Castles

Hello!
It's another beautiful day in Tokyo!
I was talking to someone the other day from the US who said she came here to teach English just so she could see all the beautiful castles in Japan.  What follows are some examples of these beautiful castles. Wouldn't it be great if we could all go together and see them? 
We might have seen one "castle" when Elder Chandler and I saw the Imperial Palace, but only if it is considered a castle.
The following are some castles  (cut and pasted) with  explanations about some of them:

The Medieval Castles of Japan

Japan has been a land that has been torn by war and warlords for many centuries. Because of this there have been 
 hundreds of castles and fortresses built over the centuries. Many of these castles still remain to this day and many of them have been rebuilt and restored to their original shape and condition. And, there are still many remains of castles that can be found.

The Japanese Medieval Castle looks to be quite different than your typical European Medieval Castle, particularly in the roof design. And while it is true that the look of the castles is quite different they actually are quite similar to European castles in many respects.

How Japanese Castles are similar to European Castles

• They had large and tall walls for protection
• They often had moats around them to discourage the digging of tunnels
• They had narrow and steep stairways to make assault difficult
• They had portholes for guns and for arrows
• They often had a main gate area that could be used as a trap
• They almost always had concentric rings of walls to give them multiple layers of protection
• They capitalized on terrain features - often the best placement was at the top of a hill or small mountain. This gave a very advantageous position and view

The character for castle, '城',  is read as jō when attached to a word, such as in the name of a particular castle.  For example, Osaka castle is called Ōsaka-jō (大阪城) 

Japanese castles (城 shiro) were fortresses constructed mostly of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such as ports, river crossings, or crossroads, and almost always incorporated the landscape into their defense.

 Today there are more than one hundred castles and remains of castles in Japan but is estimated that once there were five thousand.

 

Hirosaki castle built in 1611.

Himeji Castle: a World Heritage Site in Hyōgo Prefecture, is the most visited castle in Japan.

This is the one castle you have to see if you visit just one castle. It is a world heritage site and it is open to the public. You can walk the ground uninhibited and you can walk all the way through the castle all the way up to the top, at your own pace. Taking pictures is allowed and they have a limited number of volunteer English tour guides which is a big plus. This castle has also been the setting for some movies but probably none that we have seen.

Matsumoto Castle 

The keep of the castle was completed in the late 16th century(1504) and the castle is quite unique because of its location on flat land. The castle has been well preserved and much of it is still as it was. This includes the moat, the gates, the various baileys and the sub floors in the castle.

An interesting design of this castle: From the outside it looks like it has five floors but it actually has six! The third floor of the tower has no windows and was designed to be a whole floor that was kept as a secret from its enemies!

(We were excited to see it because one site on the internet said it was located close to Tokyo but when we checked it was listed as three and a half hours away by train and subway rides! So we won't go there!)

Kunamoto Castle

This isn't a great photo but here are the facts about Kunamoto castle. It was originally built in 1607. The walls both inner and outer are exceptionally thick and many pains were taken to make the castle safe from siege. Over 100 well were dug to supply its inhabitants with water and camphor and ginkgo trees were planted to supply edible nuts and firewood in times of siege. 

Inside a castle

Inside a castle

This is all for today.  We stayed home at our own "castle" this weekend as we had  Louie, our good friend from the Philippines,come to visit today and to have lunch with us.  Louie is living and working here in Japan.  He is a relatively new member of the Church who joined and then temporarily fell away and became less-active because he had to work on Sundays. He is doing really well and progressing well in the gospel.  Elder Chandler has been a big part of helping Louie to come back to the Church.  Louie quit his Sunday job and found a better job where he has Sundays off. Now Louie is really committed to attending Church each Sunday and he is preparing to receive the priesthood and go to the temple. He is also trying to work with his family and help them to understand and accept the gospel.  His wife is reading the Book of Mormon and so that is a great step for her to take. 
These experiences are much more important to us than sightseeing and travel.  There is great joy for the Lord when one soul is found and this joy also comes to all of those who try to do the Lord's work.
May the Lord bless you all as you do his work with you family in the walls of your own "castle" and wherever you may go. 
(with love from the "Chandlers")