Comments log

This is a log of comments.

12:23, 27 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Omi Hachiman Castle (I will definitely revisit Omi-Hachiman, just because I love the town. And I'll be sure to check out the kyokan.)
21:32, 26 October 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2101 on Sonobe Castle
08:16, 26 October 2023 170.173.0.16 talk posted a new comment on Sumoto Castle (im not sure who you are, but my Aunt is Tokushima Inada and still alive)
13:37, 25 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Takayama Jin'ya (Checking out the article about Takayama Castle on this site made me wonder if we had seen Takayama-jin'ya as well when we visited 22 years ago. The weird thing is, I had no memory of it, but last night I found an old letter which describes the visit, and then it all came rushing back. Quite a thrill to have a memory suddenly restored, in fairly vivid detail. And it was a place I had loved: the letter spends more time on describing it than anything else in the town. I think that it ma...)
13:29, 25 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Takayama Castle (Hida) (I went to Takayama 22 years ago with my wife. I had originally forgotten most of what we saw there, but this site has helped me remember. We did go see the castle ruins, but as stated elsewhere here, there isn't a lot to see: just the ishigaki you see in the picture above. Safe to say that the castle ruins are not what one comes to Takayama to see, but rather all of the other historical buildings, including Takayama Jin'ya. But castle fans will want to check out these ruins, unless they...)
17:34, 23 October 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #1215 on Chihaya Castle
17:43, 22 October 2023 122.211.145.154 talk posted a new comment on Chihaya Castle (A bit off-topic, but I just noticed 'the Castle Stamp' is located inside the Matsumasa Restaurant. Matsumasa is my wife (and kid's) surname . Very rare (I didn't let her change it when we got married). It's hard to find anything or anyone who isn't related to her named Matsumasa. I'll have to try to check the restaurant out!)
18:11, 20 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukuyama Castle (I finally visited Fukuyama Castle yesterday, and it mostly exceeded my expectations, which major castles often do. Obviously, the cluster of extant historical buildings in the southeast corner of the Honmaru is the star of the show, especially the Fushimi Yagura. I just wish they would open the interior to visitors. And the Sujigane Gate and bell tower are quite nice too. Obviously, the castle (at least, the Honmaru has some excellent ishigaki as well. As for the reconstructions, the t...)
22:52, 18 October 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Hikone Castle (Hikone Castle is my most-visited castle as I have been dozens of times, but I never get tired of enjoying this magnificent castle. I went to Hikone Castle during the hot summer. It was a day when the mercury topped 36C in the afternoon. Naturally, I went in the morning, but unlike my previous visit in March, I decided to spend less time walking around the castle and cooled off in the reconstructed part of the Sawaguchitamonyagura before walking back to the train station. While cooling off in...)
09:36, 16 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Nijo Castle (Oddly, I can't remember no photography rules inside most castle buildings that I have entered. Maybe it's just the castles I have gone to. I haven't been to Fukuyama yet, though I hope to go soon. Too bad that they don't allow people to enter the Fushimi Turret most of the time, as it presumably has a lot of historical atmosphere. I don't really mind not being able to photograph inside concrete keep reconstructions, but wooden buildings are another story. Anyway, getting back to Nijo Cas...)
12:53, 11 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Innoshima Suigun Castle (This is a cute little mogi, but doesn't feel like a real castle to me. The best point was the museum.)
12:50, 11 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Gifu Castle (I think I need to spent some time getting more familiar with the nuance of the various Japanese words that can be translated as 'reconstructed.')
22:27, 9 October 2023 126.166.164.96 talk posted a new comment on Motosu Castle (I recently hiked aokigahara, east of the .outline ruins, across route 139, and throughout the forest, I noticed several stone circles, about 5 feet in diameter, sunk in the ground, with a small opening, im guessing as an entrance. The walls are maybe a foot tall. The furthest circle was about 1.5 miles east of the post office.. Could these possibly be used as foundations for structures associated with the castle? They seemed to be alone - no other formations or ruins near them. Very interesting!)
22:07, 9 October 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (There were naturally some Himeji Castle information panel displays at the Himeji Castle Expo 2023 a few weeks ago. The area where the information panels were located is near the entrance into the main hall of the expo. The panels were quite informative, particularly the period drawings showing some of the outer fortified gates at Himeji. I have been to most of these gate ruins on some of my visits to Himeji over the years. It was nice to see the gates in those stylised drawings showing them a...)
11:13, 8 October 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Akashi Castle (Trying to plan for some Autumn castle trips it seems that the 2 yagura are open at different times of the year. the Hitsujisaru in the fall (Sept-Nov) and Tatsumi in the Spring (March-May). I have been to the Hitsujisaru Yagura so I guess I'll wait until March to revisit this one. Details below: https://www....acility/2684)
11:12, 8 October 2023 Eric talk contribs deleted comment #2674 on Akashi Castle
11:12, 8 October 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Akashi Castle (Trying to plan. for some Autumn castle trips it seems that the 2 yagura are open at different times of the year. the Hitsujisaru in the fall (Sept-Nov) and Tatsumi in the Spring (March-May). I have been to the Hitsujisaru Yagura so I guess I'll wait until March to revisit this one. Details below: https://www.yokoso-akashi.jp/facility/2684)
14:03, 4 October 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukui Castle (It may also be that school buildings are easier to relocate than government administrative buildings, I suppose.)
18:38, 30 September 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Ichijodani Castle (Yes, Chris shared the pics of their expedition with us. Seems like there was a bear encounter. People going alone should take precautions.)
17:55, 30 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Ichijodani Castle (It looks like Eric is a trendsetter when it comes to Ichijodani. He added this detailed article about Ichijodani to JCastle a few weeks ago. It seems like others are already following in his footsteps. Just this week, a group from the Gifu Castle Research Society visited the Ichijodani Mountaintop Castle. Also, Nakai Hitoshi is going to give a talk about Ichijodani next Wednesday (4th October) at the Ichijodani Asakura Family Museum.)
17:48, 30 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Yodo Castle (I first visited this castle ruin in 2010. I revisited this castle ruin in February this year to mainly photograph some of the kokuins there. There are numerous kokuins at this castle, but some of them have become somewhat weathered and hard to spot while others are covered by weeds and not clearly visible. On the castle keep’s ishigaki, someone has used white chalk to make some of the kokuins more visible. As Suupaahiroo has commented below, there is a shachihoko from Yodo Castle on display...)
17:04, 29 September 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Takeda Yakata (Ibaraki) (Font? or all the 旧 ?)
08:49, 25 September 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Takeda Yakata (Ibaraki) (Image 18 with the kanji: can't decide if i love it or hate it)
21:53, 24 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Kanazawa Castle (I revisited Kanazawa Castle earlier this year with my wife. It was my fifth time to check out this splendid castle with a mixture of rebuilt and extant structures. Between 2008 and 2011, I visited Kanazawa Castle annually. This time round, I spent two whole days exploring Kanazawa Castle including some of its outer moats. It’s worth doing some “slow castling” as there is so much ishigaki (stone walls) to behold and photograph. In some ways, Kanazawa Castle’s stone walls can be quite impressi...)
09:06, 23 September 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Ichijodani Castle Town (will share this in the group!)
08:26, 22 September 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (I'm aiming to go this Sunday. You guys gave me major FOMO.)
20:45, 19 September 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (Great! I'm glad you made it there. Those "little areas" would be the highlight at most castles. That whole karamete from behind the Oremawari down through the To-no-yon Gate is simply amazing. Not to mention the Harakirimaru and that area back around the tenshu that you can't get into anymore either. These are places most people don't even take notice of. I certainly hope they are made available more regularly. I don't know why these areas that used to be open are no longer. I've heard compe...)
12:53, 19 September 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (Well, I made it to Himeji yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it, as usual. Going into the small keeps and attached buildings was a lot of fun: I love keep complexes with many passageways and stairs, and visiting the small keeps in addition to the main keep really gives you that kind of experience. It's the aspect of Matsuyama Castle that I love most, so it's nice to be able to get it at Himeji as well. And it also gives you a lot of great views of the Honmaru that you can't get from the mai...)
11:48, 19 September 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Okazaki Castle (nice change. I wonder why they did that.)
18:02, 18 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Kanazawa Castle (There are two sets of explanations at Kanazawa Castle about the relative size of the Tsurumaru Storehouse, which was built in 1848, when compared to others castle storehouses around Japan. The much shorter explanation in English is vaguer about comparative size of the storehouse merely stating that it is one of the largest storehouses in Japan, while the more detailed Japanese one states that it is the largest storehouse found on any castle grounds.)
17:51, 18 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Okazaki Castle (Eric is in his visit notes is absolutely right about how much ishigaki is at this castle. I went to Okazaki Castle twice, in 2008 and 2011. In the past, I have always visited Okazaki Castle in conjunction with at least one other castle on a trip to Aichi, so I hadn’t checked out this castle’s grounds comprehensively. However, for my recent visit, I decided to focus only on Okazaki Castle, spending over 4 hours walking around the whole castle site. In my past visits, I had completely underapp...)
07:15, 18 September 2023 ART talk contribs posted a new comment on Kaminogou Castle (Mikawa) (There's a fantastic model of this castle held at the local public meeting hall. I'll share some pictures to the gallery at some point.)
12:27, 17 September 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it!)
22:03, 15 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Ichijodani Castle Town (It's thanks to your deep delving into Ichijodani that all of us expat castle fans have such a detailed article all in just one place and without the need to plough through some Japanese castle books.)
22:00, 15 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (You’ll have to go through the Main Keep before you get to the part of the castle where you pay in cash for the 500yen ticket to get into the special opening section starting near the East Small Keep. You might be able to get into the Main Keep and then find a section where the in-going route and out-going route nearly cross each other and take a short cut, but there is no way to just visit the two small keeps and Ro no Watari Yagura without going through the Main Keep. The Bizen Gate and Orem...)
21:54, 15 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (Thanks for the info about the boat ride. It sounds like the boat ride takes people around most of the inner moat. I’ve only ever taken photos of the ishigaki of the bailey which is now a zoo from a distance near the Sakuramonbashi. I guess one of these days, I should pay to get into the zoo, so I can take those ishigaki photos close up or take that boat ride as an alternative.)
15:15, 15 September 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (I'm hoping to go there on Monday to see these buildings. I won't even try to go to the main keep (which I've been inside of 7-8 times anyway), but seems that I've never been in the other buildings besides the long Nishinomaru Yagura, which I think is always open.)
15:12, 15 September 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (I can't remember exactly, but seemed like it took maybe 40 minutes? It went all around the moats, and they even took us to the old zoo/amusement park complex and explained that as well.)
23:41, 14 September 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Ichijodani Castle Town (Thanks! I really appreciate it and glad you got something out of it. It did get a little long. I keep asking myself how I fall down these rabbit holes but then I can't stop until I'm satisfied and that turns into a longish article like this (or the whole website for that matter). A book someday would be awesome.)
23:04, 14 September 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (BTW - the same could be said for the boat tour at Osaka Castle which is exactly why I wanted to do it at Himeji too.)
23:03, 14 September 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (Nice! I've wanted to do this for a long time, but they only do it for limited times each year and never when I'm there!)
22:56, 14 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (I went back to Himeji Castle for a third time this year in August to visit the parts of castles which have specially been opened to visitors to commemorate the 30th anniversary since Himeji Castle was added to the World Heritage List. Unlike my previous two previous visits in February this year, the place is now chock full of both international and local tourists again after Japan reopened its borders after the Covid-19 pandemic. The special opening of the East Small Keep and the Northwest (I...)
22:47, 14 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (How long did the boat tour take? I saw that boat in the moat when I visited Himeji Castle last month, but I opted not to do the boat ride as it was a blazing hot day when I visited.)
22:43, 14 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Amagasaki Castle (Matthew, thanks for sharing your impression of the rebuilt Amagasaki Castle based on your recent visit. From your comment, it looks like it has decent museum. I visited a decade ago when there was no rebuilt castle keep and very little to see at this castle site. Amagasaki Castle is low on my list of castles to revisit, but I should go and check out the reconstructed castle keep / museum.)
22:39, 14 September 2023 RaymondW talk contribs posted a new comment on Ichijodani Castle Town (Eric, this is a superb and certainly the most informative article in English about Ichijodani castle town’s ruins and its surrounding fortifications. It’s obvious the result of a labour of love based on having read a number of books and printed materials in Japanese combined with visiting this expansive site over two days. I have two of the books you have listed, including one that is by Saeki Tetsuya. It certainly takes time to read through them, particularly for foreigners like us with Japa...)
13:00, 14 September 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Himeji Castle (I've been to Himeji Castle a number of times--maybe 8? Probably more than any castle except for Osaka. Anyway, it's always a great visit, and is almost certainly the best castle in Japan, but I wanted to mention something different: the last time I went there, they had boat tours around the moats, and there was a lot of explanation about the ishigaki--different styles, different periods, and how you can tell when and how they were made. It's all in Japanese of course, and gave my Japanese...)
07:50, 14 September 2023 Eric talk contribs posted a new comment on Edo Castle Stone Quarries (Great! I'm glad it was useful. There is not much info out there on this topic.)
23:37, 11 September 2023 RohanInTokyo talk contribs posted a new comment on Edo Castle Stone Quarries (An amazing. It's good to read this type of material to round out my knowledge of Japanese. There is so much here I didn't know. Actually ... most of it I didn't know!)
15:32, 11 September 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Fukuoka Castle (I did some reading about the Kinen Turret and its whereabouts. Looks like it was dismantled in 2019 for ishigaki repairs and its parts were put in storage. It was supposed to have been restored in 2022, but there has been no recent news that I can find about it being restored, so presumably it's still in storage. I suppose it has been delayed for some reason. Hopefully they will get around to putting it back together soon.)
11:32, 11 September 2023 Matthew Ward talk contribs posted a new comment on Kanazawa Castle (By the way, according to the Japanese-language Wiki page for this castle, the Tsurumaru Storehouse is the largest surviving Edo-period castle storehouse in Japan.)