Odawara Castle
Posted by Donnie:
Odawara Castle was originally built in 1495 by the Hojo Samurai Clan. It is situated on a hill and has a moat and ditches defending it. It was destroyed it the 1800's by the Meji government who eradicated the Samurai system and modernized into a central governing system (same time-frame as the movie "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise). It was rebuilt in 1960 to the original plans.
Each level had artifacts from the excavation of the site including original ornamental pieces and daily use stuff like cutlery and lamps. There were many objects from the original castle that had been spread throughout the countryside and had been donated to the museum. They even had some awesome people-carriers like you see in the movies and documents discussing various things which I had no idea what they said. The third floor was the coolest and had about 10 full sets of Samurai armor and a whole armory of weapons. Some of the blades were two and three hundred years old and still looked brand new.
The view from the top was nice. It is surrounded by mountains and the city extends to the beach about a mile to the east. Very strategic site.
A nice picturesque bridge that would have had the moat running under it. The moat still exists but has been diverted from this part of the castle to form a nice garden.
This panel shows the various layers of wall construction from a wicker frame to a rock solid plastered surface.
This entry gate is one of three gateways that you have to go through before entering the main castle site.
This is the back end of the same entryway and it opens into a nice courtyard. In the late-summer or early fall one of the largest parades of Samurai re-enactors takes place here. They do archery, swordsmanship, horse riding, and other Samurai displays.
A nice view of the moat. All in all it was a nice day out. I was just trying to get more comfortable with the train system before Kibby, Iain, Annie, Bob, and Debbie arrived and I certainly couldn't have picked a nicer day to do it. It had snowed the day before!!
Odawara Castle was originally built in 1495 by the Hojo Samurai Clan. It is situated on a hill and has a moat and ditches defending it. It was destroyed it the 1800's by the Meji government who eradicated the Samurai system and modernized into a central governing system (same time-frame as the movie "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise). It was rebuilt in 1960 to the original plans.
Each level had artifacts from the excavation of the site including original ornamental pieces and daily use stuff like cutlery and lamps. There were many objects from the original castle that had been spread throughout the countryside and had been donated to the museum. They even had some awesome people-carriers like you see in the movies and documents discussing various things which I had no idea what they said. The third floor was the coolest and had about 10 full sets of Samurai armor and a whole armory of weapons. Some of the blades were two and three hundred years old and still looked brand new.
The view from the top was nice. It is surrounded by mountains and the city extends to the beach about a mile to the east. Very strategic site.
A nice picturesque bridge that would have had the moat running under it. The moat still exists but has been diverted from this part of the castle to form a nice garden.
This panel shows the various layers of wall construction from a wicker frame to a rock solid plastered surface.
This entry gate is one of three gateways that you have to go through before entering the main castle site.
This is the back end of the same entryway and it opens into a nice courtyard. In the late-summer or early fall one of the largest parades of Samurai re-enactors takes place here. They do archery, swordsmanship, horse riding, and other Samurai displays.
A nice view of the moat. All in all it was a nice day out. I was just trying to get more comfortable with the train system before Kibby, Iain, Annie, Bob, and Debbie arrived and I certainly couldn't have picked a nicer day to do it. It had snowed the day before!!
posted by Kibbyjane at
7:41 AM
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