Comments log

This is a log of comments.

11:34, 12 June 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Amagasaki Castle (Last year, I was teaching some high-school students about how to describe their hometowns, and I was puzzled when students from Amagasaki started mentioning Amagasaki Castle. I didn’t know there was such a thing! But I Googled it, and sure enough, there is now an Amagasaki Castle again. I haven’t visited yet, but I’ve seen in from the train window when going to Hyogo, and it looks reasonably attractive. It’s a really odd case, because there are apparently no visible remains of the origina...)
07:51, 11 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Iimori Castle (I'm glad you went. I was going to go here at the beginning of the year before deciding to extend my time in Wakasa.)
22:17, 10 June 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Suikei Okayama Castle (@Furinkazan. Thanks for creating this castle profile on Jcastle. I have been here twice, but not during the warmer months. It's one for the colder (yamajiro season) months. The map you have posted in two of your photos shows the the trail, and it's the same one that I took. The first time, I took the same way up and then went down the other way. The second time, it was going up and down from the southern trailhead. Near that trailhead, there is some ishigaki there. This castle ruin is quite b...)
22:03, 10 June 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Zeze Castle (Good to hear that you visited some of the relocated Zeze Castle gates. I'm glad the work I have put into this castle profile has proven to be useful and beneficial for another castle fan.)
21:56, 10 June 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Kakegawa Castle (This is a good one to visit as you have already noticed in the comments posted by many castle fans. I've been back two more times since my first visit. If you combine visiting Kakegawa Castle with Suwahara Castle ruin (also covered on this website), located a couple of train stations further along the train line towards Shizuoka, it would make a fantastic "castle-hunting" day.)
21:43, 10 June 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Iimori Castle (Eric, it's good to see that you have created a profile of this top notch yamajiro in Osaka Prefecture on Jcastle. You have also included lots of photos showcasing what can be seen at this massive mountaintop castle ruin, so other castle fans use it as a visual guide when they visit this yamajiro. This castle is certainly the Osaka equivalent of Kannonji Castle in Shiga. It’s impossible to visit all its baileys in one day because of its sheer size. Also, some sections of the castle ruin have...)
09:30, 10 June 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Kakegawa Castle (Right now, Kakegawa Castle is the second on my J-castle bucket list, after Hirosaki Castle. Really looks like a great place, and the rave reviews on this site confirm this impression. The combination of the original goten, a couple of other original structures on-site, the Meiji-era grand residence mentioned below, and the authentically rebuilt main keep, turret and gates sound like a really excellent Japanese castle experience. As for original structures, in addition to the goten, the moa...)
08:54, 10 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Ota Castle (Lucky!)
08:50, 10 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Yokosuka Castle (Fantastic job on cataloguing the relocated structures.)
03:03, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Castle (my comment ^)
02:55, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Ota Castle (ART, I didn't know about the relocated gate and saw it, per chance, passing it. It was a nice gate in front of a temple and when I saw the information panel next to it, I noticed it was a relocated gate of Ota castle.)
02:47, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Ishigakiyama Ichiya Castle (23/05/2023: After checking in at my hotel in Odawara, I took a train on the Tōkaidō line for one station back, Hayakawa. I wanted to visit Ishigakiyama Ichiya castle. From the station the road to the castle is well indicated. It's a 2km uphill road. I knew this site to be big, but not that big. The Ichiya part in the name, means one night. During the siege of Odawara castle, in 1590, this castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Trees were left intact, to hide the construction to the besieged....)
02:42, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Takatenjin Castle (On 22/05/2023 evening, I was a little concerned by the weather forecast. Rain the whole day in Shizuoka prefecture. And seeing the very strong downpours in Saitama, I wondered if I could be able to make the visits I had planned for 23/05/2023. The first site I visited on 23/05/2023 was Takatenjin castle. This one was on my itinerary of 2014, but I spent more time than expected at Kakegawa, and I wasn't able to visit Takatenjin castle. When I arrived at Kakegawa station, it was raining. I put...)
02:37, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Hikuma Castle (I also went to Hikuma castle on 22/05/2023, after Hamamatsu castle, which is actually the older site of Hamamatsu castle. There is now a shrine and statues of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. There is something strange to this, since Ieyasu is depicted as an older man and Hideyoshi as a young boy. In reality, Hideyoshi was older than Ieyasu.)
02:35, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Hamamatsu Castle (22/05/2023: After Yokosukajō, I visited Hamamatsu castle for a second time. My first visit was in 2009, with my limited 'smartphone' of the time. I didn't took a lot of pictures neither. Since my last visit, a gate has been reconstructed and the castle made it into the next 100 castles to visit. So I had my stamp book with me.)
02:32, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Yokosuka Castle (Added some pictures of of the relocated gates at Hongenji and Senyoji, as well as the bansho(guardhouse).)
01:56, 10 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Yokosuka Castle (On 22/05/2023, I took the Kodama from Toyohashi to Hamamatsu. From their the local train to Fukuroi station and finally a bus from the south exit of the station. I got off at Osuka shiso-mae bus stop. Almost on the other side of the road, is a bansho. This is a guard house and this one belonged to Yokusuka castle. It has been moved to its actual location, to preserve it. Then I walked to Hongen temple, where a former gate of the castle is. The castle site isn't far from this temple. The castl...)
13:51, 9 June 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Kishiwada Castle (Thanks! That's kind of what I suspected: nice authentic walls and moats, but buildings all fairly mogi. The turrets were rebuilt in the late 60's, but seems that that was still a fairly mogi era. I'll also check out the Gofuso.)
13:34, 9 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Kishiwada Castle (I was the same, coming in via KIX in 2012 but not visiting the castle site itself until 2015/16. All the structures are a bit mogi. Historical authenticity just wasn't a priority at the time. I recommend also visiting the Gofuso, an indutrial era villa adjacent to the castle.)
11:26, 9 June 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Kishiwada Castle (This must have been one of the first Japanese castles I ever saw from a distance, but I still haven't visited it. I'm thinking of finally going late this month or in early July. I'm curious about one question: it's clear that the main keep isn't historically authentic, but I wonder about the rebuilt gates and yagura. Does anybody know whether they are authentic replicas of the originals? I'm reading about it in Japanese, but so far haven't been able to find details about the other reco...)
10:47, 9 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Otowa Castle (Thanks for adding to Omi. It is a province with a lot of collaboration from jcastle-users.)
10:42, 9 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Ota Castle (These kind of sites parastically get a disproportionate amount of traffic from castle fans due to being close to larger ones, but there's nothing wrong with that. It is well that you hunted down the relocated structure!)
10:40, 9 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Damine Castle (I went here not long after Furinkazan! The reconstructions are great (the palace might be a bit too grandiose for such a site though), but the preservation of the earthen bulwarks is also magnificent. I'll post a longer review later. Top site!)
10:35, 9 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Suikei Okayama Castle (It's good to know you did come by some ruins of this site after all. Thanks for highlighting this local site in Omi.)
09:20, 9 June 2023 186.80.52.188 talk posted a new comment on Chiba Castle (I was there too! raining a lot these days)
05:41, 9 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Minakuchi Okayama Castle (I'm happy you went here!)
05:39, 9 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (Glad you made it)
01:19, 9 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Yoshida Castle (On 20/05/2023, after Arai, I went back to my hotel, since I forgot my Next 100 meijô stamp book in my luggage. When I arrived at Yoshida castle, the tower was just closed. It closes at 15:00, and I arrived at 15:10. But a sign, in Japanese, says that there is a stamp on the 13th floor of the East building of the annex to the city hall. This is open until 22:00. I first went around the castle grounds and got my stamp afterwards.)
01:16, 9 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Takatori Castle (On 19/05/2023 it was raining and the weather forecast predicted rain for the day. I confirm it rained the whole day. Nevertheless I took a train from Kashiharajingūmae station to Tsubosakayama station. First I went to the Kitora kofun, which I was not able to do the day before. From there I went to the Musōkan. It's a shop and information centre for Takatori castle. I saw a video of the castle and received some nice maps. Sadly there wasn't the English version of the booklet I found at my hot...)
01:12, 9 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Zeze Castle (On 15/05/2023, I saw a gate of Zeze castle at Muchisaki shrine not far from my hotel in Minami-Kusatsu. On 16/05/2023, I wandered around Ōtsu to see several other gates of that castle at different shrines. I took a train on the Keihan line and got off at Kawaragahama station. There are about 1 train every 10 minutes. The first shrine was Wakamiya Hachimanjinja. From there I walked to Shinozujinja. I then visited the ruins of Zeze castle itself. There isn't much to see. Some ishigaki, and the...)
01:06, 9 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Minakuchi Okayama Castle (On 15/05/2023, after Minakuchi castle, I went to this one on foot. It's about 2 km. Okayama castle has a lot to offer. Baileys, earthen embankments, trenches, moats, even some parts of ishigaki(stone foundations).)
01:03, 9 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Minakuchi Castle (On 15/05/2023, from Hinō station I took a train back in the direction of Kibukawa, but I descended at Minakuchijōnan station. From there it's a very short walk to Minakuchi castle. I went all around the site. This was actually a fortified goten(palace). The honmaru(main bailey) is now the sports space for the schools next to it. You have to go on this terrain to get to the reconstructed tower. There wasn't such tower at this location during its heyday. It is based as one of the 4 corner tower...)
17:21, 8 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (On 14/05/2023, I visited Ōmi-Hachiman. It's known for its little streets with old buildings. Since the distance from the station to this neighbourhood and the castle is about 3km, I rented a bicycle. The rental service is next to the tourist office on the Western exit of the station. For one day you pay 800¥ for a bicycle with electric assistance. They have 3 models of these bikes, and you may choose which you want to use. So, before heading to the castle, I crisscrossed the streets. At the f...)
14:51, 8 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Mikawa Kou Jin'ya (Note: have prefixed this one as Mikawa because 'Kou', though an unusual reading, references the provincial capital, 国府, making it a very common name; for clarity, this is named for the Mikawa kokufu.)
06:20, 6 June 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #1573 on Gokan Castle
07:08, 5 June 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Taguchi Castle (I'm glad you were able to go here, Furinkazan! It's vindicating when another jcastle contributor visits one of my contributed sites, especially in Nagano, haha.)
00:57, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Kitanosho Castle (12/05/2023. I had still some time left before leaving Fukui, so I decided to go for the Kita no show, euh excuse me, the Kitanoshō castle ruins. Apart from the statues of Shibata Katsuie, his wife Oichi and her daughters, there isn't much to see of this once formidable castle. There is a shrine, dedicated to Shibata, and a small museum, where there is almost nothing to see. I found there an infomation page in English about Shibata and his castle.)
00:55, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukui Castle (Once again I was kicked off, this is my new comment on this castle site.)
00:54, 5 June 2023 195.16.0.80 talk posted a new comment on Fukui Castle (On 12/05/2023, I walked to the ruins of Fukui castle from the station, where now the prefectural offices are. In 2010, the covered bridge was restored, but not the yaguramon(gate tower) behind it. The central park has also some new additions since my last visit. Due to some excavations, parts of the second moat have been discovered. In the central park, grass patches indicate were the buildings of the ninomaru goten( second bailey's palace) stood. I collected my 'next' 100 meijō stamp in the...)
00:51, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Maruoka Castle (this is my new comment)
00:50, 5 June 2023 195.16.0.80 talk posted a new comment on Maruoka Castle (12/05/2023. Arriving from Fukui station at Maruoka station, I realised I had to wait 1 hour for a bus. It's about 4km to the castle, and in 2010, I walked to it. I was a little tired and was wondering if I was going to walk. A woman, next to the station, asked me if I was going to the castle. She proposed to drive me there in her car. She is a volunteer guide at the castle and spoke very well English. I could not refuse such an offer, which made me win some precious time. I wanted to offer so...)
00:46, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Ueda Castle (In 2009, I visited Ueda castle, but like Komoro castle, I didn't had a good camera, no stamp of the 100 meijō. I took then about 10 pictures. Today, 11/05/2023, I took 220 photos. In the museum you're allowed to take pictures of almost all armors.)
00:44, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Sanadahonjo Castle (11/05/2023. From Ueda station I took a bus from bus stop 3, bound for Sagudaira. I descended in front of the Yukimura yumekobo. The ride was 25min long for 300¥. The Yukimura yumekobo is an information centre and shop related to the Sanada family. You may rent a bicycle for free and they give you a map with the distances between each road or site. From there I went first to the history musem of the Sanada. There is a nice collection, but you're not allowed to take pictures. At the entrance, I...)
00:34, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Komoro Castle (10/05/2023. After Tatsuokajō, I went to Komoro. This is the last station on the Koumi line in the opposite direction. I visited Komoro castle back in 2009. My camera of that time wasn't great and I missed the Otemon(main gate), since it is on the other side of the train tracks than the rest of the castle. I didn't had the book for the 100 meijō stamp neither. So enough reasons to go back. This time I saw the Otemon gate, I collected the stamp inside the Chokokan museum. The museum has a nice...)
00:32, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Taguchi Castle (10/05/2023. I went to this castle ruin, to have a view of Tatsuokajô from above. The ruins of Taguchi castle aren't signposted. That's a pity, since I recognised some features, like earthen ramparts, dry moats and baileys. Since there aren't signs, I wasn't always sure if what I saw was indeed part of the castle. I didn't had time to explore more in detail, since there aren't a lot of trains stopping at Tatsuokajô station.)
00:27, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Tatsuoka Castle (On 10/05/2023, I took a Shinkansen from Ueda station to Sakudaira. There I changed for the Koumi line. This is a small line and not a lot trains deserve it. I took the train to Tatsuokajō station. Be careful if you want to go there, because even fewer trains stop at this station. Plan accordingly. On my way to the castle of Tatsuokajō, which is one of the 2 star-shaped fortifications in Japan, I first met a remnant gate, followed by Banshōin temple, which was the place of the manor of lord Yo...)
00:06, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Matsuida Castle (09/05/2023. When I finished my tour of Gokan castle, I called the taxi company and the dispatcher recognised me immediately. I went to Matsuida castle with this taxi. When I was preparing my journey, I thougt first to return to Isobe station and getting off at Nishimatsuida station. I realised that the distance is +/-1km more to Matsuida castle from Gokan castle. The ride costs 2580¥, and so I won precious time to visit this vast yamashiro. At arriving at the parking lot, there was a small sh...)
00:03, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Gokan Castle (09/05/2023. After the castle of Isobe, I returned to the station. In front of it is a taxi company. Since I wanted to win some time I asked for a taxi to Gokan castle. This site is about 5km from Isobe station. I payed 1770¥ for the ride and told the driver that I'll use another taxi to go to my next destination. He announced that at his dispatching. Gokan castle is a vast yamashiro(mountain castle, with lots of very clear features. I spent 1h30 on the site. There were signs all around the pl...)
00:00, 5 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Isobe Castle (09/05/2023. After visiting Annaka, I took the train to the next station on this line, Isobe. Exiting from the station, one has to turn immediately to the right and follow the path, which becomes a street, until getting at a T-crossroad. Then look to the right and you will see a forested hill. This is Isobe castle. To get to the castle follow the main road, until you see a sign of the entrance to the castle. The castle was somewhat overgrown, but you could still figure out some features, like...)
23:54, 4 June 2023 Furinkazan talk contribs posted a new comment on Annaka Castle (When I saw a journey described by Eric, here on Jcastle.info, I thought I could try to do this, since the sites are related to the history of Takeda Shingen, my favourite daimyô. I so began my journey at Annaka. I first walked from the station to the old Usui county hall. When I arrived there it was still closed, but the guide, who was inside, saw me and let me in. I had a nice chat with him, since he had a good level of English. In this building is a model of Annaka castle. Of the castle the...)