Saga Castle History Museum

Article posted on Friday, August, 26th, 2011 at 1:06 pm

It is such a pleasing thing to see more and more castle buildings being rebuilt using traditional methods and materials.

You may recall that I recently touched upon this in the post: The Rebuilding Phase. That post was all about the Tenshus (main towers) though. What I’ll be talking about today is the rebuilt Goten (palace) of Saga castle.

A scale model of the rebuilt Saga Castle History Museum. To the right is the Shachi-no-mon, the castle's only surviving structure from the Edo period.

The history of the Hon-maru Goten (本丸御殿)

It should be understood how truly rare it is that a castle be built in the early 1600′s and maintain its form throughout its active life; it was only natural that they evolve. And of course, most castles have felt the burn of… um, fire. Anyway, buildings were lost, alright? I didn’t do it.

It was in 1835, during the reign of the 10th successive lord of Saga domain, that saw most of the buildings of the castle reduced to ash once-again. Three years later, many of the lost buildings had been rebuilt.

Day at the museum

It clearly has the same appearance, and occupies the exact same location as the old Hon-maru Goten, but it’s best to arrive thinking that this is the Saga Castle History Museum and not some authentically restored palace.

Yes, the museum is of wooden-construction and has more tatami mats that you can poke a stick at, but it is very-much a modern building. I suppose electricity, plumbing and even air-conditioning are to be expected nowadays.

Regarding the historical exhibits, they tend to focus on the mid-to-late 1800's. Saga-han’s cannon building prowess receives a great deal of attention, as does the domain’s involvement in the Boshin War. I wonder if the blame for this shouldn’t be squarely put on the epic fires this castle has (barely) endured.

Well, that's about it

On its own, perhaps the Saga Castle History Museum won't make it on anyone must-see list. It just doesn't have that Wow-factor. Having said that, watch me get excited in this (year-old) video. Is it catching?

And for those who just can’t get enough, the palace/museum room-by-room:

Arima Kinenkan Exhibition – The life of an Edo Period lord

Article posted on Wednesday, July, 20th, 2011 at 4:41 pm

Just another day at a Japanese school. It seems everytime I get back to my desk, there’s yet another pamphlet or flier from a insurance or travel agency sitting on my desk, waiting to be thrown away. Sometimes they leave hard candy. I like it when they do.

I couldn’t've been more surprised the other day when I saw this one. A new exhibition was being held in Kurume at the Arima Memorial Hall, a small but tidy historical museum of the Arima clan at the site of their former castle. Well, looks like I finally had a plan for the coming Summer vacation.

Sprung!

The drive to Kurume castle was brief. Making my way from the Eastern entrance, I walked across the face of the Sasayama Shrine (篠山神社). Having not entered via the front gate, the first doors I was presented with were that of the toilets. And, if my memory served me correctly (it did), the wall of the male toilets is decorated with old roof tiles, some featuring heraldic symbols. I could hardly resist, so I whipped out my camera.

I struggled to get the shot I was after in that confined space. At my third attempt I noticed a man approaching. Actually, I noticed that he had noticed me. I gave a slight bow then scuttled off. Gee, that didn’t feel weird.

The memorial hall

In the door & up the stairs I went. "Konnichi wa", to the man at the front desk. I handed over the ¥200, and I was handed back about ¥200′s worth of pamphlets & fliers. What the..? I felt like I was back at work.

I heard footsteps behind me. It was the man who saw me in the toilet taking photos. He relplaced the man who had been on the front desk. There was just the two of us there now. What a relief that we’d broken the ice earlier!

The exhibits

I was immediately ushered toward a seat, and the friendly staff member started a short video of how the Arima clan came to be in Kurume city. A second video briefly spoke of the life of a princess at the end of the Edo period. A third video spoke of the Arima clan residence in Edo & of the clan’s legacy. The primary focus appeared to be that of an elementary school & a horse race.

I found all three videos of interest. They weren’t too long, and I was able to pick up on some tasty tid-bits of information here & there.

It was time to unleash myself upon the rest of the exhibits. It was a very short walk and I was reminded of how far away I was from Tōkyō, Kyōto, Nara, Nagoya or even Fukuoka city.

Okay, sarcasm aside, I really did enjoy myself. I definitely got my ¥200′s worth. There were several paintings/prints & artifacts relating to the castle that I was very happy to see. Also interesting was the amour with the dark-blue laces shown in the top picture. There is a dent in the breastplate from where it had been tested against gunfire. Kewl!

It was time to go, but before I left, I made sure I got the big, round, red stamp you see to the right to make sure it was ¥200 well spent.

Yamabe-no-Michi Cultural Hall

Article posted on Monday, March, 28th, 2011 at 1:32 pm

Today, we’ll be visiting the town of Kusano, in Kurume city (map). In many ways it’s just an ordinary, out-of-the-way, rural town, but the fact that there are several historically interesting places dotted about can almost be considered ordinary for Japan. Something I’m still not quite used to having come from Australia.

The fine specimen of a building below started out life in 1914 as the Nakano Hospital. Today, it’s the Yamabe-no-Michi Cultural Hall (formerly, Nakano Hospital). That’s 山辺道文化館（旧中野病院）in Japanese. Quite the mouthful no matter the language. Without having reached it’s 100th birthday, it and a small companion building are both registered tangible cultural properties.

I can’t really say that it looks particularly Japanese or even Asian (Oops, non PC?). Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. It was built about half a century after Japan had emerged from its self-imposed isolation, and it seems foreign influences had become more-and-more common place by this time.

Matsuura Historical Museum

Article posted on Tuesday, March, 22nd, 2011 at 8:02 pm

This little museum has a lot of history about it, and I’m not just talking about the items exhibited within. What has been known as the Matsuura Historical Museum since 1955 is also known as 旧松浦藩主旧邸 (Kyū Matsuura Hanshu kyūtei). Not exactly a term you’d come across too often, and why would you? It means (The) former feudal lord of the Matsuura domain’s former residence, and there’s probably only one of them.

The former domain of Hirado, formerly located at the north-western corner of former Hizen province, was a modest yet notable one. It was once home to Japan’s first European foreign trading posts steered by the likes of Jacques Specx & William Adams.

The buildings that currently occupy the site were built in 1893, but these were not the first. Rather disappointingly, I’m unable to determine exactly when the site was established. What I can confirm is that the site was in use by the Matsuura clan before the move to Hirado castle, which can be seen on the hill, across the bay in the above photo.

One point I’d like to make, and it comes courtesy Hoikusha-published, Japanese Castles by Michio Fujioka, is that the Matsuura mansion was built in the defensively-strong position at the foot of a mountain; one of the two favoured positions of the earliest castles. The other being at the mountain’s peak. Both of these positions would become less and less popular, but that story is for another time.

As I said, the buildings date from 1893, and there is a real charm about them. The main building is the Chitose Kaku (千歳閣) and houses over 150 fascinating items relating to the Matsuura clan. There’s armour and other items of clothing, there are also many items dating from early European trade.

Another building of note is the Kanun Tei (閑雲亭). It’s a largish tea house and was originally built along with the others in 1893. There is a twist though. A typhoon struck in 1987 which levelled the structure. It was rebuilt soon after, and they say with the original materials. (cough, co.. bullshit!)

The Matsuura Historical Museum and both the city & island of Hirado have so much to offer tourists. So, if you find yourself in Nagasaki, take a bus or a train up North. It’s well worth it.

WWII – Tachiarai Airfield museum

Article posted on Sunday, July, 11th, 2010 at 9:40 am

Well, between procrastination and not having a means to visit, I finally checked out the Tachiarai Peace Hall. You may well imagine it to be a hall-like building filled with peace, which may not be a completely accurate description. It is in fact, filled with WWII aircraft, parts of aircraft & other WWII related items.

When you are done with the video, check out:
The Pool of Zen's Poetry of the Kamikaze.
And, a site with some information on the former museum.

Back to school

Article posted on Saturday, June, 26th, 2010 at 8:29 am

I was walking around school between lessons looking for a teacher (I work at 8 schools in Kurume city) & came across a room filled with historical artefacts. The room was decked out like a folk museum with items from various eras of Japan’s past. I later found out that the more ancient stuff were replicas but hey, considering this is a local school, I was still impressed.

Anyway, after getting permission (of course), the teacher said that NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster, had been there just two days earlier for a story. Have I in fact scooped NHK? Perhaps the big question is, Does it really matter?

Check out the vid and tell me what you think!