11

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• George (譲治)    October 04, 2011 at 06:23 PM
  

  Being Japanese, I can tell you that the main reason that the keep has not, and never will be, rebuilt is political. To this day, the government and imperial family tend to look down on the samurai, as they (the gov.) 'reformed' (I have my woes with the Meiji Restoration) society during the Meiji Restoration. They were the ones that tore down most of the castles left in Japan in the name of modernising society. Even without a tenshu (keep) it is actually strange, when you think about it, that the imperial family lives in what was a castle of the samurai. Thus, adding a tenshu would be a tribute to the samurai and the Shogunate, which the government would never allow, unfortunately. As far as Aizu-Wakamatsu goes, I was there just 2 weeks ago during the Aizu Festival! It was far from the epicentre, so as Eric said, the castle and city are fine, but unfortunately because it is in Fukushima prefecture (albeit 100km away from the reactors), the number of tourists has greatly decreased. There is no danger as far as going to the city (and the vast majority of the rest of Fukushima). So I strongly encourage anyone with interest to go, without tourism to help stimulate the economy, the recovery process will be a lot harder.

• Eric    April 26, 2011 at 11:21 PM
  

  Regarding earthquakes, Aizu Wakamatsu is pretty far from the coast and the center of the earthquake。From what I've read the castle has sustained no damage. I have friends who lived much closer in Fukushima with little or no damage. There was some significant damage at Shirakawa Castle to the stone walls also some stone walls crumbled at Aoba Castle in Sendai and there was some cosmetic damage to Shiroishi Castle.

• Eric    April 26, 2011 at 11:14 PM
  

  There is a group that has been trying to raise funds to rebuild the main keep for years, but I do not think they will ever succeed. It's just my theory, but ...such a huge keep would look directly down into the imperial family's home territory. I think they would consider it a privacy and security risk which is why the government has probably never supported the cause. http://npo-edojo.org/

• John    April 21, 2011 at 01:38 AM
  

  Heard that some group was raising money to rebuild the c Keep of Edo-Jo. I looked it up, but my search was hampered by the fact that I don't speak Japanese. And about earthquakes, I beleive Aizu Wakamatsu-Jo is in a city that was Devastated by the earthquake-tsunami of march 2011, and while the city was ruins, Aizu-Wakamatsu-Jo was barely damaged. Japanese castles were, and still are,remarkably resiliant to earthquakes.

• Usagi on My Page    January 08, 2011 at 06:39 PM
  

  Passed daily on the way to work, always a luxurious sight. Visited regularly at lunchtime for a pleasant summer walk. Always activity, with improvements, excavations, and new signs on display to make return visits continually interesting.

• Anonymous    October 27, 2010 at 11:48 PM
  

  Thank you. I'll try and get it soon. Your information is always excellent. Congratulation on 100.

• Eric    October 26, 2010 at 11:04 PM
  

  Kris, Stamps should be located in the 3 rest areas inside the castle grounds: Kitanomaru, Wadakura and Nanko rest areas.

• Kris on My Page    October 26, 2010 at 01:21 AM
  

  My company's head office is quite near here so during Summer I had lunch once or twice in the Kita-no-maru koen. Sakura time is beautiful. If you ever stay at the Imperial Hotel, itself a piece of history, they have some very nice views of the yagura and you can see a bit inside the palace grounds. On the 23rd, the Emperor's birthday, you can go partway inside the grounds and they will give you a free flag to wave. If anyone knows where the 100meijo stamp is please let me know.

• Julian (from Canada)    October 23, 2009 at 09:20 AM
  

  I've only spent time at this castle on the side nearest Tokyo Station, except for actually going in to hear the Emperor's New Year's speech. Someday I'll get around to seeing the rest of the grounds. It's a nice retreat from the craziness of the city.

• Nathaniel    August 18, 2009 at 08:44 PM
  

  If you get a chance... come in early April and join the throngs of Tokyo in gazing at the beautiful cherry trees in full blossom draping across the great stone escarpments. It is an amazing site!

• MM    March 17, 2008 at 03:19 AM
  

  This castle is very interesting to go to. It is well worth seeing the huge walls. Also, at the time of its construction, it was the largest fortification in the world in terms of area.