特徴～Features – ページ 117 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

91.Shimabara Castle Part2

The castle looks like a battleship.

Features

You can feel power of nature

Shimabara City, which owns Shimabara Castle, is located on the skirts of Mt. Unzen. If you walk around the city area, you will notice the particular geography. The hill called Moritake, where Shimabara Castle was built, was created by the explosion of Mt. Mayuyama about 4,000 years ago. You can feel the power of nature there. If you also walk around the castle, it conserved its appearance with the great stone walls surrounded by the Inner Moat and some restored castle buildings. In particular, the high stone walls remain in good condition, so you can see the line of the walls is folded like a folding screen. The castle may be compact, but strongly built, looking like a battleship.

walking on the slope of the skirt from the city area to the castle

Shimabara Castle looks like a battleship

Collaboration of remaining Stone Walls and rebuilt Buildings

The area inside the original Inner Moat, including the Main and Second Enclosures, is designated as a historic site by Nagasaki Prefecture and is developed as a historical park. If you drive to the castle site, you can easily enter the Main Enclosure by crossing the earthen bridge, built in the present time, and park inside it.

The aerial photo around the castle

Great View from rebuilt high Main Tower

The rebuilt five-level Main Tower stands out with its 33-meter height, the third tallest existing Main Tower in Japan. It is actually a modern building used as a museum and observation platform. Inside the tower, you can learn more about the history of the castle and the Shimabara Rebellion. On the top floor, you can enjoy see a great 360-degree view of the city. For example, Mt. Aso on Kyushu Island over Ariake Sea in the east. The Main, Second and Third Enclosures form in a line in the north. You can also see Mt. Mayuyama with Mt. Unzen behind it in the west.

A view of the eastern side from the tower

A view of the northern side from the tower

A view of the western side from the tower

Exhibition of rebuilt Turret

The Main Enclosure has more attractions. The three rebuilt turrets also have distinct exhibitions. For example, one of the turrets, called Tatsumi Turret, is used as an art gallery dedicated to a local famous sculptor, Seibo Kitamura. You can see his representative statue works such as the Peace Statue (the reduced version of that in Nagasaki Peace Park) inside. You can even see his other works outside such as the statues of Shiro Amakusa, who led the Shimabara Rebellion, and a young Nobunaga Oda, who was a great warlord in central Japan.

To be continued in “Shimabara Castle Part3”
Back to “Shimabara Castle Part1”

91.島原城　その２

戦艦のように見える城

特徴、見どころ

自然の力を感じる町と城

島原城がある島原市は、雲仙岳の裾野に位置しています。市街地周辺を歩いてみると、その地理的な特徴がよくわかると思います。島原城が築かれた森岳と呼ばれる丘陵も、約４千年前の眉山の崩壊により形作られたのです。そこでは、自然の力を身をもって感じることができます。また、城の周りを歩いてみると、内堀に囲まれた素晴らしい石垣と、復元された城の建物により、その外観がよく保たれています。特にこの高石垣は、よい状態で残っていて、石垣のラインは屏風のように折れ曲がっています。この城の大きさはコンパクトかもしれませんが、強力に作られていて、まるで戦艦のように見えます。

現存石垣と再建建物とのコラボ

本丸と二の丸を含む、現存している内堀の中の範囲は、長崎県の史跡に指定され、歴史公園として整備されています。車で城に行く場合には、現代になって作られた土橋を渡って、簡単に本丸の中に入っていき、その中にある駐車場に停めることができます。

城周辺の航空写真

再建高層天守からの素晴らしい眺め

再建された５層の天守は高さが３３ｍあり、とても目立っています。日本で存在している天守の中では３番目の高さです。この天守は実際には近代的ビルであり、博物館と展望台として使われています。天守の中では、城の歴史や島原の乱のことを学ぶことができます。最上階では、島原市の全方位の素晴らしい景色を楽しむことができます。例えば、東の方には有明海の向こうに阿蘇山が望めます。北側には本丸と二の丸が一直線に並んでいるのが見えます。また、西側には眉山とその背後の雲仙岳が見えます。

再建された櫓での展示

本丸には他にも見どころがあります。３基の再建された櫓はそれぞれ特徴ある展示を行っています。例えばその内の一つ、巽（たつみ）櫓は、地元の有名な彫刻家である北村西望（せいぼう）の作品を集めたギャラリーになっています。その中では、彼の代表的作品である平和祈念像（長崎平和公園にあるものの縮小版）などがあります。櫓の外でも彼の他の作品、島原の乱を率いた天草四郎や、日本の中心部で有力な戦国大名となった若き日の織田信長の銅像を見学できます。

「島原城その３」に続きます。
「島原城その１」に戻ります。

188.Hara Castle Part3

The ruins became a world heritage.

Features

Natural Terrain supporting Castle

You can also walk on the promenade along the seaside from the parking lot and look up at the steep natural cliff under the Second Enclosure. Surprisingly, this cliff was created by the great pyroclastic flow from Mt. Aso over Ariake Sea about 90,000 years ago.

The steep cliff under the Second Enclosure

Later History

After the Shimabara Rebellion, the shogunate settled Buddhist farmers in the Shimabara Peninsula. That’s why there have been very few Christians in the area until now. The ruins of Hara Castle were designated as a National Historic Site in 1938. However, the details of the castle have recently been revealed since the excavation started in 1990. As a result, they have been on the World Heritage List as Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region since 2018.

My Impression

After the Shimabara Rebellion, it is said that the governance of the lords under the shogunate became relatively gentle and they sometimes overlook underground Christians who were harmless. I think the precious sacrifice of the uprising people in the Shimabara Rebellion was not for nothing. Many details about the rebellion and Hara Castle are still unknown, so I hope that the facts of them will become clearer little by little in the future.

The ruins of the Turret base at the Main Enclosure

The cross-shaped monument at the Main Enclosure

How to get There

If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is about 75 minutes away from Nagasaki IC on the Nagasaki Expressway.
You can park in the parking lots for visitors beside a spa facility called Harajo Onsen Masago.
If you want to use public transportation, you can take the Shimatetsu Bus from Shimabara Station on the Shimabara Railway and get off at the Harajo-mae bus stop.
If you go there from Tokyo or Osaka, I recommend going to Nagasaki Airport by plane. After that, you can take the shuttle bus to Isahaya Station and transfer to the Shimabara Railway at the station.

The spa facility called Harajo Onsen Masago

A view of Mt. Unzen from around the parking lot

Links and References

・A World Heritage City Minamishimabara

That’s all. Thank you.
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