Japanese Manhole Cover (part II)

     

I was going through some of my photos from earlier this year and came across this one. Recognise it? That’s right, it’s from Hitoyoshi castle. I snapped it just outside the train station after having visited the castle grounds. The image is of one of the traditional water craft that are still used on the Kuma river at the castle’s edge

I’ve got a bit of a confession to make. When I finally reached the Honmaru (the central defensive enclosure), I was actually glad there was nothing else to see, I was that exhausted. Yet another confession. I do wish this post was a bit (a lot) meatier, but the drastic reduction in my free-time has lead to less posts, less twittering & less updates in general. Have got some things in the works though (been reading up on Konishi Yukinaga’s exploits in Korea in the 1590′s.)

Hope everyone is keeping well. :)

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  • http://toshogu.blogspot.com Tornadoes28

    I love those manhole covers.

    Which book are you reading about Yukinaga?

  • admin

    Mr Tornadoes28, thanks for the comment. The book is titled Invasion, it’s by Stephen Turnbull. I know the guy cops a lot of flack with Samurai Archivers but I’m happy enough. What do you think of his work?

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/rekishinotabi/ Rekishi no Tabi

    Try to get your hands on Samuel Hawley’s The Imjin War. Reading this together with Turnbull’s Samurai Invasion will give you a very well-rounded view of Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea. I’m not a big fan of Kenneth Swope and the theory he proposes in his book, A Dragon’s Head and a Serpent’s Tail. Swope argues that it was Ming China’s intervention and superior military technology that won the war. Please. Swope seems to attack Hawley and Turnbull with a little too much vigor in other publications– perhaps to mask the weakness of his own position.

    The Samurai Archives has a wealth of good information about this conflict on its forum. Also, the SA’s affiliated blog, The Shogun-Ki, is currently featuring an interview with Samuel Hawley that was conducted by that Obenjo Kusanosuke dude. Here’s the link: http://shogun-yashiki.blogspot.com/

  • admin

    Rekishi no Tabi, thank you very much for that link. An interesting read & I look forward to part II.