17 October 2011
Osaka Castle was built beginning in 1583 as the headquarters of Hideyori Toyotomi, one of the leading figures of the Warring States Period. It has been carefully maintained by the people of Osaka who remember how Hideyori briefly made their city the effective capital of Japan.
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17 October 2011
The Shitennouji (Temple of the Four Heavenly Kings) is Japan’s oldest surviving Buddhist temple. It was built by Prince Shoutoku (574-622), one of the country’s earliest and most important converts to Buddhism. As with most such ancient structures it has been burned down and rebuilt several times.
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17 October 2011
The Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine in Osaka is one of Japan’s oldest Shinto shrines. Exactly how old is uncertain. Its origins are lost in the mists of prehistory, before the introduction of writing
It enshrines three sea gods called the Sumiyoshi sanjin, plus the legendary Empress Jingu who supposedly led a successful invasion of Korea which established a long-lived Japanese colony. (There is no support for this in Korean or Chinese records. The reality might have been something more like a pirate raid.)
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17 October 2011
The city of Takamatsu on the island of Shikoku is the location of Ritsurin Koen, one of Japan’s largest and most impressive formal gardens. It was begun in 1625 by the feudal lord Takatoshi Ikoma and his successors continued to refine over the subsequent centuries. After the Meiji restoration it was made into a public park.
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19 October 2011
Not far from Takamatsu, also on the island of Shikoku, is the town of Kotohira which is best known as the location of the huge Konpira Shrine (officially called Kotohira-guu). This is another shrine whose origins are lost in the mists of antiquity. It is dedicated to the welfare of seafarers. It is also built up the side of a mountain, which makes visiting it rather strenuous.
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Okayama, located near the southwestern tip of Honshu, is home to the famous Korakuen Garden, which is apparently included in some classic list of the “The Three Most Beautiful Gardens in Japan.”
Tsunamasa Ikeda, the local feudal lord, ordered its construction beginning in 1687. With one exception described below its appearance is much the same as it was during the Edo Period.
The name “Korakuen” comes from the 4-kanji aphorism “sen yuu kou raku” (“suffer now, pleasure later), implying that the garden was a well-earned reward for the samurai nobility who relaxed there.
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October 21, 2011
Beppu, located on the northern coast of Kyushu, claims to be Japan’s largest hot spring resort area.
Most Japanese towns like to put something distinctive right outside of the main entrance to the train station, something to characterize the town. It might be a large building with an unusual design, or an impressive sculpture, or maybe just a big ornamental tree.
Visitors arriving in Beppu are greeted by the statue of a jolly man who appears to be wearing a cape with a naked baby oni clinging to it.
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October 22, 2011
Kumamoto Castle, in the city of Kumamoto in central Kyushu, is one of Japan’s largest medieval castles. The first fortifications at the site were built in 1457, but the castle as it exists today was built from 1601-1607. At its height it included 49 turrets, 18 turret gates, 29 small gates and about 120 wells.
Many of the buildings including the main tower were burned during the Seinan Rebellion of 1877. Reconstruction began in 1960 and continues to this day.
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October 23, 2011
Nagasaki is located on the southwestern tip of Kyushu which stretches relatively close to the mainland. Beginning in the 16th century the port developed rapidly as the center of trade with Portugal and China.
In 1634 the Tokugawa Shogunate, suspicious of foreigners, ordered the construction of an artificial island in Nagasaki harbor where European traders would be confined. A consortium of Nagasaki merchants paid the cost of constructing Dejima (“Exit Island”). Chinese traders were confined to a compound in the south of the city.
After a 1637 rebellion led by Nagasaki Christians the Shogunate decided to expel all Europeans. Since Dutch traders had assisted the government during the rebellion an exception was made for them. The Dutch would be allowed to send a limited number of ships every year to Dejima. The island remained an exclusively Dutch trading post until the late 1850s when the opening of Japan made it superfluous.
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October 23, 2011
I don’t have a coherent narrative for this post. Just some photographs of Nagasaki landmarks.
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