I left Matsue, in Shimane Prefecture, early in the morning and took the train to Yonago in Tottori Prefecture. It was a wet gloomy day. I don't know what this bird is about, but it was on my way to Yonago Castle Ruins.
This is what Jcastle has to say about Yonago Castle - -
Around 1467 Yamana Muneyuki built a fort on Mt. Iinoyama just to the East of Minatoyama where Yonago Castle stands today. Kikkawa Hiroi founded the first real castle here on Minatoyama in 1591, but was not there to see it completed. After losing in the Battle of Sekigahara Kikkawa was moved to Iwakuni and Nakamura Kazutada became the new lord of Yonago in 1601. The castle was completed in 1602. Kazutada's family line abruptly ended with his sudden death in 1609. Kato Sadayasu became the new lord until he was transferred to Ozu in 1617. The Ikeda clan then ruled until 1632 when control of the castle was passed to their retainer the Arao Naritoshi. The Arao family ruled over Yonago Castle until the Meiji Restoration when they voluntarily returned the castle to the government in 1869. In 1873 most of the castle buildings were sold and a few years later the remaining castle structures were dismantled.
I felt very adventurous this day, with the poor weather. I have to say this was the best castle ruins of the trip. I think it was better than some of the rebuilt castles I visited.
Here is where it starts at the bottom of the hill.
There was a lot of uphill and the stones and mud were slick. And, I was carrying my pack so I had to be careful not to fall.
The falling rain turned to a slushy snow. It was cold!
View from mid-way up.
Almost to the top.
Even with the gloomy sky, the views from the top were incredible.
I accidentally took a different trail down and ended up on the sea side. There were many of these statue sets on this trail down.
7 comments:
Amazing view from the top,good for defence I would imagine.
You did your best in bad weather and cold. View is its reward.
Winding road. I think it's a well-thought-out castle that makes it hard to reach the summit.🏯
Thank you for introducing.
Thanks for your great guiding. Stone walls are very beautiful.
The weather makes the place mystic, I think.
I'm glad you had such a good time, even if you had to rush at the end. The photos are wonderful. I really love the bird sculpture -- that's quite dramatic. And the view -- terrific!
Getting to the top looks like quite a trek, with the wet stones, mud and leaves adding to the difficulty. The view is a nice reward!
What a great hike! I love me some castle ruins. European castles are very different from Japanese ones, but I think I'm going to explore a bit once the weather turns towards spring.
Post a Comment