Research Trip looking for restaurants serving Japanese Sake

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The last article was about Ichinomiya of Iwashiro no Kuni, Isasumi Shrine.

This time is about “Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle”, which many people would think of when they hear the name of “Aizu”.

The next destination for me who just finished Isasumi Shrine was Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle.

The castle is in the middle part of Aizu-Wakamatsu City which is 6 – 7 kilometers east northeast from Isasumi Shrine.

I left the shrine at a little before 13:30.

The road was crowded because it was holiday, so the time I parked my car in the parking area in “Nishi-Demaru” of the castle entering from the other gate “Kita-Demaru” was already a little passed 14:00 in spite of such short distance.

This “Nishi-Demaru” is the west entrance to go to Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle’s center building, as well as for the defense of the west side.

The center building of Aizu-Wakamatsu castle is surrounded by a moat.

The south side is just water, and the east side has a bridge.

There are special districts surrounded by stonewalls called “Demaru” at the north and west, and the people go through the east bridge or these 2 Demaru to reach “Honmaru” the main area of the castle.

The Nishi-Demaru which I went through to park my car had a street with width of one car and a pedestrian at left and right. The stonewall was piled up to 5 meters by my eye-estimation, so this narrow road gave me an oppressive feeling.

Now, I walked on an earthen bridge – too wide to call “a bridge” – to the main building of the castle.

On the way, there was a bell tower which is like the one at Ueda Castle.

The board says that this bell tower caught heavy fire from the Meiji Government’s side, and many time keepers who rang the bell to announce the time died in the fire at Boshin War in the end of the Edo era. However, it is said that someone kept the time and rang the bell accurately until the castle was fallen down.

After going further, the main tower of the castle appears.

The photo above is a bit too dark, but it’s showing the stonewalls beneath the castle spreading to south and east.

If you go to the south, you see the famous terrace house “Hashiri Nagaya” which is the typical view of Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle. The next is the photo from the south side.

The most famous view should be the sight from the north as below.

The right side of the above photos is a lawn area now, but there was a palace there where the lord of the castle spent the daily life in the Edo era.

The left side is the front gate “Kurogane Mon” as you see in the next photo. (It’s taken from the center of the castle.)

And this is from the out of the area.

Ummmm…… too dark……poor ^^;

I heard that we could enter the castle from this gate before, but now the visitors are guided to enter from the east.

After walking for a while, the stonewall ends and there is an opened area in the right.

If you still go along the wall, a big lawn area appears in the front, and the right side is;

The main tower and its entrance.

You can buy entrance tickets at the house of the red roof in the right in the photo, and there is an entrance in the back of pine trees in the middle.

Unfortunately, photography was prohibited except for the top floor, so I don’t have photos of the inside.

There was a permanent exhibition to show various historical materials of the Edo era to the first Meiji period inside of the building.

By the way, the view from the top floor is like the next photo (probably the northeast direction).

The next one is the square where the main palace was used to be.

The next is Kurogane-Mon.

I looked around the main castle tower, and went out through the Hashiri-Nagaya.

In the Hashiri-Nagaya, there were shops that sell the local products and sweets which attract tourists.

This historical building is now a fantastic modern castle facility!

Of course, I bought some souvenirs there ^^;

Now, after the Hashiri-Nagaya, I went to the east part.

In the east part, there is a tea house …… I missed to take photos of full view, though ….

The next photo is a part of it.

Also there is a monument of “Kojo no Tsuki” which is a famous Japanese song made in early 1900s.

The music was made by Rentaro Taki expressing “Oka Castle” in his hometown, Takeda City, Oita Pref. The lyrics, on the other hand, were written by Bansui Inoue expressing his hometown Sendai City’s Aoba Castle, and desolate Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle.

I walked to the north part of the square to browse a free market, and went out of the castle from the east gate. You can see the gate in the next photo.

The stonewalls at the right and left are 20 meters height which are the highest of the whole castle area.

The reason is that this east gate is similar altitude to that of the main building, not like the west and north, so they had to make high walls to raise the defense.

There is Ni no Maru (the second-main area for defense) over this bridge, and there used to be San no Maru (the third-main area) at the east side of Ni no Maru on the opposite side of the moat which runs around Ni no Maru.

As I didn’t have much time left, I just visited Ni no Maru and then headed back for the south to Nishi-Demaru where I parked my car after walking around the outer-most moat.

Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle doesn’t have a full enclosure.

It wasn’t a big castle as the edges of its area were only Kita-Demaru at the north, San no Maru at the east, Yukawa River or the moat around the main building at the south, and Nishide Maru at the west.

In spite of it, they didn’t allow the government forces to break in at all in Boshin War, and the castle was opened after the war ended.

This castle doesn’t look like the one which has such a heroic episode, but if you look around carefully, you can find many tips and devices such as stonewalls of De Maru or 20-meter high walls.

Such efforts were made by supreme knowledge and techniques of the original builders, such feelings hit upon me in my watching this beautiful view of the castle without shadow of wars.

It also made me think that I am so lucky to be born in a peace time.

I left Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle thinking of such feelings.

I can finally report “restaurants serving Japanese sake” in the next blog! It will be about a restaurant in Aizu-Wakamatsu City which I visited after.