what is attractive about the tsuruga-jo castle in aizu-wakamatsu, japan?

Question

- famous /attractive exhibits of the castle.
- benefits of the visit to the castle.
- history.
- brief introduction.
- festivals.
- artifacts /pottery.

or any others related. thanks alot [:

Answer 1

I went there about two years ago. The keep is beautifully situated on a green plain. it's a reconstruction though because the Meiji government pulled it down after it's surrender. Inside is a musuem of various artifacts from the castle's history.

There's been a castle there since the 14th century though the keep did not come until much later. The great lord Date Masamune after some difficulty captured the castle. He later gave to Toyotomi Hideyoshi who became ruler of all Japan by 1590.

The most famous historical event surrounding the castle was the Tiger Company - Byakkotai. A group of young men (teenagers actually) who fought in the Boshin War in the late 19th century which was between forces loyal to the Emperor against those still loyal to the old Shogunate government such as those in Aizu. A small group of about 20 Byakkotai got seperated from their forces in battle and retreated to a nearby hill. From there they saw fires below and assumed Imperial forces had taken the castle - in actuality it was only parts of the town on fire. Thinking the castle fallen and everything lost, the decided to commit seppeku (ritual suicide) in the samurai tradition. One survived to learn the news that the castle had not fallen.. Every year near the end of September there is a festival to honor them.

So the Byakkotai is probably the biggest most important historical event of the castle area - not too mention the most important festival.

Near the castle is a teahouse and garden worth a gander. The town has a number of old houses, samurai houses, and the traditional stout store houses known as kura

Answer 2

The present Tsuruga-jo castle is a poured concrete reproduction, it's the history it represents that is important. I'm not going to go into the whole Boshin War or Byakkotai here, but it's pretty darn historical. The most interesting artifact to me were the photographs of prominent Aizu clan members. You don't really think of samurai as posing for photos, but they did. Aizu's big festival is in the fall when they have a re-enactment of the fateful battle complete with horses and their famous all-female artillery unit.

The local running joke in Aizu is that when locals say they are bitter about losing "The" war they don't mean WW2, they mean the Boshin War. It's a fact though that after the Restoration the Aizu region was ignored by the central goverment in favour of Koriyama and Fukushima city. That still causes some resentment/rivalvry between the Aizu region and the rest of Fukushima prefecture. It's definitely worth the trip!