Hundred of burning torches moved as a river of flames advancing through the black near-moonless night. Under glowing torchlight a hundred samurai in full armor, sword at the hip, their faces and armor illuminated by only their burning fires proceeded…
It’s less a castle ruin and more the ghost of a castle ruin. On the Shimabara peninsula there is a series of rises by the sea. The land rises like green walls and forms terraces, layered as they gain height…
Japan is a country that loves its castles. Despite decommissioning and dismantling almost all of them in the late 19th century, they have been on the comeback as more than a hundred ‘rebuilt’ castles have joined the surviving dozen originals.…