historical park – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

88.Yoshinogari Ruins Part2

The ruins look like a theme park.

Features

Ruins becomes Historical Park

Today, Yoshinogari Ruins have been well developed as the Yoshinogari Historical Park. The ruins are also one of the largest ones of the Yayoi Period in Japan, with over 100 hectares. The park has four entrances for visitors in all the directions. If you stand in front of the largest gate, the East Gate, it looks like a theme park. Many events are actually held in the park to attract visitors, including families and groups. Many buildings and structures of the Yoshinogari settlement were also restored after being excavated. The original excavated relics and items were buried again or taken to preserve them.

The East Gate of the Yoshinogari Historical Park.

The aerial photo around the castle

Moat-Enclose Entrance Grounds

If you enter the park through the East Gate and walk into the center, you will first be at the Moat-Enclose Entrance Grounds. There are restored circular moats around the wooden gate which looks like a shrine gateway. The moats are dug like a U letter (originally V letter), with fences on the earthen walls in front of them and abatises behind. This is where the real entrance of the settlement was in the past.

The restored circular moats with the earthen walls, fences and abatises around

The original cutout model of the circular moats like a V letter, shown in the Exhibition Room

South Inner Enclosure with people living

You will next find the South Inner Enclosure where people lived. There are also a turret gate, watch towers, a cooking house, a meeting room, and residences, surrounded by fences and moats. You can climb up to the platforms of these gate and towers to enjoy a view and understand how to protect the enclosure. They were also all restored based on the findings of the excavation.

The turret gate of the South Inner Enclosure

Beside the South Inner Enclosure, you can visit the Exhibition Room which shows the unearthed items and the history of the settlement. You should check out a lot of burial jars used as for tombs. A set of two jars were usually used in the tomb, with both rims put together to seal the body in. About 3,000 tombs were discovered at the site, and the total number is estimated to be about 15,000. This burial system is one of the features of the settlements in the Yayoi Period.

A lot of burial jars exhibited in the room

North Inner Enclosure, Center of Settlement

The highlight of the ruins should be the North Inner Enclosure, the center of the administration. The enclosure, which looks like a primitive castle, is surrounded by the doubled moats and dense wooden fences with an alternate gate. Of course, they were all restored as to what they had been. There are restored shrines, high-floored storehouses and houses, and watchtowers inside. You can see this is the special spot for the settlement at first sight.

A moat and fences surrounding the North Inner Enclosure

In particular, the Main Shrine is a building composed of two floors standing above high pillars. The first floor was supposed to be used as the meeting room for the leaders. The top floor was likely used to pray an oracle. Some figures are set in both floors to make visitors understand what the rooms were used for. The figure praying was probably made based on the impression of Himiko.

To be continued in “Yoshinogari Ruins Part3”
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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”
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103.Namioka Castle Part3

The ruins were featured as those for the Southern Court.

Features

House in Aomori-shi Middle Ages

On the way of the ruins from Namioka Station, you can also visit the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages to learn more about the castle. It is a historical museum which exhibits the findings about the castle from the excavation and the study. For example, you can see the restored high-class reception hall called Kokonoma in the Main Hall for the lord, the miniature model of the North Enclosure, and the unearthed traded items such as
Luzon Pots.

The restored interior of the high-class reception hall, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

An unearthed Luzon Pot, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

Later History

After Namioka Castle was abandoned, the ruins were used as farms in the Edo Period. In the Meiji Period, the Kitabatake Clan was featured because the clan devotedly served the Southern Court which the government decided as orthodox. The study for the castle was accordingly started. The monument to honor the Kitabatake Clan was built and cherry trees were also planted since then . The castle ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 1940, which was the first case for Aomori Pref. The excavation of the castle was launched in 1977. Finally, the ruins were open to the public as a historical park in 1998.

The monument to honor the Kitabatake Clan, which was built in the Meiji Era at the Inner Enclosure

The ruins of Namioka Castle covered with cherry blossoms, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

My Impression

Visiting the ruins of Namioka Castle, I have learned that the castle was rather a symbol of peace than the fortress for battle even when many battles happened in the 15th and 16th Centuries called the Sengoku Period. I think that the ruins of this castle are very important site which shows that fact. In addition, the best season for visiting there is definitely in the spring, as the cherry blossoms around the ruins bloom. On the other hand, you should probably try to avoid visiting there in the winter, as the park is basically closed and you sometimes have to walk in the snow to see the ruins, like what happened to me when I visited the castle in winter.

The Information Center is also closed in the winter

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 10 minutes away from Namioka IC on the Tohoku Expressway.
There is a parking lot beside the Information Center in the eastern part of the ruins.
By train, it is over 30 minutes away from Namioka Station on foot.
I recommend using a taxi from the station to avoid getting lost. You can go directly to the Inner Enclosure though the western entrance of the ruins by the taxi.
To get to Namioka Station from Tokyo: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen super express and transfer at Shin-Aomori Station to the Ohu Line.

That’s all. Thank you.
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