Japan Trip 2012, Day 10 - Kanazawa Castle

Pictures: http://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/554

So, my tenth full day in Japan brought me to Kanazawa, which I've heard is where the Japanese go to find out about their heritage. Honestly, I don't know who said that, but eh. My first stop today was Kanazawa Castle, which was about a thirty minute walk from the hotel.

The beginnings of Kanazawa Castle started in 1546. At the time, Kanazawa was controlled by followers of the Jodou Shinshuu sect of Buddhism called the Ikkou Ikki. They were actually all over the country, but in Kaga Providence, they headquartered themselves at the Kanazawa Midou, and they'd periodically receive monks from the sect's main temple, Hongan-ji. Kanazawa at the time was like a temple town surrounding Kanazawa Midou from my understanding, and it was more or less self-sustaining both politically and economically.

When Oda Nobunaga came into power, however, he sought to wipe out the Ikkou Ikki seeing as they controlled areas that he wanted to control instead. Oda's forces in this area were led by Shibata Katsuie, and with his nephew Sakuma Morimasa, they succeeded in driving out the Ikki followers and took control of the region. The area around Kanazawa Midou was then given to Morimasa to oversee. In preparation for a possible counterattack, Morimasa fortified the area with walls and moats. I think he named his new fortified home Oyama Castle, but I could be mistaken.

However, if you know the story of Oda Nobunaga, you know that he was betrayed by one of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, at Tennou-ji. In the ensuing power struggle over who would succeed him, Sakuma Morimasa sided with his uncle against Toyotomi Hideyoshi... which again if you know the story, was a very bad idea. During the Battle of Shizugatake, Morimasa spent too much time away from Katsuie's main army and refused orders to retreat back to it. This ended in both his and Katsuie's eventual defeat, and without a lord in the area, Hideyoshi appointed Maeda Toshiie to the position. The year was 1583. In three years, the castle would receive its own main tower, and in nine, its walls would be complete. Kanazawa would later develop into one of the most prosperous lands in medieval Japan.

Stopping by a Lawson on the way to get my bus tickets for the next day printed out, I found myself on the street where the back entrance to the castle was. As could be expected, hardly anyone was around the back, though the back entrance did bring me to a trail inundated with trees at the back of the castle. These paths (which branch off), lead around the outside of the castle and are meant to showcase the stone walls around the castle. The walls of the castle were constructed and reconstructed many times, so as you walk around, you'll see different styles of architecture, though only the academic may be able to understand it (or even be interested). Seeing as I was here for the castle and not the walls, I didn't make the full trip around, and instead just wandered the paths attempting to find a way into the castle proper.

Having said that, though, I am glad I entered through the back. The back leads you into the section of the castle called Honmaru, which was the original center of the castle. Now, it is filled with tree cover and other foilage - almost like walking in the woods, except you're in the grounds where a castle once stood. The thing about Kanazawa Castle is that it had been destroyed by fire many times over and rebuilt every time. In this case, the main tower was struck by lightning in 1602 and burned down. While a three story watchtower and a residence manor were built in its place, the main tower itself was never rebuilt and the castle went on without any major structure to symbolize its whole. It's probably good that they didn't spare the effort of rebuilding it though, because the entirety of Honmaru went up in flames in the Great Kan'ei Fire in 1631. The castle today is said to most closely resemble Kanazawa Castle after this fire.

I admired the minature forest as I tried to find a way to the castle through it, and the first time I emerged, I found myself on the highest point on the grounds. A small rest area was here, and though it didn't look too well maintained, it overlooked the entire castle grounds. It was pretty picturesque... except, of course, for all the other restoration work being done at the time as well.

I poked around the back of the castle a little more before descending into the grounds themselves, and my first stop was an air conditioned rest area. The building there had vending machines (which was the main reason I first stopped there), and a bunch of information about the castle and its lords plastered about the walls. The most impressive thing about the rest area though, was the garden that was just outside it. Benches right outside the building were around so you could sit and rest while gazing out on it, with an optional drink in your hands if you bought one. Very relaxing.

After a very refreshing rest, I continued on to the main attraction within the castle as evidenced by the fact that it's the only thing you have to pay admission for. These were... well, they have three different names for the three different parts of it, but they were all connected in the same building - each of the watchtowers had a name (Hishi Yagura and Hashidzume-mon Tsudzuki Yagura), and the long hallway connecting them had its own name (Gojikken Nagaya). It's a reconstructed building, but the insides were nice and shiny. Various exhibits within showed how the building was made as well, from how the pillars were made to be earthquake-resistant, to how the armored walls of the castle were constructed. There still is some restoration going on at the Hashidzume-mon area as only the first of its gates was rebuilt in 2001. The second gate had a guardhouse attached to it, and when it's complete, all the major gates in the castle will be restored in their historic forms.

The area these buildings are in is referred to as Ni no Maru. It originally contained only the main castle, but when Honmaru burned down in 1631, everything that was done there was then moved to the Ni no Maru region, which became the new administrative center of the castle. Manors for officials were also moved to this location, and the future lords of Kaga would live here in their estate Senjou-jiki. When the castle fell victim to yet another fire, the Great Houreki Fire in 1759, all important castle functions and facilities were moved to Ni no Maru. The signposts don't mention anything about San no Maru's teahouses and such, and Shinmaru's construction facilities were moved outside of the castle... I guess only leaving the living quarters there. This made Ni no Maru the central hub of everything in Kanazawa Castle. As for Honmaru, it was left alone as a reminder of the castle's past, and was not developed or rebuilt.

And then in 1808, Ni no Maru burned down again. Rebuilding efforts were entirely local at that time, however, as funds from the shogunate were refused. They threw in two Noh stages in the front and back of the Maeda family's personal manor as part of the reconstruction, but once again... the entire castle burned down in 1881. It's said to have been caused by an accidental fire, and while a handful of small buildings survived it, the only major structures left standing afterwards were the Ishikawa-mon and the Sanjikken Nagaya.

Finishing up with the three named structures in the same building, I went down to what was the San no Maru region. While in the past, this had tea houses, firearms storehouses, and the time-keeping bell, it is now home to a large courtyard. At the end of it is the Kahoku-mon, a gate burned down in 1881 and reconstructed recently in 2010. If you come in from the front of the castle, you'll probably reach this gate first to enter the castle park. Stairs have been constructed on the side to that people can look around the top of the gate.

Aside from this, the only other thing to look at is the Ishikawa-mon, which is the oldest surviving gate, having been rebuilt in 1788 and with only some restoration done to it to maintain it. It was named this way because it faced the district of town known as Ishikawa, and was also used as a checkpoint to control traffic through the city to and from the Kodatsuno area to the south. The gate itself is the last of the Three Imperial Gates (三御門, as they were called), and has been designated an Important Cultural Property. From it, you can walk through it to reach Kanazawa's other and arguably best attraction, Kenroku-en, the Kanazawa Castle garden.

As far as the castle as a whole... well, there's not too much here to see other than the gates and the one big building, but I found I enjoyed this castle quite a bit. Honestly, that's more for the trail at the back and the wide spacious courtyard, but the area is described as Kanazawa Castle Park, and it fulfills the park section of that name very well. What few buildings you can enter are restored, sure, but that also means they're nice and shiny new, instead of creaky and worn down like a lot of castles out there. Of course, given the castle's history, it can't be anything other than a restored castle. I ended up spending around three hours here, though you could definitely walk around in a little more than one if you don't want to peek over every corner like I did.

Pictures: http://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/554