Comments log

This is a log of comments.

17:21, 5 August 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Mochizuki Castle (Koka) (I also thought that was a little odd. Eric, shall I go through the bukeyashiki pics and 'hide=Yes' them? You're busy and I don't mind. Also, silly question maybe, but this site also has karabori, right? Neither of your descriptions mention them but with such meaty dorui we'd expect to see that i thought.)
17:18, 5 August 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Sumoto Castle (Eric, thanks for fixing this.)
17:16, 5 August 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Mochizukishi Castle (Koka) (Eric, Mochizukishi Castle is not a bad one for a milestone visit. This castle ruin has one big central bailey ringed by earthen ramparts. They are relatively clear of undergrowth, so a castle fan can walk along the top of them. The dorui here is not as high as its neighbour, Mochizuki Castle. Mochizukishi Castle’s earthen ramparts are only around 3.5 to 4m in height as opposed to 7 to 9m for its paired neighbour. There are two koguchi or gateways into the Mochizukishi’s main bailey, as shown...)
17:04, 5 August 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Mochizuki Castle (Koka) (This little-known castle ruin in Koga, Shiga has some high earthen ramparts surrounding it. Mochizuki Castle along with Shingushi Castle and Wada Castle, all castle ruins in Koga, have some high earthen ramparts in the 7 to 9 metres range. If you walk along the top of the dorui at Mochizuki and look down the sides, particularly the southern side, it is quite steep, so you know that you are on top of some seriously high dorui. At Mochizuki Castle, there is one section of dorui ending at the...)
17:34, 31 July 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Sumoto Castle (The infamous Frank T. I stand corrected! Thanks.)
16:38, 31 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Ojima Jin'ya (Apparently this site has an original structure, a shoin, which has just been relocated back.)
18:45, 30 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Sumoto Castle (Eric, you have incorrectly attributed this castle profile to me. I did visit this castle in 2014, but I haven’t taken photos with a date stamp on them for yonks, not since I made the switch from film to digital photography at the start of this millennium. The photos on this castle profile are not mine. They look like photos by another castle photo / profile contributor, possibly Frank T’s efforts.)
11:57, 30 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Nouken Castle (Thanks! Yeah, this is definitely one more for the locals. Hakusan and Shinpu are much better to visit when coming a long way. The toride sites make the Nouken complex a nice circuit to walk from the station.)
10:38, 30 July 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Nouken Castle (Nicely done! This is one I looked into a couple times but, but eventually took a pass on in favor other sites. Nice to see it well covered here including the toride's.)
10:38, 30 July 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2583 on Nouken Castle
10:38, 30 July 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2584 on Nouken Castle
10:38, 30 July 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Nouken Castle (well covered - including toride's)
10:37, 30 July 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Nouken Castle (Nicely done! This is one I looked into a couple times but, but eventually took a pass on in favor other sites. Nice to see it well covered here.)
21:41, 28 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Unuma Castle (Unlike a certain Nagoya-based radio host and author we all know and love, I couldn't visit this site by helicopter, so, instead, since I was visiting Inuyamajō, I got off at Inuyama-Yūenchi Station which is just one station along after Inuyama Station (I was even able to do that taking a Meitetsu train all the way from Higashi-Okazaki Station without any changes), and simply walked to the Kiso River where I took some nice photos of the castle mount from the Owari / Aichi side. Since this site...)
09:29, 26 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Inuyama Castle (Whoops, that should be KANEYAMA Castle.)
09:27, 26 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Inuyama Castle (I'll visit today. It seems that the shifting timeline for the tenshu at this castle has settled on the 1580s. The old theory about the keep being from Kanayama Castle in Mino has been long debunked, except maybe in Kanayama where the tradition is kept alive inspire of the latest research. Maybe i mentioned about it in my profile for Mino Kanayama Castle.)
17:06, 24 July 2023 豪谷 talk contribs posted a new comment on Kojima Castle (Hida) (Nothing worse than sulking skulking bears!)
21:00, 23 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Wakayama Castle (Apparently there has been some recent (late July 2023) chatter about kokuins (stonemason’s seals) at Wakayama Castle on another website. One experienced castle fan initially wasn’t even sure if there were kokuins at Wakayama Castle. If he had just read my comment posted months ago below, he would have noticed that I mentioned there are lots of kokuins at this castle. It is after all a Shinpan Daimyo’s castle with a Tokugawa as the castle lord from 1619 until the Meiji Restoration. There are l...)
13:15, 18 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogyu Castle (Ogyū Castle is a magical place. Which is to say, this is a unique and impressive castle site. I was charmed, enchanted and only a bit endangered exploring this beautiful mountaintop castle ruin. The castle features impressive karabori (dry moats), dorui (earthen ramparts), ishigaki (stone-piled walls), baileys and other interesting features. I was particularly impressed with a system of medieval damns which were once used at the castle to store water. With so much water available, it would...)
13:12, 18 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Matsudaira Castle (Matsudairajō, located in Matsudaira Township of Toyota Municipality, chiefly features bailey spaces, earthworks created by levelling ridge lines and mountaintops. There is a yaguradai (platform for a keep) at the end of the fourth bailey wherein there is also a small shrine building. There is a marker and explanation board for the castle in the main bailey which is at the top of the hill. The most impressive feature of this site is a yokobori (lateral) moat complex which goes around much of t...)
13:11, 18 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Matsudaira Yakata (Matsudaira-yakata was the manor hall at the heart of the ancestral homeland – it is traditionally held – of the Matsudaira Clan. The clan gave rise to Matsudaira Motoyasu, better known as Tokugawa Ieyasu. The ruins, located in the expansive and rural township of Matsudaira in Toyota Municipality, date to 1613 when Matsudaira Naoyoshi took over Matsudaira Manor; after the death of Tokugawa Ieyasu the yakata was converted into a temple (a gongen), the Matsudaira-Toushouguu. What makes this site...)
07:23, 17 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Furumiya Castle (by all means use a grass covering. any reasonable castle enthusiast or casual visitor would pay to see this site.)
21:52, 16 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Furumiya Castle (ART, I agree with you that the castle ruin would be more visible and easier to appreciate for castle fans if the cedar trees were chopped down and removed. However, I still think completely stripping a yamajiro ruin of all of its green cover will lead to faster erosion of the earthwork remnants. Think about it, why do (mostly) earthwork castle ruins like Hachigata Castle and Yamanaka Castle have a layer of grass growing on its earthen ramparts? One reason is likely for improved aesthetic appe...)
21:33, 16 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Matsuyama Castle (Saitama) (Eric, it’s good to hear that it’s been cleaned up, perhaps more than I went to this castle ruin in spring 2017. When I visited, the Main Bailey(本曲輪), Second Bailey, Third Bailey, and Fourth Bailey all have signposts on site, so castle fans visiting can know which bailey they are actually at. The interiors of these baileys were reasonably well kept with the grass cut low, so it almost resembled a lawn, something that can’t be said about many parks in Japan with nothing but just dirt. This cas...)
08:44, 16 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Hiroshima Castle (It appears that the ishigaki was largely unaffected, in fact. Pictures of the tenshudai after the blast do not appear to show anything other than superficial damage.)
16:50, 15 July 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Hiroshima Castle (I find it impressive that apparently a fair bit of the ishigaki survived the atomic bombing. I visited Hiroshima Castle about 20 years ago, and found the main keep quite disappointing, though it does look nice from outside, especially from a distance. Reading about it now, the other buildings that have been reconstructed in wood sound much more interesting--don't know why I didn't pay much attention to them back then. My ability to appreciate castles has really increased since then. It...)
17:04, 12 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Ueda Castle (I believe it's original and located at its original site.)
11:30, 12 July 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Ueda Castle (This castle looks like a very worthy visit. As for the gate to the lord's palace pictured above (3rd picture to last) an original structure? And is it located on the castle grounds, or elsewhere?)
06:52, 10 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Furumiya Castle (Okay, changed to 1571. Most blogs say 1571 so i don't know where 1572 came from, actually. The construction date is apparently known via the 『三河国二葉松』. Thanks for the comment. Having gone through my pictures of the site, i strongly feel that the sheer amount of trees is hugely detrimental to appreciating the site without physically being there. The land is supposedly owned by a party of individuals, and the cedar plantation will remain for the forseeable future it seems. Maybe they're hoping t...)
21:37, 9 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Furumiya Castle (It’s good to see that another castle fan has visited this highly enjoyable castle ruin in the back waters of Shinshiro City, Aichi. I visited this castle ruin along with five others in area in early 2017 during prime yamajiro season. This almost semi-circular castle ruin is the most interesting of the six castle ruins in the area. Near 白鳥神社(White Bird Shrine’s) stone gate, one of the ways to get into the castle ruin, is a sign about the history of the castle erected by the Shinshiro Board of...)
15:41, 9 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Silver Linings Castlebook (3 new castles in Saitama) (Great discovery of several yakata ruins in Saitama, Eric. Thanks for sharing them with other castle fans on Jcastle. I guess that unintentional weekend stay in Tokyo did have a silver lining for you. The jin’yas and the single yakata look a bit off the regular trail for visiting castle ruins in Saitama if one is using public transport to get around. I remember using mostly the Tobu Tojo Line to get round to some of the castle ruins in Saitama.)
15:34, 9 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Nakanojo Castle (Koka) (You’re right about those possible baileys having a “?” over them on the map produced by the Koga BoE. Since I didn’t get into those baileys, I can’t tell if they look more like farm terraces or medieval baileys. From the trailhead, I took the path up into the bailey below the main bailey and then followed it into a fairly bushy part of this castle ruin. At that point, I decided it wasn’t worth going any further and decided to try to find a way up to the Main Bailey. That is always the case wi...)
15:24, 9 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Nishinojo Castle (Koka) (Eric, my wife and I gave up in going into the bushier baileys of this castle ruin after finding ticks there in the relatively clearer baileys of this yamajiro ruin. You’re hardcore to be waddling through head-high bamboo and weeds to get to those baileys further at the back end of this castle. That’s why you’re the JCastle Shogun. There are a few fallen trees on site, so I assume they are probably the result of the direct typhoon strike on Kansai back in the autumn of 2018. Yeah, I have whack...)
20:53, 6 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukazawa Castle (Fukazawajō is a medieval earthworks fortification site with substantial ruins. Most of the baileys, which are now farmland, are divided by deep karabori (dry moats). The site is farmed and many of the karabori are too overgrown to properly explore. I did have a little peak in one which was a little more clear. It's always fun to wander around a karabori! The site is quite extensive and has many baileys; it starts at the road where there is a monument to the historic site and an information bo...)
07:21, 5 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukuoka Castle (Added Najimamon)
13:40, 3 July 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Nishinojo Castle (Koka) (haha, also very true. For the sake of transparency, in one place along the far ridge I was wading through weeds as tall as I am and once I was seeing stars after banging my head on a partially fallen tree while trying to keep my eyes on where I was walking with my feet rather than what was in front of me! I was perhaps lucky not to end up with any ticks or other critters on me but my rain jacket and wide brim hiking hat probably helped.)
13:40, 3 July 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2559 on Ogawa Nishinojo Castle (Koka)
13:40, 3 July 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Nishinojo Castle (Koka) (haha, also very true. For the sake of transparency, in one place along the far ridge I was wading through weeds as tall as I am and one I was seeing stars after banging my head on a partially fallen tree while trying to keep my eyes on where I was walking with my feet rather than what was in front of me! I was perhaps lucky not to end up with any ticks or other critters on me but my rain jacket and wide brim hiking hat probably helped.)
13:33, 3 July 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Nakanojo Castle (Koka) (Ray, good point. I actually started down into those "baileys" but turned back after crawling over 2 fallen trees on the hillside and not seeing any good footing down into them from the main part of the castle. Even the map in the Koka City book gives "?" marks on them! It is possible/likely that this set of three terraced baileys in between this ridge and the next ridge were more like residential or farming areas. They're fairly big, wide and I don't see any recognizable defensive type struc...)
23:44, 2 July 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Gifu Castle (復興 is mogi adjacent haha. Sometimes it can mean 'speculative reconstruction', i'd say, but generally they're just mogies, yeah. There was some sort of tower up on the mount so it's a reconstruction, after a fashion, and not wholly a folly.)
22:06, 2 July 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2361 on Gifu Castle
22:06, 2 July 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2362 on Gifu Castle
21:46, 2 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Kashiwabara Castle (Omi) (@Eric, there are lots of Kyōgoku kamons the roof tiles there. They are very similar to the Sasaki kamons, except that they have been rotated 45 degrees. I'm guessing such a design is to show that they have their roots in the Sasaki Clan and are their descendants. @ART. No worries, mate. Feel free to add a single combined profile for Takekurabe Castle and Takekurabe Toride to Jcastle after you have visited them. They were built at the same time and were part of the same defence for the Mt Nos...)
21:35, 2 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Nakanojo Castle (Koka) (This is the smallest of the three castle ruins in the Ogawa set. It’s more akin to a toride (fort), providing a link between the Ogawa Castle up on top of the mountain with Ogawa Nishino Castle, possibly the main castle in the area. Unlike Eric, I did not take the trail down from Ogawa Castle. Instead, Ogawa Nakano was the last castle I visited in the set of three Ogawa castles after sussing out Ogawa Nishino Castle. I walked up to the castle ruin instead down to it from Ogawa Castle. The f...)
21:22, 2 July 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogawa Nishinojo Castle (Koka) (This castle ruin is certainly bigger than Ogawa Castle up on the mountain. However, Ogawa Nishino Castle is also much more overgrown that Ogawa Castle, but there are some nice earthwork remnants that can be made out including ditches, earthen ramparts, and sites of gateways. Unlike like Eric, my wife and I did not fully explore Ogawa Nishino Castle as we were running short of time, and after flicking ticks off our legs, we thought it was best to hit the third castle in the area, Ogawa Nakano...)
18:00, 2 July 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Nakijin Castle (I went to Nakijin Castle about 10 years ago. Although I slightly prefer Nakagusuku, Nakijin is a fabulous ruin. The highlight is the walls--they remind me of a gigantic ancient ship or something. As you can see in the pictures above, there are also some neat stone gates, which is something you don't see at mainland Japanese castles (at least, not gates with tops that you can walk under). And it has a very big scale. Another 5-star ruin that is deserving of its World Heritage status.)
17:35, 2 July 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Nakagusuku Castle (Fantastic, evocative ruin. I also visited Nakajin Castle and loved that one too, but I'd rate this one even higher, for the variety of stone structures. As the pictures above show, there are some arched gates, and a lot of those wonderful curved walls you see at gusukus. When I finally make it back to mainland Okinawa, I'd like to see Katsuren Castle too, as that one looks like the 3rd fantastic ruin. Anyway, this one gets 5 stars from me.)
17:29, 2 July 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Gifu Castle (Fantastic location, important castle, but curiously uninspired and inauthentic reconstructions. The Japanese Wiki page lists it as 復興, but isn't it more of a mogi? Anyway, given the importance of the castle, I kind of wonder whether the city might take another shot at doing a better job of reconstructing it someday. I'll give it a 3 for the location alone (really one of the more dramatic locations of any Japanese castle), but hope they can do something better with it in the future. The...)
17:23, 2 July 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Ogaki Castle (This is a really nice little castle. The interior of concrete main keeps often leave me cold, but this one didn't. The reconstructed buildings are quite elegant, and there is some nice stonework. I also went to the nearby city museum, and they had a really good model of how the castle used to look... it helped me appreciate the castle, but also made me a bit sad. It would have been a great castle if it had survived WWII. But I still think it's worth 4 stars for the general attractivenes...)
17:17, 2 July 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Iga Ueno Castle (I went to this castle several years ago, because my kids wanted to go to the ninja attractions. I didn't know about the castle before going, but enjoyed visiting it. I was actually pretty confused by the wooden exterior, because it doesn't look new like more recent wooden reconstructions do. Anyway, nice castle with some cool ishigaki, though I seem to have missed the really tall sections over the moat pictured above. I'll give it a 3 for the general attractiveness and authentic feel to t...)