Maruoka Castle

I'm fascinated by Japanese history and the hundreds of castles are a big part of it. Many castles have been destroyed by fire, war, or disasters and are in ruins, and quite a few have been reconstructed.  There are twelve original castles: Himeji, Matsuyama, Matsumoto, Hikone, Matsue, Hirosaki, Bitchu Matsuyama, Inuyama, Kochi, Maruoka, Uwajima, and, Marugame. I had previously visit seven of them and while on this long weekend trip to western Japan, I was able to visit Maruoka in Fukui Prefecture.

This was my first view of the castle, as I walked toward it. It is high on the hill with many steps to get to it.

To protect the old wood, you must take off your shoes to tour the castle. 

This castle town model is on the first floor of the castle and is very detailed.  I looked at it from all angles.

The old wood is really gorgeous.

Each floor had signs like this.  The signs are in Japanese, but the kanji characters had hiragana characters above, so I could understand some of it. The hiragana is probably done for the benefit of children, but it also benefits foreigners.

The steps from one level to the next were incredibly steep. The ropes were helpful.

It was a clear day when I was there so I was able to see out in all directions.

What goes up, must come down.  Going down the steps was scarier than going up.

After touring the castle itself, I was able to walk around the grounds and see the castle from the outside.

After visiting Maruoka Castle, I walked back to the train station in order to travel to the next castle.

If you are interested in Japanese Castles, you can find links to other castle visits I've made on my Japanese Castle page.

Tsuruga Yama Museum

This museum is next to the Tsuruga Municipal Museum.

Information from the museum website :

Tsuruga Yama Museum for the conservation of Yama and telling the authenticity of Yama
It opened in 1997, May.

Tsuruga Yama Museum is a museum for the exhibition and conservation of great floats Yama which are used at Kehi Jingu shrine Festival. There are exhibited Yama of Tsuruga in the main building and documents and crafts related to the port town of Tsuruga in the building’s annex -former the Main Office Building of Owda Bank-. 

“ Yama “ means floats that move around the town on special occasions, displaying massive models of humans and animals. The Yama in the Tsuruga Festival is designated as a “Japan Heritage” by the Agency of Cultural Affairs. People participate in the Float festivals wishing for peace for their communities and protection against misfortune.

Yama Festival in Tsuruga has a long history and represents the prosperity of Tsuruga, local people have succeeded it to next-generation with great fervor. It could be argued that the Yama have been in Tsuruga by around the 1500s; Oda Nobunaga possibly has seen the festival in 1575. During WW II, a bomb attacked the city of Tsuruga and burned out a large number of Yama in 1945, July; the festival could not be carried out for some decade after WW II.

 Association for Conservation of Yama in Tsuruga has met since 1979 by needs for a revival of Yama, and three Yamas which have avoided bomb attack were restored completely. In 1994 other three Yamas were also reconstructed: a total of six restored Yamas were perfected as before burning.

Thus Tsuruga Yama Museum was opened for conservation and exhibition Yama: now six Yama are conservated in the backyard of the museum, and three of them are exhibited on the first floor.　

There is a combination ticket for both this and the Municipal Museum for 500 yen or each museum for 300 yen. I opted for the combo ticket.

Some of the items in the first room are hands on. Visitors are invited to try on these costumes.

Other things are not allowed to be touched.

The next room with the Yama Floats is two stories high. You can view them from the both the first and the second floors.

This is a really interesting display! After leaving this museum, I walked to my hotel, which was next to the train station.