major repairs were undertaken in the postwar period. Just outside the castle is a castle museum with extensive displays.


I visited at the end of my 16th day walking the Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage. The previous post in this series was Hata Shrine. The previous castle I posted about was Tsuyama Castle.


Sunday, August 13, 2023

Tsuyama Snapshots

 


Early August, 2014, and I set off from my hotel and start the fifth day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. I will walk north out of Tsuyama and then head west. I had celebrated my 60th birthday recently, and while walking with a heavy backpack in the hot and humid weather was not exactly fun, it was certainly bearable,  now nine years later I cannot imagine doing it today. Near the hotel I passed a small roadside Inari Shrine.


The Yoshii River runs along the southern edge of Tsuyama.


With the early morning light, the impressive ruins of Tsuyama castle were clearer.


Near the station is the Tsuyama Manabi Railway Museum hosed in an old Roundhouse with turntable. I believe the museum has been somewhat improved since I was there, and there is a single steam locomotive and about a dozen other trains most dating back to the 1960's and 70's. Quite nostalgic as I was a trainspotter myself till I became a teenager.


My guess would be that this abandoned building was once a ryokan.


This area, formerly Mimasaka Province, has many legends and stories of Kappa, the mythical water sprite, and the main street of Tsuyama has a series of small statues depicting them.


The previous post was the historic Kajimura Residence I visited at the end of the previous day.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Momijidani Teien Garden Wakayama

 


The Nishonomaru Garden at Wakayama castle is more commonly known by the name Momijidani Teien because of the large number of maples that grow there and that paint a vivid scene in Autumn.


It is not a very large garden, and one unusual feature is that it is built on the banks of the inner moat.


In the top picture you can see the small "floating" pavilion with the unusual covered bridge across the moat in the background.


Though not so large it is a very pleasant stroll-type garden with a couple of bridges, and obviously will be more dramatic in the autumn,  but much quieter in other seasons.


It was built for Tokugawa Yorinobu, a daimyo of the castle and the 10th son of Tokugawa Ieyasu.


There is a teahouse in the garden, Koshoan, where, for a fee, you can enjoy matcha and traditional sweet.


Entry to the garden is free.


The previous post in the series is about Wakayama Castle.

Friday, February 17, 2023

Tsuyama Castle Okayama

Tsuyama Castle 津山城

Tsuyama Castle Okayama.

Tsuyama castle, in the mountains of Okayama prefecture, is not a very well-known castle, but during the Edo period it was considered one of the greatest in all of Japan.

Its claim to greatness came from the sheer number of fortification structures that were ued in its construction. It was in a real sense extremely over-engineered.

津山城.

Covering the flat hilltop, it was built on three levels with a total of 77 turrets (yagura), 26 gates, and topped with a 5-storey tower/keep.


Walls.

The impressive stonework remains, but all the wooden structures were destroyed in the early years of Meiji, when most Japanese castles were dismantled. A few years later, however, some of the gates were reconstructed, and in the 1930's a fake keep was built but it was taken down during WWII as an obvious landmark for bombers.

Keep.

In 2005 the rather grand Bitchu Turret was rebuilt and the tatami-floored interior is open to the public.

津山城.

500 cherry trees have been planted in the castle grounds and are now a very popular cherry blossom viewing spot.

津山城.

A castle was built on this site in the mid 15th century by the Yamana clan, but it was abandoned. In 1603 the domain was given to Mori Tadamasa and it was he who spent 12 years constructing the new, massive fortress.

View.

According to Shogunate regulations, 5, or more, storey keeps were not allowed, but when the inspectors came to view the new castle Mori had the roof removed from the fifth storey and therefore claimed it was only 4 storeys. Apparently, he got away with it.

津山城.

At the end of the 17th century, the castle passed to the Matsudaira Clan who held it until the end of the domains in the late 19th Century.

津山城.

Tsuyama is a Hirayamajiro-style castle, a flat hilltop castle, as opposed to a Hirajiro, flatland castle, or a Yamajiro, mountain castle. Other notable Hirayama-style castles include Himeji and Matsuyama.

Tsuyama is a Hirayamajiro-style castle.

I visited on the 4th day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon pilgrimage. The previous post in this series was Bridges of Shurakuen Gardens.

Tsuyama is a Hirayamajiro-style castle.