See Japan's castles the easy way

The Rebuilding Phase

Article posted on Friday, August, 12th, 2011 at 1:43 pm


Time and time again, I read of people’s disappointment upon discovering that the traditional Japanese castle that they’ve just visited, is concrete, or that “it has an elevator”. There’s no need for the sad-faced emoticon, it’s plain for all to see.

Have you experienced disappointed with a Japanese castle visit? Let’s face it, who hasn’t? Be sure to leave a comment, I like to hear what you have to say.

The fact is though, that castles with rebuilt main towers are common. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this category of castle were the most visited. Consider the castles of Ōsaka, Nagoya & Hiroshima, they are far more accessible to the jet-setting tourist than many of Japan’s original castles.

Help is here

To assist those hoping to come away with a more positive experience from their castle visit, I’ve put together the following tables. The coloured boxes will guide you from here on in.

I will give away one thing though, and that is that it looks like the age of concrete replicas just might be over.

Sub-categories Description In other words
Mock Completely based on whim. It cannot be confirmed what the original keep looked like or that there even was a keep. The vast majority are concrete. Puke
Revival This is a tricky one. Though it may be based on extant images/artefacts, the rebuilt (concrete) main tower has gone in a new direction, as though it merely hints at the original. The vast majority are concrete. Meh
Replica It looks as it should, but only from the outside. Inside, it’s your typical historical museum. I believe all are concrete. Hmmm…
Restored At last! A tower built using traditional materials & methods based on surviving diagrams & old photographs. Built using wood though many are enhanced to conform to modern building regulations. Yippee!
Name Sub-category Date built
Gifu Castle Revival 1910
Sumoto Castle Mock 1928
Ōsaka Castle Revival 1931
Gujo Hachiman Castle Mock 1933
Iga Ueno Castle Mock 1935
Kishiwada Castle Mock 1954
Yoshida Castle Revival 1954
Toyama Castle Mock 1954
Gifu Castle Revival 1956
Wakayama Castle Replica 1958
Hiroshima Castle Replica 1958
Hamamatsu Castle Mock 1958
Nagoya Castle Replica 1959
Okazaki Castle Revival 1959
Ogaki Castle Replica 1959
Kokura Castle Revival 1959
Nakatsu Castle Mock 1959
Odawara Castle Revival 1960
Matsumae Castle Replica 1960
Kumamoto Castle Replica 1960
Hirado Castle Mock 1962
Iwakuni Castle Replica 1962
Fushimi Castle Mock 1964
Shimabara Castle Replica 1964
Aizu Wakamatsu Castle Replica 1965
Yokote Castle Mock 1965
Okayama Castle Replica 1966
Fukuyama Castle Replica 1966
Karatsu Castle Mock 1966
Echizen Ōno Castle Revival 1968
Takashima Castle Replica 1970
Kitsuki Castle Revival 1970
Ōtaki Castle Revival 1975
Kururi Castle Mock 1978
Imabari Castle Mock 1980
Kaminoyama Castle Mock 1982
Fukuchiyama Castle Replica 1986
Nagahama Castle Mock 1987
Oshi Castle Mock 1987
Kiyosu Castle Mock 1989
Shirakawa Komine Castle Restored 1991
Takada Castle Revival 1993
Kakegawa Castle Restored 1994
Shiroishi Castle Restored 1995
Sekiyado Castle Mock 1995
Nishio Castle Revival 1996
Ōzu Castle Restored 2004
Shibata Castle Restored 2004
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Fukuoka castle tower

Article posted on Saturday, July, 17th, 2010 at 10:10 am


Image credit: Yomiuri - http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20100702-OYT1T00308.htm

There have been so many castles built with massive stone bases for their central towers but now have nothing sitting atop them.

It is generally known when & how these central towers (keeps/tenshus) were lost, but there are cases where mystery still surrounds these old structures. I’m not talking about the small details like their height or appearance, but whether the tower actually even existed.

There are two schools of thought on what became of Fukuoka castle‘s main tower. Some believe the main tower was dismantled and shipped to Osaka to aid in the rebuilding of Ōsaka castle (completed in 1620). Why would Kuroda Nagamasa relinquish his castle’s crowning glory? As a sign of his loyalty to the Shoguate of course. Those opposed to this view simply believe none ever existed.

Pictured is Mr. Odawara along with a model of how Fukuoka castle’s main tower may have once looked. It turns out he is an even bigger fan of Fukuoka castle than I am. He is chairman of the Castles of Chikuzen study group, so I guess he must be. The motivation behind the building of the 1:150 scale model is to promote the (re)building of a 1:1 tower.

Will Fukuoka’s tenshu ever be built? Perhaps the answer can be found in this older post: At what cost?

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