Saga Castle Palace

Saga Castle Palace

The Saga Castle History Museum is housed in one of the biggest wooden reconstructions in Japan.

When I first visited in early January 2014, they were getting ready for a concert by massed koto and shakuhachi. The gendered roles are telling. The men wore western-style suits implying modernity and the women wore kimonos, representing tradition.

It is a reconstruction of part of the palace that was built on the site following a fire at the castle in 1835. It was mostly destroyed in the Saga rebellion in 1874.

Though only about one-third of the former palace has been rebuilt, it is still massive, covering 2,500 sq m, and using 700 tatami mats, 320 being used in the great hall where the concert was taking place.

There are various historical exhibits scattered around the building, but they tend to be somewhat swallowed up in the vastness of the place.

The vastness of the place is a large part of its attractiveness. What was disappointing was there was no ostentatious decoration as I have seen at other palaces in Japan. However, entry is free and that is good.

Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest

Saga Castle

Saga Castle

Saga Castle is not a well-known castle, but it is unusual in several respects. It is a flatland castle, hirajiro in Japanese.

It is surrounded by a very wide moat of 80 meters. One of the consequences of the widespread introduction of firearms in the 16th century was that moats became much wider.

Whereas most Japanese castles were built up on stone bases, Saga castle was surrounded by walls. The earthen ramparts were planted with trees so that in combination with stone walls it was impossible to view the castle's layout and fortifications from outside and so earned the nickname "submerged castle", shizumi-jo.

Originally a fortified village, the castle came under the control of the Nabeshima Clan in 1584 and they controlled it all the way through the Edo Period. In the early 17th century the castle was rebuilt and included a 5-storey keep, the base of which is pictured above.

In 1726 a major fire destroyed most of the buildings of the castle, including the keep. Most were quickly replaced except the keep which was never rebuilt.

In 1835 another fire destroyed most of the buildings which were once again rebuilt. The Shachinomon gate, pictured below, dates from this time. Incidentally, Saga Castle is where Hagakure, well known among samurai nerds as a "bible" of "bushido" was written,

In 1874, disgruntled samurai occupied the castle which was being used as local government offices. In the subsequent battle most of the buildings were once again destroyed. In 2001 reconstruction of the main palace of the castle was begun. Though only a third of its original size, the reconstructed palace is said to be the largest reconstructed wooden building in Japan and I will cover it in the next post.

Wakayama Castle

Wakayama Castle

Though not as well known as many, Wakayama Castle was considered very important by the Tokugawa Shogunate and in the early twentieth century was classified in the top three hilltop castles of japan

A smaller castle stood nearby, built by the Saiga Ikki, one of the many religious groups that maintained armed independence during the Warring States period. It was attacked first by Oda Nobunaga and then later by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Construction of Wakayama Castle began in 1585 by Hideyoshi's younger brother, Hidenaga.

It was greatly improved by the Asano Clan who had been given the domain following the Battle of Sekigahara. He built the three-storey keep connected by corridors to three Yagura turrets.

Control of the castle passed to Tokugawa Ieyasu's son, Yorinobu, and he expanded the castle further.

The keep was burnt down by a fire caused by a lightning strike in 1846, but was rebuilt a few years later. In 1871 the castle was abandoned, but unlike most castles in Japan at that time it  was not dismantled.

Most of the buildings were destroyed by American bombing during WWII but have been reconstructed since then.

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Kushijima Near Yunotsu

Kushijima

Kushijima is a small uninhabited islet at the mouth of the entrance to the World Heritage Site ports of Yunotsu and Okidomari.

It can be reached on foot at low tide and a small bridge over a deep and narrow channel in the rocks makes this safe and easy.

During the time that the Mori clan controlled the silver mine and the surrounding area they had a small castle on the island to protect the harbours.

Nothing now remains, but it must have been at least a little substantial as it withstood an attack by Amago forces in the Warring States period of the mid 16th century.

There is a small beach and campsite here now and its quite a dramatic bit of coastline.

I am guessing that these man-made excavations in the rock are a fairly modern attempt to make pools for pleasure bathing, but I may be wrong.

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Ginzan Kaido & Iwami Castle

 

Mid-January, 2013, early morning along the Shio River in Nima and the start of day 4 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon pilgrimage.

The next few temples on the pilgrimage are at  Iwami Ginzan, the World Heritage listed former silver mine in the mountains inland. The road I will take is now the fastest way to visit the mine, though it is not one of the two ginzan kaido, mine roads, that are part of the World Heritage site. There were many ginzan kaido radiating out from the silver mine as it was the most valuable silver mine in Japan in its heyday.

A couple of kilometers up the road and you pass a rocky outcropping with a couple of shrines at the base. On top of the 154 meter "mountain" is where Iwami castle stood.

A natural fortress, the Ouchi Clan built the original fortifications in the early 16th Century and it was taken over by the Mori Clan a few years later when they gained control of the mine.

After 1600 when the Tokugawa Shogunate took control of the mines and the surrounding lands the castle fell into disuse. The site is now one of the numerous sites that are World Heritage listed.

The red label on the map above shows the location of the castle. The grey-blue area is the silver mine, and the two routes are the ginzan kaido that are listed as World heritage sites.

Izushi Castle

 

Izushi Castle in northern Hyogo was built in 1604 by Koide Yoshihide after he took of the domain formerly controlled by the Yamana Clan. The Yamana had built a small castle on the mountaintop, and Yoshhide built fortifications down at the base of the mountain.

A few years later the Tokugawa government outlawed domains having more than one castle so Yoshihide dismantled the castle on top of the mountain and strengthened the defences of the lower castle, although he never built a keep. A path goes up to the top of the mountain to where the earlier castle stood.

A town, Izushi, grew up around the castle. Like most Japanese castles it was dismantled in the first years of the Meiji Period, though in 1968 two turrets, yagura in Japanese were reconstructed and later still the castle gate.

There are now two shrines in the cstle grounds, and from the castle great views looking over the old castle town and to the north.

Yatsushiro Castle

Yatsushiro Castle

Yatsushiro castle was completed in 1622 after three years of construction. It replaced a nearby castle that had been destroyed by an earthquake. Like most castles in Japan, it was dismantled in the first years of the Meiji Period so could not be used as a base to threaten the new government.

The moat and impressive stonework still remain, though when built the dressed limestone would have been quite bright and gleaming. From the mid 17th century until its decommissioning in the late 19th century the castle was controlled by the Matsui Clan.

Where the castle buildings once stood is now a shrine. The castles of Edo Japan were the symbol of political authority, and when they were destroyed a shrine was often built on the site. Many times they enshrined the last Daimyo, but also common were new Gokoku Shrines, the local branch of the infamous Yasukuni shrine, both types of shrine being very much of the "political" aspect of shinto. The shrine here is also a political one, enshrining Prince Kaneyoshi, a son of the 14th century Emperor Godaigo.

Yatsushiro was the second castle in the Kumamoto Domain, unusual because Tokugawa law stated only one castle was allowed per domain, but Kumamoto, was allowed a second one to strengthen defense against three threats, the powerful Shimazu Clan to the south, Christianity, which was powerful in Kyushu, and foreigners, who traditionally had entered Japan through Kyushu.

Yatsushiro catle is now a park and is free to enter.

Read more on Yatsushiro & tatami production

Hitoyoshi Castle Garden

Right next to the ruins of Hitoyoshi Castle, in the grounds of what is now the Sagara Gokoku Shrine, are the remnants of a traditional Japanese garden.

I suspect this was the location of the Daimyo's "Palace", and the gardens are not very well maintained, but are particularly pleasant in the Autumn.

There seems to be very little information about it, but I have seen it referred to as a stroll type garden. There are two bridges over the pond to the island and a waterfall^arrangement of rocks behind the pond.

It is always open, and free to enter.