Karatsu Castle

 

Karatsu Castle is situated on a spit of land on the west bank of the Matsuura River as it reaches the sea.

I arrived in Karatsu by walking down the Matsuura River and approaching the castle it became clear how the builders had used the river mouth and sea as a moat to offer protection.

Karatsu castle was built by Terasawa Hirotaka between 1602 and 1609. He used a lot of the construction materials from Nagoya castle about 20k away which was built by Hideyoshi as his base  for invading Korea.

Teraswa had his domain taken by the shogunate, partly it seems for not suppressing the Shimbara Rebellion. A series of different clans had the domain until the mid 18th century when the Ogasawara took over and held it until domains were abolished in 1871.

Interestingly, it is considered almost certain that the castle never had a tenshu, or keep. A base for one had been built but there is no evidence one was actually constructed.

The current keep, was built in the style of keeps of the period, and along with  most of the yagura were reconstructed in 1966.

Sections of the outer bailey can be found southwest of the main castle. After settling into my hotel I went to the beach to the West of the castle for some other fine views.

The previous post was on Kakurinji Temple, a few kilometers down the river.

Jozan Inari Shrine

 

Jozan Inari Shrine is tucked away at the northern end of the grounds of Matsue Castle and consequently is missed by most visitors.

It was a favorite spot of Lafcadio Hearn who lived literally a stone's throw away across the moat and visited here often.

Jozan Inari Shrine is the origin of the  Shikinen Shinkosai Festival, one of the top three boat festivals in Japan wherein a procession of brightly decorated boats transport the kami of the shrine 10 kilometers downriver to Adakaya Shrine. The festival only takes place every ten years and the next will be in 2029. Some of the boats are stored at Adakaya Shrine which is worth visiting for the unusual straw "serpents"

The shrine was established in 1638,  a couple of decades after the castle was built when the grandson of Ieyasu, Matsudaira Naomasa, took over the domain.

He had a vision that said Inari would protect not only the castle but also his Edo estate.

Though there are many different Inari's, its primary feature was as a kami of rice, although later it became very much associated with business success. In this case Inari was very much seen in Matsue as a kami to protect the home from fire.

The aroach to the shrine is like many others, and lacks the "tunnel" of red torii seen at many Inari shrines.

However, if you venture behind the main buildings you will find thousands of fox statues....

The previous post was on the Western-style Meiji-era guesthouse in the castle grounds.

Hirado Castle

Overlooking the main harbour on Hirado Island, the castle was controlled by the local Matsuura Clan for its whole history.

A small castle was originally built here in 1599, but it was burned down by the Matsuura themselves in 1613 as a show of fealty towards Tokugawa Ieyasu who they had fought against at Sekigahara. Unusually, they were allowed to hold on to their small domain.

Also unusually, they were given permission to build a new castle in 1704 and it was completed in 1718.

It stood until the ending of the Han system in 1871 when most castles in Japan were demolished. All that remained of Hirado Castle was a gate and one yagura (turret). 

Again, as with many such destroyed castles, a shrine honoring the former Daimyo and his ancestors was built on the site.

In 1962 the 5-storey keep, ramparts, and 4 yagura were reconstructed.

The keep now houses a museum showcasing the history of the Matsuura clan and the castle and has an intriguing 6th century sword. One of the reconstructed yagura is now available as high-priced  lodgings.

The Hirado domain was controlled by the same clan since the 13th century. 

Though he died almost 100 years before the castle was built in 1718, William Adams, the character of John Blackthorne in the Shogun novel and TV series, he probably did visit the earlier castle that was destroyed in 1613. He died in Hirado in 1620.

The previous post in this series on day 68 of my walk around Kyushu was on the historic Catholic Church in Hirado.

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.

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.