Odawara Castle

angled shot of Odawara Castle
Originally uploaded by pointybunny.

As a surprise, today Taka took Kristin and I to see Odawara Castle located in Odawara City in the Kanagawa prefecture. I had really wanted to see some Japanese castles as they are so beautiful despite of their reason for being a fortification in war. Odawara was a post town on the famous Tokaido Road. Odawara Castle came into prominence under the Hojo family during the 16th century and survived 3 attacks against it during that time. It is situated high in the mountains with the ocean on one side making it ideal to repel attacks.

Even though most of the some 66 remaining Japanese castles are reproductions, I still want to see them. I also read that Yoritomo Minamoto fought a battle here and also that 20 percent of the old feudal class family descents still live in the Odawara area. I find that all so interesting.

We arrived rather late in the day since it took us longer to get going in the morning than we thought and Taka never even told us where we were going so we weren't really excited about it. It was very far from our house but it was an interesting drive going along the coast and up into the mountains. We finally got into town and Taka parked in a lot high along the coast so we had to walk steeply down to our destination. I don't know how people could have possibly ever attacked this castle as I would be afraid to.

I took alot of photos of the shachihoko on top of the castle. Shachihoko are a mythological creature with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp. They top most Japanese castles and temples as it was believed they would ward off fire. I wonder if it worked.

As we came around the corner and through the gates, my mouth dropped open in awe. Taka was pleased that I was so happy to be there. He is always trying to suprise me. He has his moments. We had a great time exploring the grounds of the castle, seeing the koi under the bridge, finding some stray cats, buying souvenirs in the castle gift shop and mock fighting amongst the giant doors, bridges and entry ways.

Unfortunately by the time we got to the actual castle, it had already closed so we could only look around the outside. I was very dissappointed leading Taka to think I didn't enjoy our trip. Though I really did. I could have just looked at that castle all day and imagine the past.

Incongrous to all the spectacular architecture and gardens was this horrid little zoo. I hated it. Why have a ratty little zoo with miserable looking animals stuck right in front of the castle. There was an empty pen where there used to be an elephant. Taka said he saw the elephant once and thought it had died. I worried about the elephant for awhile. All the enclosures were just cement and metal with a few dispirited animals inside. Completely, completely distasteful for such a historically rich environment. My biggest problem at times with Japan is that there are these wonderful pieces of their past that has come with them into the modern times but they seem unable to reconcile the beauty of the past into the urban world they have created now. It's hard to explain, but you might understand what I mean when you see a pretty woman in full fabulous, colorful kimono walking in front of a soot stained clunky cement block of an apartment building. At one time they must have gone crazy with the bags of cement cause there are alot of ugly square cementy buildings around. Perfect example here, graceful feudal castle with rusting, lame petting zoo in front. bleh. Just say no!

Allright enough of that, I probably don't explain it well anyway. After many pictures and viewing of the castle we made some purchases at the long bank of vending machines conviently located near the castle and visited the feudal bathrooms which consisted entirely of a row of the trench style "toilets" that freak me out. Usually they have one real toilet but not here.

We drove around the outside of the castle and viewed more massive walls. There was a perfect full moon out. The drive home was full of neon in the night sky from love hotels and pachinko parlors and we stopped at a convenience store called "Hello Square". True to the kind of person I am, I still wondered what happened to the elephant.

About Odawara Castle:

Odawara Castle (小田原城, Odawara-jo?) is a landmark in the city of Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was the stronghold of various daimyo during the Muromachi period of Japanese history. From 1495 onward, five generations of the Late Hojo clan held the castle. The extensive defenses, including ditches, enabled the defenders to repel attacks by the great warriors Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi took the castle in 1590, and awarded the holdings of the Hojo to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who in turn installed the Okubo clan at Odawara.

During the Edo period, Odawara's strategic location on the Tokaido, between mountainous Hakone and Sagami Bay, gave it great strategic importance. The castle controlled the Tokaido between the Tokugawa headquarters at Edo and the stations west of Hakone, including Sumpu (Shizuoka), Hamamatsu and Nagoya.

Today, a reproduction of the castle stands high on a hill above Odawara.

(Wikipedia encyclopedia)


From the Kanagawa Tourist Guide:

ODAWARA CASTLE PARK (ODAWARA JOSHI-KOEN) Odawara Castle is the symbol of Odawara City. Originally built in 1417 and rebuilt in 1960, the castle contains a museum with related historical objects. From the tower there is a good view of the city and surrounding area. Flowers decorate the Castle Park which also has a mini zoo and a children's play-ground.

Japanese Plum Blossoms "Ume "
early~end of Feb.
Cherry Blossoms "Sakura "
early Apr.
Wisteria "Fuji ", Azaleas "Tsutsuji"
early May.

10 min. walk from Odawara Sta.

The Donjon (Tenshukaku )

9:00 a.m.~ 5:00 p.m.(last admission 4:30 p.m.)
Closed: around New Year
Phone +81-465-23-1373
The Donjon ticket prices for Adults: ¥400 For Children ¥150

Odawara Castle History Museum

Admissions: For Adults ¥300 For Children ¥100