A path less travelled
It seems like only yesterday, but it was in fact in 2005 that I took a little hiking trip to the seriously old castle ruins of Kii-jō (基肄城). The castle is located about an hour by train south of Fukuoka city. It was built in the mid 600's. Unsurprisingly, very little remains today. It is probably more famous nowadays for hiking, and in decades past, for grass skiing of all things. After parking the car, I walked a short distance to a very small temple, which is where our adventure begins.
The sign below says it all; from the Water gate (水門) (lower-left, near the map's legend) we follow the red arrows 'till we hit the Northeast gate ruins (東北門跡), hang a left, pass through open areas with 100's of building foundation stones until eventually we have the choice of going right, to the North gate (北帝門跡 ) or left, to the peak. Naturally, I checked out both. To go right is a round trip anyway.
The hiking route
What remains of the "water gate" is a 14-metre-high stone wall with a rather tiny tunnel running through it. This was a common feature in the these old Korean-style fortresses but I'm unsure of their significance. If anyone does know, I'd be great to hear from you.
The Water Gate
Could there be a crapier photo than the one below? Possibly not. Sections of the mountaintop are covered with these stones. They provided sure footing for the wooden pillars of buildings.
Storehouse foundation stones
It's about at this time that I realised it was getting late. I wasn't sure how much further to the peak, but even then I'd have to retrace my steps to get back to the car. Was I going to make back in time? Was I going to end-up some poor pleb lost on a mountain top cold & alone?
I picked up the pace & arrived at the Northeast gate ruins puffing. What a disappointment; there were just two stones in the ground. Actually, the place is ancient, I should give it a break.
What's left.
So, right leads to the North gate and left leads to the peak. I made my way to the right. It steeply drops away on the left side of the path. This drop off actually forms a ring which greatly limits access to the top of the mountain. This inaccessibility is what made the location ideal all those 100's of years ago.
The photo below was taken from the North gate, the path leads to the peak. Hard to see, but the drop off is now on the right.
Northern corridor
Onward to the peak. Whoa! I could hear voices. But, I hadn't seen another human for the last two hours, I thought I was alone. With each step closer to the peak, groups of people were appearing. Then there was like 30+ people there and it was just doing my head in.
Anyway, at the peak is a castle monument & a small observation platform. Oh, and one other thing, A CARPARK! Had I done a bit more research, life could have been so much easier. On the other hand though, I was able to experience so much more than my fellow day-trippers.
The castle marker
The last thing to be done was the sprint back down the mountain before the sun went down.
Japanese Manhole Cover
Posts about manhole covers seem to be all the rage of late, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon too. Admittedly, a quick google search highlights the fact that the cover below is pretty unremarkable, but this one suits me just fine!
Click on the picture to go to the Saiki Castle profile page.
Decorative manhole cover
Could you make out the picture?
Show and tell – Tsuba
Tsuba
I'm no expert when it comes to tsuba. What I can tell you with some level of confidence is that a tsuba is a hand guard on Japanese swords. Unfortunately, the word also means saliva but more on that later.
The only thing I know for sure about this tsuba, is that I like it. I bought it about 10 years ago, on-line of all places. I've since shown some people here in Japan & it seems it is of a low-ish standard but that I needn't hang my head in shame.
Description
It's very small (58mm x 49mm / 2.28in x 1.92in) & heavy and you can see it has a four-lobed, rounded rim. Within the rim are gold (low purity) & silver inlays. The two copper blobs indicate it has been fitted & refitted to several blades during its lifetime.
A visit to an antique store
What better place to find tsuba than in an antique store in Japan. There's always a few on display, and you can count on all the good stuff being out of sight. Out-of-sight - awesome but also out-of-sight - you need to know the secret handshake. One thing I've noticed, is that if you show signs of interest in anything on display at one of the more up-market stores, the staff will either be suppressing a snigger or will openly mock you. And this is before you even get the chance to ask the all-important question:
Sumimasen, TSUBA ga arimasuka? - Excuse me, is there any saliva?
Wooden buildings burn
image: Lee Jin-man/AP
Japanese castles have long suffered from the threat of fire. Hardly a bombshell, but keep in mind that any one of the precious remaining Edo-period towers, turrets or gates could go up in flames tomorrow.
In early 2008, South Korea's top national treasure, the 600-year-old Namdaemun Gate, was set fire to. (see attached photo for the gory details or read about it).
Due to the frightening regularity with which these buildings burnt to the ground, counter-measures were of course developed. Perhaps the biggest innovation was the introduction of the white plastered walls & eaves (roof overhang). The result being a highly fire-resistant and some say, more visually appealing building.
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1: The heavily plastered eaves of Takamatsu's Tsukimi Turret. I admit, I thought it was concrete. |  |
2: Freshly re- plastered. The Ushitora Turret's eaves feature a beautiful undulation. |  |
3: The technique exposed. Bamboo was tied together then smothered with mud, then plaster. |
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4: Kumamoto is a classic two-tone castle. The walls have large wooden panels with eaves of white plaster. |  |
5: Even the blackest of castles utilized plastered eaves. Click on the picture to get a better look. |  |
6: I snapped this pic at Kokura castle. Its main tower was lost to fire in 1866 (but not to smoking). |
When I first started visiting castles & saw these smooth, whitened eaves, I was convinced they were trying to pull my leg. I mean, old, wooden buildings are wooden, right?
- Pictures 1&2: These turrets were both built in the latter 1600's but there is something undeniably modern about their contours. What do you think?
- Picture 3: The rough edges of this turret us how they were constructed. Over the top of a wooden frame, bamboo pieces are tired together then filled with mud. Finally, the white plaster was applied.
- Picture 4: Exposed wood paneling is an identifying feature of Kumamoto Castle. Even here, the upper sections of walls & eaves are plastered.
- Picture 5: The renowned black castle of Okayama. The main tower was rebuilt using concrete, but it is a faithful replica. The white, concrete eaves were once plastered.
- Picture 6: Could this have been the answer? I'd love to hear your thoughts?
Kumamoto’s Mugishima castle – reburied
Planning for a day trip
In March I'll have some spare time on my hands so I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to check out some of the castles I haven't been to in southern Kumamoto Prefecture. The candidates include Yatsushiro, Uto, Hitoyoshi & Sashiki castles. A little investigating revealed even more, (smaller and older) castles that I wouldn't mind checking out if time allows.
While searching for information on Yatsushiro castle, I came across news of the recently (not really) rediscovered Mugishima Castle. And the most surprising thing about this castle is that the locals would've been quite happy to see the remnants bulldozed. But more on that later.
Mugishima Castle
The castle was built in 1588 by Konishi Yukinaga, a Christian daimyō who eventually lost this castle & his life following defeat in the Battle of Sekigahara. The Katō clan then took over and continued to use the castle until 1619 when it became damaged by a major earthquake.
Yatsushiro Castle
A law was enacted in 1615 that essentially limited each domain to just one castle. While the number of castles was greatly reduced in the years that followed, the shogunate also made numerous exceptions, Kumamoto domain being one. Special permission had been granted that allowed both Kumamoto & Mugishima castles to be retained after 1615 & permission was once again obtained for Yatsushiro Castle to be built 1619. Hosokawa Tadaoki retired to here the following year.
Mugishima Castle's rediscovery
During the building of a road & sewer, stonework belonging to Mugishima Castle was unearthed. Naturally, all work had to stop to allow for an investigation into the old castle's remains. Substantial stonework along with broken roof tiles & collapsed turrets walls were eventually uncovered.
The following is a time line that will illustrate the truly glacial pace at which events occurred.
- 1950 - Decision made to build the road
- 1960 - Construction permit obtained
- 1965 - Parts of the castle were excavated. Declared Important Cultural Property
- 1996 - Further excavations were carried out
The final word
A great deal of tension existed between the parties involved, local residents wanted their road (having waited for so many years) & there were those who wanted the site preserved. A compromise was reached that would see the road & sewer work continue and also the site preserved. The path of the road would continue straight over the top of the ruins & the sewer would be built 7 meters below the ruins and with that, Mugishima Castle's moment in the sun ended.
Photo via wikipedia
Wallpapers – JCE
Japanese Castle Wallpapers
Here are some wallpapers with which to adorn your operating system of choice. There are three choices & three sizes, two popular sizes & one that fits my monitor. Just click on the resolution of your monitor from just below the thumbnails. Then save it to your computer.
If you have an idea of what would make for a good Japanese Castle background, don't keep it to yourself. Post in the comments section below.
| Kumamoto Castle | The JCE header | Osaka Castle |
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| 1680 x 1050 1280 x 1024 1024 x 768 | 1680 x 1050 1280 x 1024 1024 x 768 | 1680 x 1050 1280 x 1024 1024 x 768 |
Reocation, relocation, relocation.
Have castle, will travel
One thing that perpetually amazes me is the number of castle buildings that were first built, then pulled-down & rebuilt elsewhere. I wouldn't make the claim that samurai were as mad for recycling as we are in modern times but the re-using of buildings and even complete fortifications was fairly standard practice. It probably wouldn't be too far wrong to say that felling trees & getting stones out of the ground were seen as a last resort.
Tōdō Takatora had his five-story keep carted from northwest Shikoku to just outside of Kyōto In 1610. Yodo castle in Kyōto was the recipient of gates, turrets & materials from several castles including Himeji castle. One of Akashi castle's two remaining turrets came from a local castle while the other originated in Hideyoshi's famed (and well shaken) Fushimi castle. Fushimi castle ended its life as a public-domain parts box which saw its limbs flung to every corner of the country in a manner not seen since William Wallace's simultaneous tours of Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, and Aberdeen.
Mission: Find gate
The other day (sometime last year) I made it my mission to track down the relocated magistrate's gate of the Tsushima domain which I learned of via お城ガイド, a site that documents remnants of Japanese castles. As can be seen from the pictures, the gate is a beautifully carved, Yakui-style gate and as can also be seen, it remains in fine condition.
How happy I was with myself that I'd snapped some decent photos of an historically significant gate. I was figuratively hi-fiving myself as I rode my Mama-chari back home only to find... nothing else to confirm that gate was the gate that I thought that gate was. Damn you relocated building!
Maybe it doesn't even matter. I had a good day.
Tsushima domain
Tsushima domain consisted of Tsushima island, just off the Kyūshū coast, and a small enclave in what is modern day Tosu city in Saga prefecture. It was here that this particular gate is believed to have located before making its way to the Seihō temple, its current location.
Directions and the Chinese zodiac.
Year of the Tiger.
Tomorrow will be the first day of the year according to the Chinese calendar, and people throughout East Asia will tell you that the animal that represents 2010 is the tiger. The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac can be used to represent a great many things, from personality types to time. Let's take a look at how they relate to directions.
As we can see above, North is represented by the rat, East the rabbit, South the horse & West by the rooster. It gets a bit murky when we want to know the inter-cardinals, the diagonal directions of N/E, S/E, etc... It seems reasonable to just mash the 2 closest animals together, don't you think? This gives us N/E - ushi/tora, S/E - tatsu/mi, S/W - hitsuji/saru & finally N/W - inu/i. Hey, they sound kinda familiar...
Yes! The four animal combinations above are common names for the turrets of Japanese castles. And by the way, turret in Japanese is Yagura, written as 矢倉 or, if we mash them, 櫓. Can you see where I'm headed with this?
- Ushitora can be mashed, from 丑寅 to 艮 which represent north east.
- Tatsumi, 辰巳 to 巽 for south west.
- Hitsujisaru, 未申 to 坤 for south east.
- Inui, 戌亥 to 乾 for north east.
Most people who know kanji will swear up and down that 艮 is nothing but a wrongly written 良. Ask someone for yourself & see what they say.
Akashi Castle
There are two remaining turrets at Akashi Castle, which is just a short train ride from Ōsaka. They are both located on the southern edge of the main enclosure. Can you guess their names? I think you can.
10 points to anyone who can explain what's wrong with the photo at the top of this post!
Shachi is life.
Shachiって何だ:
Tiger-carp hybrids, Killer whales and Dragon-headed fish have all been used to describe Shachihoko. Whatever the origins of the mythical fish-tailed beast, they have been used to adorn roofs of Japanese castles, turrets and gates for centuries. Certainly they contribute to the overall beauty of these buildings but primarily they were symbols of good luck to ward off the threat of fire. Given their abysmal track record at Kanazawa & Edo castles (to name just two), their credibility seems flakey at best.
In almost every case, pairs of Shachi (one male & one female) sit on the ridges of roofs at opposing corners, forever facing off like immovable, disgruntled contortionists. It is said that the Shachi with the opened mouth is the male. Perhaps their expressions would soften if the male Shachi just kept its mouth shut.
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- The Shachihoko of the Shachi Gate, Saga Castle.
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- One of Kokura Castle’s Shachi.
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- A sad looking Shachi on a temple gate. Believed to be originally from Zeze castle.
Shachi of note:
- Nagoya Castle - Giant gold-plated, copper Shachi.
- Matsue Castle - Japan's biggest at 2.08 meters tall. The original Shachi are now housed inside the tower.
- Maruoka Castle - Carved from stone. The original Shachi now sit at the base of the tower.
- Saga Castle - The "Shachi" Gate are adorned with truly beautiful Shachi.
- Shibata Castle - Three Shachi sit atop the Sangai Turret. (blatant oneupmanship).
Marugame Castle – up to ￥10,000,000 reward for any old photos.
...but not just any ol' photo:
The hunt continues for old photographs or postcards that can unlock all-important details of Marugame castle's demolished turrets. "Discovery" of any materials that reveal the exact overall dimentions of the castle's other buildings are essential before permission can be granted for their reconstruction.
The hunt has actually been underway since early 2004. In that time just 8 photographs have been submitted with none of these photos providing the crucial information. The city of Marugame does have some cause to hold on to hope though. In 1872, photos were taken of Matsuyama castle, also in Shikoku, and it is their belief photos of Marugame must also exist.
Let's hope something turns up. Seeing Marugame's Tenshu flanked by 11 linked turrets would be quite a site to see.
The original Japanese story can be found here: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/kagawa/news/20100122-OYT8T01346.htm
Marugame Castle in the Edo period:
The castle was first built by the well-off Ikoma clan in 1602. Over the next few decades, different clans were transferred here & they each made their own improvements to the castle. The current main tower was built by the Kyōgoku clan and dates from 1660.
In 1869, the Inui turret burnt to the ground and then it was in 1877 when all buildings in the Honmaru (main enclosure) excluding the tiny three-layer, three-story main tower were torn down.