Kanazawa Castle Komatsu Castle and Ritsuunkyo (Takeda Castle)
Kanazawa Castle, Komatsu Castle, and Ritsuunkyo (Takeda Castle)
2021/01/17
I finally updated Kanazawa Castle from my recent visit and added/replaced many of the Komatsu Castle, Terashima Residence, and Nomura Residence photos. As much as I like to visit great castles like Kanazawa Castle and take hundreds of photos, it is very time consuming to sort and select the photos to post ! This time I put all the photos into sub-albums so you can select what you'd like to see and explore by area and subject. All the photos appear on the map too so you may also explore from there.
While reviewing some other castle profiles, I also realized that my album of photos from the the Ritsuunkyo Park at Takeda Castle was missing, so I've uploaded those again. It may have been misplaced when I migrated from the old site, since this sub-album was done in a different way at the time. While I was at it, I uploaded higher resolution versions of all the photos and updated the Visit Notes section for this great castle.
Kanazawa Castle / 金沢城
Komatsu Castle / 小松城
Takeda Castle / 竹田城
Takeda Castle has suffered from over tourism and becoming too popular over the last 10 years. Too many visitors compacted the ground, wore away the topsoil and made it prone to erosion and weakening the stone walls. The site has been closed completely or in part at different times for repairs. It all started from a book of photographs and then an early Google maps TV commercial and a JR campaign that featured fantastic views of the castle "in the clouds". The first time I visited there were multiple hiking trails to the top and no one around. In fact, I was told by another veteran castle fan and longtime friend (Shirofan) to only visit in the late autumn and winter or it would be too weedy to see the stonework well! The second time, popularity had increased dramatically and they had closed all the trails but one and were limiting the number of people on the site at one time. In recent years, two of the original trails have been reopened but there are designated walking paths around the site. You are no longer free to roam the site as you please and the Hanayashiki Bailey is also now closed.
Takeda Castle also has the distinction of being the only castle where the town has asked me to remove some information (from my original first visit). They did not want people hunting down the now closed off trails to climb the mountain or to see the off limits areas with stonework!Recent News
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