Wednesday 11 May 2011

The road much less travelled - Hiyama Castle site


Himeji castle in Hyogo prefecture (near Osaka)
Castles like this, in Himeji, are products of the Tokugawa age - the shogun era that dated from 1603-1854.  Like in England, early castles were much more modest, often made of wood, and few if any remain today.  Often the old castles were strategically located on mountains. Hiyama Castle,  near modern day Noshiro, was no exception.  Built in 1456, just up the hill from Tahoin, it was destroyed in 1620 after the Tokugawas came to power.  The view across to the Japan sea coast is magnificent.


The view from Hiyama castle site - looking out to the
Japan sea side - the  smoke stacks of Noshiro, on the coast can
be seen about a third of the way along on the left.
The forest near by
Memorial stone




Where the castle was
An information sign board which I don't have sufficient patience or
skill to translate satisfactorily.

A bubbler / drinking fountain that
judging by the rust on it might have been a
contemporary of the castle...


2 comments:

tvrossel said...

Wow! It looks as though it should be built up in the clouds!

Cecilia said...

It's quite lovely, and if you do a google of it in English you'll get an idea of how off the beaten path it is...