Work in Progress Wednesday

The Tale of Genji progress

Dogwood afghan progress - I added three thread lengths  

Cross Stitch progress

Kokura Castle

This is the historical information from the J-Castle website:

In 1600 after the Battle of Sekigahara, Hosokawa Tadaoki was rewarded the lands of Buzen and Bungo. The ruling castle of the area was really at Nakatsu Castle, but Hosokawa found Kokura to be a much more convenient place from which to rule. It is also located at the vital point in transportation between Kyushu and Honshu. He started building Kokura Castle in 1602 and completed it in 1608. 

Hosokawa's Son, Tadatoshi, was moved to Kumamoto in 1632. Ogasawara Tadazane replaced him and 9 generations of his descendents ruled for the next 230 years. The main keep burned down in a fire in 1837 and was not rebuilt. The castle itself was intentionally burned down and abandoned in 1866 when the Ogasawara fled Kokura during the second Battle of Shochuseito. 

The reconstructed castle you see today is borogata style with decorative gables called kara hafu and irimoya hafu, but the original main keep was a very simple sotogata and had no such gables.

I like the reflection of the castle in the water.

There are clothing items and props that visitors can use for taking pictures.

I met these two sisters in this “play” area.

J

This is another photo opportunity. You can pretend to be fighting this character.

View from the top.

Monday Morning Star Count

 I made five more little (16mm) hexagon flowers this week. Total 8.

Nakatsu Castle and Shrines

Outside of this castle is a shrine or a few shrines.

I decided not to wait for the castle to open at 9:00 am because of the train schedules and needing to travel a fair distance that day, so I just made do with walking around it. 

This historical information comes from the J-Castle website - 

Kuroda Yoshitaka was stationed here by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587. After the Battle of Sekigahara he was rewarded with greater lands in Fukuoka and replaced by Hosokawa Tadaoki. Hosokawa finished the construction of this castle and also built Kokura Castle. When Hosokawa Tadaoki moved to Kokura Castle he placed his son Tadatoshi in Nakatsu Castle. Following the Hosokawa, the Ogasawara Clan took over the castle and ruled until they were replaced by Okudaira Masashige in 1717. The Okudaira ruled until the Meiji Restoration.

This castle is said to be one of three great water castles in Japan. The inside of the castle serves as a historical museum about the Okudaira family, relatives of the Tokugawa family.