Difference between revisions of "Aizu Wakamatsu Castle"

From Jcastle.info
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|Main Keep Structure=5 levels, 7 stories
 
|Main Keep Structure=5 levels, 7 stories
 
|Year Reconstructed=1965 (concrete)
 
|Year Reconstructed=1965 (concrete)
|Features=main keep, gates, turrets, bridges, water moats, stone walls, walls
+
|Features=main keep, gates, turrets, bridges, samurai homes, water moats, stone walls, walls
 
|Access=Wakamatsu Station (Ban'etsu Saisen), 30 minute walk or 10 minutes by bus
 
|Access=Wakamatsu Station (Ban'etsu Saisen), 30 minute walk or 10 minutes by bus
 
|Time Required=120 mins
 
|Time Required=120 mins

Revision as of 15:51, 31 August 2022

Wakamatsu16.jpg

History

Tsuruga-jo is the strongest and oldest fortress in all of Tohoku. It was originally built in 1384 as Kurokawa-jo by Ashina Naomori. In 1589 Date Masamune defeated Ashina Yoshihiro and moved into Kurokawa-jo. A year later it was absorbed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and governed by Gamo Ujisato. Gamo renovated the castle and renamed it Tsuruga-jo. The reconstructed main keep you see today was built by Gamo.

After the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate the castle was governed by the Matsudaira clan. The Matsudaira were a branch of the Tokugawa family and thus in the category of "inner lords." The "inner lords" were branches of the Tokugawa family who kept watch over the daimyo who were not originally Tokugawa allies and provided a buffer between allied and non-allied daimyo.

The Matsudaira ruled from Tsuruga-jo until the Meiji Restoration when it fell in the Boshin War . The most famous episode from the downfall of Tsuruga-jo is that of the Byakkotai.

The layout, nawabari, of this castle was patterened after that of Osaka Castle during Hideyoshi's time.


Visit Notes

The gray roofing tiles were all replaced in 2010-2011 with reddish tiles to match the original construction. The castle has many great moats and stone walls so I recommend taking the time to walk the grounds.
元の天守の瓦は赤瓦だったので2010-2011に灰色の瓦を赤瓦に張り替えました。このお城は堀や石垣が多いので地図を見ながらゆっくり回ってください。


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Gallery
  • main keep
  • Gosangai Yagura
  • main keep
  • main keep
  • main keep
  • stone stairs
  • West bailey
  • moat near the North Bailey
  • moat around the Honmaru Obi Kuruwa bailey
  • Bell tower
  • Nishi Naka Gate
  • Nishi Naka Gate ruins
  • Tsukimi Yagura Foundation
  • Hoshii Yagura and South Hashirinagaya Tamon Yagura
  • Hashirinagaya, Kurogane Gate and Hoshii Yagura
  • interior of the Hashirinagaya Yagura
  • Hoshii Yagura Interior
  • Kurogane Gate
  • Mushahashiri stone stairs
  • Stone walls of the Rokabashi Gate
  • Rokabashi Bridge
  • view from the Rokabashi Bridge
  • NInomaru East Gate
  • View from the main kep
  • map
  • Aizu Karou Yashiki Genkan


Castle Profile
English Name Aizu Wakamatsu Castle
Japanese Name 会津若松城
Alternate Names Tsuruga-jo, Kurokawa-jo
Founder Ashina Naomori
Year Founded 1384
Castle Type Hilltop
Castle Condition Reconstructed main keep
Designations Top 100 Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period Edo Period
Main Keep Structure 5 levels, 7 stories
Year Reconstructed 1965 (concrete)
Features main keep, gates, turrets, bridges, samurai homes, water moats, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access Wakamatsu Station (Ban'etsu Saisen), 30 minute walk or 10 minutes by bus
Visitor Information
Time Required 120 mins
Website http://www.tsurugajo.com/~wakamatsujo/
Location Aizu Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture
Coordinates 37° 29' 15.97" N, 139° 55' 47.64" E
Loading map...
Admin
Added to Jcastle 1999
Admin Year Visited 1997, 1998, 2003, 2011
Admin Visits October 1997; January 1998; Sept. 14, 2003; July 17, 2011
3.86
(21 votes)
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avatar

ARTShogun

38 months ago
Score 1++
Added picture and profile for "Aizu Karou Yashiki (Saigou Residence)".
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Nsvi77Peasant

46 months ago
Score 0++

訪問する素晴らしい場所。私は去年訪れたので覚えているので覚えています。

このウェブサイトをご覧ください<a href="https://tirenavi.jp/"> tirenavi.jp </a>
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ARTShogun

84 months ago
Score 0++

『明日のよるは、何国の誰か、ながむらんなれし御城に、残す月影』 “Come tomorrow night, who from what country will gaze upon the moonlit castle which was our home?”

- Yamamoto Yaeko, at the surrender of Aizu Castle to Imperial forces in 1868. 23 years old and a skilled marksman, Yae participated in the defence of the castle using a Spencer repeating rifle. Sixty years later, by then an old woman, Yae told of how she had drew her arms around herself and ground her teeth together as the Imperial Army marched into the castle. She recalled, “that night the moon shone with a melancholy brilliance” 「月が物凄いように輝いていた」.
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RebolforcesAshigaru

84 months ago
Score 0++
Good multilingual museum display inside.
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FurinkazanDaimyo

108 months ago
Score 0++
This is a nice site to visit. The tenshukaku being a concrete one isn't a big problem. It houses a nice museum with a lot of information about the history of the place and more in particular about the Boshin-war. The view from the top is outstanding. The 2 reconstructions in wood are a great addition to the castle. The Rinkaku teahouse is worth to visit. After that i went to the Prefectural museum, just next to the castle-site. Then i took a bus to the Aizu bukeyashiki, which is truly informative.
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Kiddus i2003Gunshi

121 months ago
Score 0++
Saw this early in my castle trips loved it, will be back in 2014.
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Anonymous user #1

149 months ago
Score 0++
We visited this castle as part of two day trip to Fukushima and saw it in combination with the Abukuma-do caves and the old post town Ouichijuku. The castle and grounds were covered in snow, which set the scene for some great photos. The castle itself is a basic concrete reconstruction, but the area is well worth the visit. The drive though the mountains to the old postal town of Ouichijuku is magnificent.
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Frank T.Gunshi

151 months ago
Score 0++
This castle is very much in the mold of Osaka and Nagoya Castles. If you don't mind a large concrete reconstruction for the keep, there are plenty of other things to see.
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Anonymous user #1

160 months ago
Score 0++
I believe so. When young, Gamo Ujisato was originally given to the Oda as a hostage when his father pledged allegiance. He grew up at Gifu. He then served Hashiba Hideyoshi and received Matsusaka and later Aizu-Wakamatsu. Anyway, I was sorting through Aizu omiyage to start handing out and I realised the new mascot character for Tsuruga-jo, Oshirobo-kun, has a red roof. I thought that was neat. Also, Eric, your story is sweet and romantic. Castles are a great place to take your partner.
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Anonymous user #1

160 months ago
Score 0++
was'nt the gamo clan serving the oda clan
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Jcastle.oldHatamoto

161 months ago
Score 0++
Definitely worth a trip, even in winter. When I lived in Fukushima, this was the first place I took my girlfriend when she came up to visit from Kyoto during New Year's break for her first (and last) trip to Fukushima. It was cold and snowing so hard we could barely see the tenshu. It didn't make a very good impression, but she still married me.
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Anonymous user #1

161 months ago
Score 0++

I agree completely. Beautiful place. Aizu in the evening, entrenched in snow. In the morning there is a million dollar view of the mountains. I walked to Tsuruga-jo and enroute discovered Noguchi Street – filled with caricatures of the scientist better known as the man on the 1000 yen note. There were reportedly some ishigaki of Aizu-han naka yashiki at Noguchi Hiroba but I couldn't tell because they were smothered with a drift of snow up to my thighs. Tsuruga-jo was superb. Only the bottom level had scaffolding and if you crouched down and positioned the snow and trees just right you could still get a spectacular photo. The collection inside was standard; my favourite was the sign of a person the average height in the Edo Era, sort of 'you must be this short to enter the yagura' but better, because I was exactly the same height. The place also had a Tenchijin exihibit (Tenchijin lives!) and life-sized models of a teppo ashigaru and an ishi-otoshi ashigaru. Some thoughtful sculptor had made a snow yumi ashigaru in the castle grounds, complete with eyes, bow, quiver of arrows and even stripes on his coat. The moat was frozen. This amazed me. It had never occurred to me that a moat could freeze. It was breathtaking to see those massive stone edifices glittering with white crystals and guarding a motionless moat.

I also went to the nearby Bukeyashiki, which was great for photos and very informative. Nearby is one of Kondo Isami's graves, touchingly not far from the Matsudaira mausoleum. It was snowed under so I only made it as far as the main temple, (reason to come back!) Likewise with the Byakkotai graves.

The only thing I found annoying in Aizu was I wanted to get a post-card of Matsudaira Katamori for a friend of mine but couldn't find anything amidst the maze of White Tiger mementos; I secretly took a photo of the Matsudaira picture in the castle museum instead. (Criminal).