Matsue Castle

 

Matsue Castle is considered to be one of the 12 original castles remaining in Japan.

There are many more castles throughout Japan, but what distinguishes the 12 is that their central tower, tenshu in Japanese, commonly called keep in English, is not a modern reconstruction. The keep at Matsue was registered as a National Treasure in 2015.

Matsue castle was built in just 5 years by Horio Yoshiharu and completed in 1611.

He was given control of the domain following the Battle of Sekigahara and at that time the domain castle was Gassan Toda, located south of what is now Yasugi.

Though Gassan Toda was a great castle, he decided that the area around it was not suitable for the building of a castle town and so selected the area that became Matsue.

The castle and domain passed to the Matsudaira clan, and Matsudaira Fumio (1751-1818) a renowned tea master was responsible for making Matsue a centre of the Tea Ceremony.

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The castle has a large and extensive moat system that connects to several waterways and boat trips around the castle are a popular activity.

The inside of the keep is explored using steep stairways and there are many exhibits of samurai armor and castle-related displays. From the top, there are great views over Matsue and Lake Shinji.

In 1873 the Japanese government began dismantling the vast majority of the castles in the country, and in Matsue all the former buildings were removed but the keep was spared due to local pressure. The keep has six floors, though appears from the outside to have five. Its black walls led to it being given the nickname Chidori, "plover" Castle.

The extensive castle grounds are now a park known for cherry blossom viewing. There are also several shrines and other buildings within the grounds that I will cover in later posts.

The samurai district on the north side of the moat has some of Matsue's top attractions, including Lafcadio Hearns former home, a restored samurai residence, and the Meimei-an Teahouse and garden.

The previous post in this series on Matsue was on the weeping cherry tree of nearby Senjuin Temple.

Sumiyoshi Shrine Hakata

Sumiyoshi Shrine Hakata

Sumiyoshi Shrine in Hakata is a large, historic shrine near the river that in ancient times was much closer to the mouth of the river and the sea.

It enshrines three kami that were associated with safety for sea journeys. The head shrine is Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka, but it is believed that this one in Hakata is the original.

The current main hall was built in 1673 and is a National Treasure. The Sumiyoshi kami are associated with the mythical Empress Jingu, and she is also now enshrined here.

Within the extensive, wooded grounds of the shrine is also an Ebisu Shrine, and several Inari Shrines. Next door is the Rakusuien Garden.

Ema Votive Plaques

Fuki-ji Temple the Oldest Wooden Building in Kyushu

 

Fukiji Temple on the Kunisaki Peninsula is certainly an elegant structure and is the oldest wooden building still standing in all of Kyushu, and is therefore registered as a National Treasure.

It is believed to have been built in the early 12th Century, part of the huge Tendai-Hachiman-Shugendo pilgrimage area that extends over the whole peninsula. It is believed the temple was built for the priests of Usa Hachiman. Like almost  all the shrines and temples in the region there are a fine pair of stone Nio.

The main hall houses a statue of Amida Nyorai, and is classed as one of the top 3 Amida Halls in Japan. The interior walls of the hall have remnants of colorful murals depicting the Western paradise of Amida.

I was here on the first day of my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myo Pilgrimage, and while Fukiji is not one of the pilgrimage temples it did have a Fudo statue.

Aoi Aso Shrine

 

Unfortunately, the bridge you see here was severely damaged in the devastating floods that hit this area of Kumamoto earlier in 2020. It leads to Aoi Aso Shrine in Hitoyoshi, but fortunately, the buildings of the shrine were not badly damaged.

As I mentioned in my last post on the Okyu Shrine, there seems to be a lot of thatch in this area, and if you were impressed with the Okyu Shrine gate, then the one here is much bigger. In fact, the 5 main buildings of the shrine are National Treasures, the southernmost in all Japan.

All the structures were constructed in the first decades of the 17th Century, though the shrine was established in the early 9th century as a branch of Aso Shrine located further north at the active volcano Mount Aso.

There are a lot of kami enshrined here, but the main three are obviously the same as Aso Shrine and are Takeiwatatsu, grandson of mythical first emperor Jimmu, Asotsuhime, wife of Takeiwatatsu, and the third is their daughter.

Pagoda at Rurikoji

Classed as one of the Three Great Pagodas of Japan, and also a National Treasure, the Pagoda at Rurikoji Temple in Yamaguchi was built long before the temple.

Built in 1442, the 5-storey pagoda is 31.2 meters high and with rooves made of cypress bark. It was built by Ouchi Moriharu to memorialize his brother who died in the Kansai region while fighting against the Muromachi Bafuku.

The Ouchi were a major clan and held a lot of territory in western Chugoku until defeated by the Mori during the Warring States Period. Yanaguch was an oasis of "civilization" during the time of the Onin War that lay waste to kyoto.

Usuki Stone Buddhas

Just outside the old castle town of Usuki in southern Oita are a collection of truly magnificent Buddhist stone carvings known as the Usuki Stone Buddhas.

Carved into cliff faces and overhangs about 60 different statues are grouped together into 4 different clusters. 59 of them are registered as National Treasures.

The carvings were believed to have been made almost 1,000 years ago in the 12th century and because they are carved into fairly soft rock have suffered a lot of erosion since then. They have been somewhat restored and are now protected from the weather.

Most interesting is that they were originally painted and on some of the carvings the traces of pigment are still clearly visible......

Yuzukosho (yuzu pepper) is a signature product from Usuki