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14 posts tagged Nagano
Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto, Nagano prefecture.
A bookshop in Matsumoto, Nagano prefecture which is a mini replica of Matsumoto Castle.
Matsumoto Castle, Nagano prefecture.
Matsumoto Castle, Nagano prefecture.
Takashima castle, Suwa, Nagano prefecture.
Ueda castle, Ueda, Nagano prefecture.
Water spills off into the moat of Matsumoto castle, Matsumoto Nagano prefecture.
Clouds over the mountains in Matsushiro, Nagano prefecture. Picturesque today, but underneath lies a secret many do not know, and many would rather hide.
Underneath these very mountains lies the Matsushiro Underground Imperial Headquarters, a series of tunnels and an underground “palace” that was intended to be used during W.W.II to conceal and protect the Emperor. It was constructed by about 10,000 Korean slave labourers, about 2,000 of whom died during the construction.
Some more photos of Tatsuoka castle.
Tatsuoka castle. Not actually a castle but rather a trace italienne (star fort) or in Japanese a goryokaku (five angle fortification), Tatsuoka castle was built by Matsudaira Norikata (December 18, 1839 – January 26, 1910). His desire was to construct a castle that could withstand cannon bombardment from afar.
Norikata advocated a western-style modernisation of the governments military, and had his castle built according to the layout of Europe’s famous five-pointed star forts or trace italienne, which was based on Dutch books on fortification technology. In particular he had his castle engineers study “Chikujo tenkei” a book translated from the Dutch “Handleiding tot de kennis der versterkings-kunst” by Otori Keisuke in 1860.
He realised early on the crushing power of Europe’s large bore cannons and was determined to ensure that his castle at least would be able to withstand a siege with modern cannon. Norikata sought out specialist knowledge from the Dutch on gunnery and fortifications whom he believed had far greater military knowledge than the Japanese with their outdated castles and firearms.
His castle was named “Tatsuoka castle,” after the location. There are only two star forts in Japan - Goryokaku in Hakodate, Hokkaido is the other.
Little remains today of Tatsuoka castle and the entire interior today houses a public school, a Shinto shrine and several farmers guild buildings. Some of the original kitchen building is still standing. Most of the moat has been filled in to make way for roads.
An old traditional shop in Nagano prefecture.
I spent the last two days driving around Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures with the creator of Japanese Castle Explorer (@jcexplorer follow him on Twitter) shooting castles and exploring. So I will be posting a few photos from that trip over the next few days. I’ll try to intersperse them with other everyday sights too to mix it up a bit.
This photo is of course Matsumoto castle, Matsumoto Nagano prefecture.
Castle bar! I came across this bar in Chikuma, Nagano prefecture and couldn’t resist taking some shots.
DRAINSPOTTING: Komoro, Nagano prefecture.
