The principle tourist attraction of Hirosaki is Hirosaki castle, which was built at the beginning of the Edo era by a loyal retainer from the Osaka area who was allocated land by the shogun after the the Battle of Sekigahara. (he was fortunate to have been allied with the winning side...)  |
| When Hiro's niece saw the bridge, her reaction was red bridges are so Edo era... It's not something I'd thought about before. |
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| By national standards it's a very modest castle. Compare with Himeji http://ponkanchan.blogspot.jp/2010/02/himeji-castle-town.html But it is an original castle - one of 12 in Japan. (I had thought it was 8 but googling says 12) |
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| Hirosaki's mascot |
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| THe interior of castles seems to always be samurai armour, and fighting implements - swords, guns, bullets. Hirosaki is no exception. |
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| A quick glimpse in the mirror |
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| Hiro's nieces were quite surprised when I told them the reverse manji often had a strong negative image for western people. I guess with Finance Minister Aso saying Japan should learn from the way that the Nazis introduced changes to the constitution with minimal complaint suggests it's not very high up in the history syllabus.., |
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| Great attention to detail in the surrounds |
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| Manji manholes |
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| Wide moats |
4 comments:
Manji manhole? That's a new one. :)
PS: The comments that are sometimes left on sites like YouTube about the manji is ... oh dear.
I can't sympathize... anyone who reads youtube comments...
It's a beautiful castle and stunning in winter when all covered in snow :)
It's lovely. I've been there at cherry blossom time but not in the snow. Last year I was actually in Hirosaki during the snow.... but alas the destination was the AEON mall... sigh...
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