See Japan's castles the easy way

My Sunday adventure

Article posted on Sunday, October, 24th, 2010 at 9:55 pm


I had been waiting 12 months for today’s trip to the Masutomi castle festival in Kaho (Fukuoka Pref). That’s how long it has been since doing a post on the lighting-up of Masutomi castle. I didn’t quite make it to the lighting-up, I just had to settle for a day-trip. And even then, the rain pretty much put an end to anything festival like. Hey, I’m not complaining. I’m not big on crowds.

The drive there was a bit hairy. As I made my way through the (I would guess) seldom-used mountain pass, I came across two sections where half of the road had fallen victims to land-slides. Not the type where land has slid on the road, but the type where the road has slid away. That coupled with narrow, twisting roads and the fog made for some pretty focused driving.

Once I arrived in Kaho, I was very happy to see plenty of signage pointing me in all the right places. First was a sign to the relocated main gate of the castle, then to the place where the crowds would have gathered, if the weather had’ve been decent. There was one other gate to be found, Masutomi castle’s Karamete gate. Some prior research ensured I’d be able to take the obligatory snaps.

The castle itself is, shall we say, rather unique. It’s Japan’s 2D’est castle. And due to the fog, I felt happy to even get the pics I got. I wasn’t going to hang around all day for the fog to clear, it’s just a billboard after all.

I was driving just as focused on the way back. I felt it was necessary for my survival. If only I had continued to be alert when I was home free. I decided to pull over to check out some cars, and whack! I hit the gutter. A slow leak ensued, and down the road, I noticed the car pulling to the left.

It had been a while since I’d changed a tire. The first time to change one in the rain. And hopefully the last time I’ll need to change one, rain or no rain.

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Lightin’ up

Article posted on Monday, November, 16th, 2009 at 8:44 pm


Image credit: Yomiuri Online

Image credit: Yomiuri Online

For a good cause

Seems like castles all over Japan have been trying to out light up each other of late. And all for good causes. It was mid-October when Nagoya, Kokura & Kouchi castles where all dressed in a lovely shade of pink to raise the awareness of breast cancer, and now one month later several castles are donning a blue hue in aid of World Diabetes Day.

Pictured is Matsumoto castle of Nagano Prefecture. Toyama castle of Toyama Prefecture has also received the blue rinse.

Masutomi Castle, the overnight castle

There is one other castle that has just wrapped up its light up activities. It wasn’t in relation to a specific cause but to a legend instead. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi was in the process of pacifying Kyushu and about to engage the Akizuki clan, he had an enemy’s fallen castle covered in white paper overnight to give the illusion that it had been re-plastered. To the Akizuki clan, it had a demoralizing affect for it looked as though the invading armies had truly infinite resources. This prompted Akizuki Tanezane to surrender.

Every year the local residents celebrate this historical event by erecting scaffolding in the shape of a castle (it looks way better than it sounds) and illuminate it for a week to remember the castle that was built overnight.

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