Comments log

This is a log of comments.

06:30, 8 May 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (It requires more effort than a casual visit to see many of the least molested segments of ishigaki at the top of the castle mount because the walking paths go along the top of the ramparts with the stone work off the path below.)
06:25, 8 May 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Ozu Castle (Great review! Did you see any samurai homes (bukeyashiki) in the castle town or were they more merchant type buildings? Admittedly I was not into bukeyahsiki at the time when I put this profile together so I did not look myself.)
06:20, 8 May 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Akashi Castle (In this case, the gate was at this location as the gate to a samurai home (bukeyashiki). It is thought to have been moved here from another castle, Funage Castle. All in all, this is one castle I should probably revisit and update this profile accordingly. I think they have cleared a lot of trees around the stone walls making them easier to see since 2009 as well.)
23:07, 7 May 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Matsuo Castle (Mino) (I went to this castle ruin back in 2014 when I visited many of the locations around the Sekigahara Battlefield. Even back then, it was easy to get up to and down from this yamajiro as the lower part of the trail is basically a fire trail before one takes a turn into a well-maintained path leading up to the main bailey of this castle. Matsuoyama Castle has a lot of earthworks remaining including ditches, earthen ramparts, and sites of gate ruins. Four of the photos on this profile clearly sho...)
23:03, 7 May 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (G’day Matthew. It’s great that you have been to this much underrated yamajiro in Shiga twice. Not many castle fans will visit this castle ruin once let alone twice as it is overlooked by many tourists who tend to visit its more famous cousins nearby, namely Azuchi Castle and Hikone Castle. I wonder when you visited this castle ruin. The best time to see the ishigaki (stone walls) unobstructed by the trees is in winter when all the leaves are gone from the deciduous trees that surround the bai...)
22:55, 7 May 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Chinen Castle (It’s great that another castle fan has made it to this relatively little-known gusuku in Okinawa. It’s certainly a nice little castle ruin to visit and a contrast to the bigger five UNESCO World Heritage listed castles also profiled here on JCastle. The wooden frames in the gates at Chinen Castle aren’t original but are used to shore them up to prevent them from collapsing. At other gusukus such as Zakimi Castle and Nakagusuku Castle, you will see similar arched gateways without the wooden fr...)
22:17, 5 May 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Akashi Castle (I visited Akashi Castle for the second time today, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Tatsumi Yagura was open and I got to go inside, though as noted before, only the first level is open to the public. Still, it was not surprisingly pretty authentic inside, and had some good views of the rest of the castle. I think I was most impressed by the stone walls--there were more than I remembered, especially in the main front area of the castle, where the turrets are, along with some good foundations...)
08:23, 3 May 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Osaka Castle (Wise comments, Mr Ward! I also give this castle top marks. The 1931 reconstructed concrete donjon is actually meant to be modelled on Toyotomi's Osaka Castle rather than the Edo period one, believe it or not (though the design has proto-modern rather than medieval elements!). Really it's not much like either historic keep, but has a few elements of both. It's really its own creature. Btw, if you have FB and keep any photos, we'd love to see them on the 'Japanese Castles' group there.)
08:16, 3 May 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (I think the ishigaki on the mount is impressive, and there's likely more than you saw, because it took me a lot of work to see what i did, but it's just marred in some places. That said, i'm super glad our comments offered some insight. The kyokan area i can definitely recommend if you happen to revisit Hachiman.)
10:44, 2 May 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukuoka Castle (I haven't been to this castle yet, but from reading about it, it seems that there are several original yagura and gates left. A few of the yagura seem to have been moved and then relocated back to the castle fairly recently. The status of the Shimonohashi Otemon Gate pictured above is a little unclear to me: it was the victim of arson in the year 2000, but my poor Japanese reading can't quite tell whether it was completely destroyed and reconstructed or demaged and repaired. For what it...)
10:27, 2 May 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Ozu Castle (I went to Ozu Castle last fall (2022) on my Shikoku castle tour. Of course, the main attraction is the combined structure of the beautifully restored main keep and the two original yagura: Koran Yagura and Daidokoro Yagura. It's an incredible structure, and I wish I could afford to stay overnight in the main keep (it's not cheap!). There are some nice displays on how the main keep was restored: so nice that they found a model of it, in addition to pictures of the original main keep. It'...)
13:03, 1 May 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Osaka Castle (I've been to Osaka Castle more times than any other castle, possibly a dozen times, and I have come to appreciate it more and more. I totally agree with the comments above that going straight to the main keep often leaves people disappointed. I think my first few times I was really impressed when I passed the awesome moats, stone walls, gates and turrets, but then entered the main keep and was disappointed by how little historical atmosphere it had. Big mistake, because all the other stuff...)
12:45, 1 May 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (I've been to the mountaintop ruins twice. I'm not going to rate them because by reading the comments below, I've realized that there is a lot more to the castle than just the ishigaki on the mountain. I agree that the ishigaki on the mountain are not very impressive, but it's good to hear that there is a lot more to the castle. For what it's worth, Omi Hachiman itself is a fantastic historical town, and highly recommended.)
12:34, 1 May 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Chinen Castle (This is a pleasant little castle, and a nice introduction to the Okinawan gusuku style, with those nice curved stone walls. I also liked the gate shown in the pictures above: no idea of whether the wooden parts are original, but I've noticed that even with only the stone parts remaining, these Okinawan castle gates are pretty substantial. Of course, if you really want to see much larger ruins like this, it's best to check out the big gusuku ruins jointly registered as a World Heritage Site.)
13:29, 30 April 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Kochi Castle (I finally visited Kochi Castle last August--I took a 5 castle trip through Shikoku with my son, seeing Uwajima, Otsu, Matsuyama (2nd time), Marugame (2nd time) and Kochi. I was really impressed! The highlight, of course, is the totally complete honmaru with all of its lovely buildings intact. For that alone, I think it easily ranks in the top 10 best castles of Japan. But it also has a pretty good collection of ishigaki, and the gate complex at the entrance is also wonderful. Easy 5 star...)
22:51, 29 April 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Nakaara Castle (Just don't maul the kind tourists please !)
22:51, 29 April 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2386 on Nakaara Castle
22:50, 29 April 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Nakaara Castle (Just don't maul the kind tourists please !)
14:33, 29 April 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Funai Castle (I was reading about this castle from a few sources earlier today, and it seems that two of the yagura, the Hitojichi Yagura and the Shumon Yagura are technically original, albeit not particularly ancient. One was rebuilt in 1859 and the other in 1861. As for the modern reconstructions, the Ote gate was rebuilt in 1965 with 3 other turrets, and the Rokabashi in 1996. All in all, sounds like a fairly extensive little site.)
14:16, 29 April 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Yamato Koriyama Castle (I went to this castle early this month (April 2023), during the castle festival. Really excellent place that I had never heard of till recently (I only found out about it because I noticed that my wife had a Kansai castle walk guidebook). But the ruins of the stone walls and moats are pretty grand and often dramatic. The rebuilt wooden bridge over the inner moat (quite a nice structure in itself) presents an especially great view. The rebuilt yagura and Ote gate are also nice and look aut...)
10:29, 26 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Nakaara Castle (Shame it looks good only on paper. Ah, to be a bear and eat kaki in the woods at castle ruins. I'm jealous of that bear.)
20:46, 24 April 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #512 on Tatsuno Castle
20:46, 24 April 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #515 on Tatsuno Castle
13:36, 19 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Kokokuji Castle (Kōkokujijō is an earthworks castle ruin which is on the widely regarded list of top castles (‘Next Top 100’), so I figured I’d go. I wasn’t expecting much but the site impressed me. The extent of extant remains is not so vast, and most of the area of the castle is made up of a series of terraces, but the central fortified area is unique. The dorui (earthen ramparts) at Kōkokujijō are huge! Of some of the largest I’ve seen, and probably the tallest I’ve ever seen when viewed from within the ma...)
13:33, 19 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Kazurayama Castle (Kazurayamajō is a good beginner level yamajiro (mountaintop castle). It’s not so high up, being accessed via a stairway leading from the necropolis of Sennenji, and it is very well maintained with signposted ruins which are easy to appreciate. The ruins are chiefly earthworks, and features include kuruwa (baileys), obikuruwa (ringing baileys), horikiri (trenches), tatebori (climbing moats) and dorui (earthen ramparts). Kazurayamajō is essentially a large single bailey complex, though a seco...)
13:29, 19 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Nagakubo Castle (Nagakubojō is an earthworks castle ruin. The remains of Nagakubojō can be found at the Jōyama Shrine. These earthworks, principally dorui (earthen ramparts), are all that remains of what was once quite a large medieval fort. The ruins actually represent one of Nagakubojō’s outer baileys, and not the central compound; one might imagine that the ruins used to be quite impressive then, but eventually they were developed over and are now destroyed or buried.)
09:25, 19 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Obama Castle (‘Obama’ is pronounced in Japanese as ‘O-ba-ma’ and not ‘oh-BAH-muh’. I wondered if I would find any references to a certain US president in the town, since I remembered the town being in the news when the 44th president was inaugurated, but I didn’t (although I did once find a gigantic sand sculpture of Trump besides crying Amerindians in Tottori). There was much more to see of Obamajō than I expected. The ishigaki (stone-piled ramparts) here fully ensconce the main bailey, now the site of...)
09:09, 19 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Tsuruga Castle (A fairly complete profile by my standards; I've added co-ords because it can be difficult to know where everything is, and I had to do a lot of searching on the web. There is a little drawing of a castle tower on the signboard next to the school. I don't know where the tenshu was located, but presumably where the temple now is. The site of the daikansho is given as the school, and the site of the castle at the temple, but I have treated them as a single site in this profile.)
17:17, 16 April 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #1963 on Tsuwano Castle
09:41, 16 April 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2377 on Kazurayama Yakata
09:39, 16 April 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Kazurayama Yakata (test)
15:23, 11 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Yamanaka Castle (Mikawa) (Yamanaka Castle is an earthworks fortification ruin situated on a hill between the Maigi and Haguri townships in Okazaki Municipality. Chris Glenn introduced this site to our group, citing it as one of the largest mountaintop castle sites in Aichi Prefecture. It’s nowhere near in scale to large sites I’ve visited in Nagano, such as Haibara or Kibune castles (the latter is virtually unknown), or Niigata, such as Kasugayama (well known) or Nechi (not so well known) castles, and it only took me...)
08:16, 6 April 2023 119.241.59.34 talk posted a new comment on Wakayama Castle (Besides the Okaguchi Gate, which is the other original gate?)
20:09, 3 April 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Kazurayama Castle (I wrote the following about the yakata site: Kazurayama-yakata (Kazurayama, Susono, Shizuoka) 　葛山館［静岡県裾野市葛山］ Kazurayama-yakata is a fortified manor hall site. Since it is located in the plain beneath Kazurayamajō, one might expect this to be the usual combination of a fortified residence and mountain redoubt, but it seems that Kazurayamajō was not built until Kazurayama-yakata was abandoned. Instead of being the kyokan (residential area) for Kazurayamajō, Kazurayama-yakata was replaced by...)
21:42, 2 April 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Shuri Castle (Absolutely, Eric. That’s why I do multiple revisits for many of the castles that I have visited. It’s quite easy to clock up an impressive tally of unique castle visits, but it is much more satisfying to have explored and appreciated a castle site properly even if it means going back for multiple visits. Also, there are some good restaurants near Shuri Castle for Okinawan food. If you add in Wolfbrau for some good German beer available on tap or in bottles, going to Shuri Castle for a visit...)
21:29, 2 April 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Shimashi Ozato Castle (Hehehe…golfing. No, I was not out on the putt-putt course but rather spent nearly 40 minutes under shelter next to it waiting for a thunderstorm to pass over the area, so I probably should have said that I spent nearly 3 hours on site in my earlier comment. The miniature golf course is outside the original castle grounds, possibly on the site of some farmland just outside the castle. The closest part of the putt-putt golf course is near the eastern side of the outer bailey. This area is hea...)
08:44, 2 April 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Shuri Castle (Like any good or great castle, your appreciation increases with the number of visits !)
08:42, 2 April 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Shimashi Ozato Castle (3.5 hours? You certainly must have taken in everything. Are you sure you weren't spending time on that Ozata Castle golf course? Just kidding, but seriously, did the gold course eat up a chunk of the original castle?)
22:45, 1 April 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Shimashi Ozato Castle (I posted my previous comment below based on my first visit to this castle ruin during Golden Week in May 2022. After posting that comment, I decided that I had to revisit this magnificent gusuku ruin. I rushed my previous visit, so this time round in late March 2023, I spent a much more leisurely 3.5 hours on site including checking out the site of the former castle town, which is now a residential area. In some places, there are some nuno-zumi and nozura-zumi styled stone walls around peopl...)
22:37, 1 April 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Shuri Castle (I never get tired of revisiting this premier gusuku in Okinawa. I went to this castle again last week. Much of Shuri Castle was reconstructed after it was mostly obliterated during the Battle of Okinawa during WWII, but if you know where to look, it is possible to find traces of the original stone walls. The original ishigaki look much more weathered and have a slightly different hue to the reconstructed sections, most of which were done in the 1990s. The same thing applies to some of the sto...)
22:29, 1 April 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Urasoe Castle (I revisited this castle ruin last week. It was my sixth visit to this castle ruin. I mainly wanted to see if all that excavated ishigaki have been covered up by protective tarpaulin or not. When I was in Okinawa a few months ago during post-Christmas / New Year period, a whole section of the recently excavated ishigaki on the southern side of the castle was deliberately left uncovered until 6th January because of public interest. We were told this by the staff at the Urasoe Gusuku and Youdore...)
22:26, 1 April 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Nakijin Castle (I revisited this castle last week. On my first visit here in late December 2021 (see my previous comment below), the Shijimajo Bailey was off limits as some restoration work was being done at the time. There is a great view of the Main Bailey’s stone walls (ishigaki)looking up from the Shijimajo Bailey. One section of the stone wall has obviously been repaired recently as a whole section of the wall has much newer stones than most of the wall. Checking the photos from my first visit in Decemb...)
16:13, 21 March 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukushima Castle (I first came here in the morning before sitting the JLPT exam. ...So the day wasn't a total waste!)
08:31, 19 March 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (Thanks, Raymond. Would love to join you and Eric in an assault there. My impression of the northern outer ruins of the castle was that they were built at an earlier stage in the castle's history? And perhaps not refortified in the Momoyama period.)
21:52, 18 March 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (Good on you for posting an updated and near-comprehensive review of Omi-Hachiman Castle based on your second visit to this yamajiro. >ART wrote: It might be said that a fourth part of the castle consists of some rudimentary earthworks defences along the ridge to the north of the castle, including a horikiri (trench) and some flattened areas. I totally agree with your assessment here as there are clear earthwork remnants. Not many castle fans go to or notice this part of Omi-Hachiman Castle....)
03:49, 16 March 2023 24.182.232.254 talk posted a new comment on Gifu Castle (oops I meant to say what it was made out of and is it still standing or open to public.)
03:46, 16 March 2023 24.182.232.254 talk posted a new comment on Gifu Castle (needs a little stuff on the fashion of Japan)
08:35, 14 March 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (I'll add it to the list for this fall! Hoping for some nice Koyo too :))
07:07, 14 March 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Edo Castle (yeah, I love the design here. Shimizu Gate is my favorite hidden gem in Edo Castle. The places with walls strategically have no walls to fire from other locations and not provide something for attackers to hide behind. They may also fall into the moat ! :))
06:21, 14 March 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (Part 2, Kyokan (Lord's Residence Area) I came down from the mountaintop castle ruins via the ruins of Kitanoshōjō, and moved onto the kyokan area of Ōmi-Hachimanjō from the town rather than retrace my steps, though it is possible to go down to the kyokan via the castle's demaru. The kyokan, the site of the residence of Toyotomi Hidetsugu, one of the Sengoku period's more tragic figures, is now ruins, but what impressive ruins they are! The site is disguised as a mere local park, but it is in...)