As noted a few posts ago I went to Nagoya to see some old friends, most especially Johanna, who was having a farewell party. Between Kanazawa and Nagoya is Hikone, a pleasant town that happens to host one of the few remaining 'real' castles in Japan. There are only 12 of these left, and I've made it my goal to see as many as possible. Or at least more than Zach.
Hikone castle is not one of the largest, grandest, or most interesting Japanese castles. This is not to disparage this plucky little fortress, constructed in the early 1600's, but I have come to realize that there is not much to distinguish these castles.
Each burg has its own fascinating, or not so fascinating, local history, but I'll readily admit that after a year and a half the anecdotes and suits of armor are starting to run together!
Luckily for me it was a gorgeous day, cold and windy, being so close to the massive Lake Biwa, but clear and sunny. A perfect late February morning really. The winter has been quite mild, well it was mild until this week, so down in Shiga Prefecture the Ume (plum blossoms) were out in full force.
So after a quick tour of the keep and the adjacent museum, I was ready to finish the trip to Nagoya, meet up with Couchsurfer Liz, and grab some lunch!
2 comments:
"more than Zach" ha ha! What's your castle count these days?
Himeji, Inuyama, Nijo, Matsumoto, Hikone for the originals and Nagoya, Osaka, Edo (sorta), Kumamoto, and Kanazawa. So we have 10!
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