1564. Satomi Yoshihiro looked out across the Edo River at the Hojo forces arraying against him, just as his father had 26 years prior. The elder Satomi, Yoshitaka, was defeated by Hojo Ujitsuna in the first battle of Konodai and…
Kanazawa – An Ever-Changing Castle
Kanazawa Castle. These shots have been sitting in the archives since early last year, waiting for me to get around to writing it up here at Wayfarer Daves. Finally, it’s time to revisit the New Years 2017 grand adventure…
Osaka Castle: Home of Toyotomi
It is 1583. Oda Nobunaga has been assassinated, and Nobunga’s right hand man, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, has avenged his death and is in the process of consolidating his own power. Of course, the aspiring ruler needed a palace worthy of…
Nagoya Castle: History Lost and Regained
This week, in between Mr. Krigbaum’s articles on WWII in The Philippines, I will go back to talking about castles here in Japan. Nagoya Castle is a grand reconstructed castle a couple of hours south of Tokyo by shinkansen with…
Odawara Castle: The Rise and Fall of the Hojo
By: Dave Hansche I’ve written about several castles on this blog thus far, but it has occurred to me that I have overlooked a large rebuilt castle in a pleasant city about an hour away. I’ve visited Odawara…
Matsumoto Castle: The Pride of a Castle Town
Japan loves its castles. We’ve written about Japanese castles several times on this site, and it is unlikely that we will run out anytime soon. Every old feudal domain (called Han in old Japanese) capital city seems to have…
Hamamatsu Castle: A Missed Opportunity
In my last post, I wrote about the charming castle they rebuilt in Kakegawa. As it turns out, the next city down the line towards Nagoya, Hamamatsu, also has a rebuilt castle. Hamamatsu castle, however, is on the opposite…
Kakegawa – A Charming Castle Town
If you take the Shinkansen toward Nagoya, somewhere in Shizuoka you will pass through a small city called Kakegawa. For most people, the Japanese included, it is just a minor stop on the way to bigger and better things.…