Otsubo Quarry

 

Quarries are a common site along the country roads of Japan where I do all my walking.

Not long after leaving Yumeginga I passed by the rather large Otsubo Quarry.

There are many kinds of quarry now in Japan. On Shodoshima I passed by a historical quarry where stones for constructing Osaka Castle were quarried. Not far from my home, up on Lake Shinji, is Kimachi, where sandstone is quarried for the production of stone lanterns, statues etc.

There are some massive limestone quarries that produce some of Japan's favorite natural resources... cement..... and I suspect the most common type of quarry are the ones producing gravel and aggregate to be added to cement to make concrete. Down river from us is one such quarry.

The Otsubo quarry, named after the man who founded it in the 1950's, seems to be producing another form of crushed stone that is used in road beds, stabilizing slopes, and other forms of civil engineering.

The previous post on day 58 of my walk around Kyushu was the Saga Prefecture Space & Science Museum.

Ichimura Memorial Gymnasium

Ichimura Memorial Gymnasium

At the northern end of what was the grounds of Saga Castle is yet another Modernist public building, the Ichimura Memorial Gymnasium.

It was built in 1963 and designed by Junzo Sakakura (1901-1969).

After graduating he joined the studio of Le Corbusier in Paris where he eventually came to head the studio. He assisted Le Corbusier in his only Japanese project, the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.

Not visible from the ground is the rather elegant roof of the gymnasium, a saddle shape formed by two parabolic curves.

What is clearly visible is the aging concrete surface, something that so many concrete structures in Japan suffer from and that will only get worse as time marches on.

Saga Prefectural Museum

Saga Prefectural Museum

Located within the moats of the former Saga Castle, and adjacent to the reconstructed Castle Palace, is the Saga Prefectural Museum.

It opened in 1970 and in 1983 the Prefectural Art Museum was opened next door and is connected by a passageway.

It was designed by architects Teichi Takahashi and Shoya Uchida, two architects that I not heard of before. At the time I'm sure it was classed as a "Modernist" design, though now it is more likely called Brutalist.

The displays cover archeology & History, Geology and the Natural Sciences, and folklore. Many items dug up from the Yoshinogari site are on display. Entry is free except for special exhibitions.

Outside the museum is the Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest.

Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest

Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest

Within the grounds of what was Saga Castle, adjacent to the reconstructed palace, are the Saga Prefectural Museum and the Saga Prefectural Art Museum. Between them and the moat is the Tadao Koga Sculpture Forest.

Tadao Koga (1903-1979) was a Japanese sculptor born in Saga and many of his works are on display in this outdoor exhibit. I suspect there is more of his work inside the art museum but I did not go in to find out.

The works on display are larger-than-life bronzes that reminded me of socialist art of the mid-20th century.

Other than a statue of Saigo Takemori in Kirishima, he does not seem to have produced anything of note, though he was chairman of the Japan Sculpture Society.

The top piece is Hoshin, 1960. The second is Spring Cloud, 1963, the third is Gamecock & Man, 1958. The fourth is Limit, 1965. The fifth is Grow Next Generation, 1956.  The sixth is Factory Night Watchman from 1938, and the final photo is Three Fishermen from 1954.

It's a nice, free, public art space that is worth a look if you are visiting the castle.

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.

Saga Manholes

Saga Manholes

While walking from Kurume to Saga on day 56 of my walk along the Kyushu pilgrimage I took snaps of any manhole covers I encountered. This first is of Yoshinogari Historical park which I passed by. It is a huge archeological site, claimed, without much evidence, as the site of the famed Queen Himiko's palace  town. There are dozens and dozens of reconstructed kofun era and Yayoi era buildings.

Before reaching Yoshinogari I walked through Miyaki, which is both a district and a town and therefore covers quite a large area. This first one seems to have daffodils.

The Miyaki Town website features photos of Lotus blossoms, so I am guessing that is what is on this second design. The town extends up into the mountains so I am guessing the observation deck is from there.

In Saga City, many of the manholes feature Mudskippers, the curious-looking fish that spend much of their time out of water in the mudflats of the Ariake Sea. Once eaten almost to extinction, they are now protected and have made a comeback.

The vast majority of manhole covers in Japan are for water and drainage, with a few electric, and as seen here a few for gas. Only bigger cities have mains gas, most of us use lpg tanks that arevdelivered.

Obviously, from the design, Saga City used gas for streetlighting, probably in the early Meiji era.

Chirikuhachimangu

Chirikuhachimangu

Just a couple of hundred metres from a Hachiman Shrine adjacent to the Nanagi Fudoson Temple was the entrance to a much larger Hachiman shrine, Chirikuhachimangu. The torii, entrance gate, is in Hizen style, Hizen being the name of the former province that made Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. Also visible is the pair of Kadomatsu, the new years' decorations with bamboo centres.

A ceremony was underway when I arrived so I walked around quietly. It was Jan 5th, so not sure what ceremony it was.

The ornamentation on tye roof is now purely decorative. The cross-pieces are called chigi. If the ends are cut vertically, like here, it indicates that the main kami enshrined is male. A horizontal cut indicates female kami. The horizontal "log" pieces are called katsuogi. Both were used in early Japanese architecture to help weigh down the thatched roof.

This pair of komainu was somewhat unusual, with long, almost cylindrical bodies, not unlike others I had seen further south in Kumamoto.

Looking back from the shrine over Nagatoishi, with Kurume across the other side of the river. The shrine is in Saga, but Nagatoishi, which used to be mostly rice-paddies 50 years ago, is part of Fukuoka. The river mostly forms the boundary between the two prefectures, but the actual boundary is far more serpentine with horseshoe bends crossing over to each side of the river so that  sections of the opposite banks belong to the other  prefecture , suggesting that the river has been straightened quite dramatically in recent times.;

There are quite a few large camphor trees and numerous sub- shrines within the grounds. Hachiman shrines are the most common shrines in Japan nowadays but originally it was a north Kyushu cult that later spread to Nara and then Kyoto, then becoming so widespread after being adopted by the samurai. This shrine, however, is said to be one of a half dozen or so major hachiman shrines in north Kyushu that pre-date its national adoption.

I am curious as to the reason for the stance the horse statue is taking.