Today, the ruins of Karasawayama Castle have been well developed as Karasawayama Shrine. Many people visit the shrine to pray for something, hike the mountain, see a great view, and recently see lots of friendly cats living in the shrine. Of course, some of the visitors enjoy historical items at the site as well.
現在、唐沢山城跡は唐沢山神社としてよく整備されています。多くの人たちが神社を訪れ、何かをお祈りしたり、ハイキングをしたり、素晴らしい景色を楽しんでいます。最近では、神社に住み着いた人懐こい猫たちを見に来る人も多いです。もちろん、ここにある史跡を見に来る人もいます。
The last lord of the castle, Nobuyoshi Sano built high stone walls on the main portion of the castle, which was a rare case in the region. It must have been done with help from Hideyoshi Toyotomi because he and his retainers had built many similar stone walls in western Japan.
最後の城主となった佐野信吉は、関東地方では稀な高石垣を城の主要部に築き上げました。これには豊臣秀吉による援助があったと考えられます。秀吉やその部下たちは、西日本で多くの似たような石垣を築いていたからです。
You should also check out the partially remaining Chidokan domain school buildings in the third enclosure. They are the only remaining domain school buildings in the Tohoku Region, including two gates, the Confucian temple, a lecture hall and Oiri-no-ma Rooms which were used as the waiting rooms for the lord.
一部残っている藩校致道館の建物にも行ってみて下さい。東北地方では唯一現存している藩校の建物です。二つの門、聖廟、講堂、そして藩主の訪問時に使われた「御入りの間」が残っています。
Today, the ruins of Tsurugaoka Castle have been developed as Tsuruoka Park. The site seems to have a different atmosphere from other castles or castle ruins. One of the reasons may be that the castle originally had water moats and earthen walls but few stone walls, giving the park a more scenic look for the visitors.
現在、鶴ヶ岡城跡は鶴岡公園として整備されています。現地に行ってみると、他の城や城跡とは違う雰囲気を感じます。その理由の一つは、この城には元から水堀や土塁はありましたが、石垣はほとんどなく、訪れる人にのどかな印象を与えているからでしょう。
Tadakatsu Sakai, the founder of the Shonai Domain, was wondering which castle would be better for his home base, Tsurugaoka or Kamegaoka. His decision was to take Tsurugaoka because he thought Tsurugaoka would be the political center while Kamegaoka would be commercial with Sakata port and town.
庄内藩藩祖の酒井忠勝は、鶴ヶ岡城と亀ヶ岡城のどちらが本拠地として相応しいか思案しました。彼の決断は鶴ヶ岡城でした。鶴ヶ岡は政治の中心地であり、亀ヶ岡は酒田港と町を擁する商業地であると考えたのです。
The ruins of Shinagawa Batteries are very useful for telling people about what happened in the past. Visual historical items are significantly better than only records or explanation boards.
品川台場跡は、人々に過去にどんなことが起こったのかを知らしめるとても有機義な史跡だと思います。目に見える史跡というのは、ただ記録が残っているとか説明板があるだけよりも、明らかに優れています。
The battery is basically a flat structure to avoid being targeted from enemies’ guns and cannons, so visitors can not easily recognize its whole view. That’s why I recommend seeing the bird’s eye view before or after your visitation.