Hikone-jo Tenshu
The tenshu (main keep) of Hikone-jo, or Hikone Castle, was originally part of Otsu Castle and five-storied. It became a three-storied structure after its move to Hikone.
About this place:
Located in the city of Hikone, on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga prefecture, the castle is its centerpiece and symbol. Hikone-jo, 彦根城, (“jo” means “castle” in Japanese) is designated a National Treasure, only one of four castles in Japan to bear this distinction. Built in 1600 by the second lord of Hikone, Ii Naotaka, after the Battle of Sekigahara, the Emperor spared its dismantlement at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868).
Although the castle is the main attraction, adjacent to the castle lies a beautiful garden, Genkyu-en. Built by Naooki Ii, the fourth lord of Hikone, and modeled after the villa of Emperor Genso, a ruler during China's Tang Period, it offers a beautiful view of the castle and its surrounding hills.
No profile of Hikone-jo would be complete without Hikonyan, the plushy cat-samurai and official mascot of the castle, whose name is a blend of Hikone and “nyan,” the Japanese onomatopoeic equivalent of “meow.” He was created to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Hikone-jo.
Hikone, Shiga-ken, JP
Discovered by Michael Ignatov
on 29 July 2008.
1188 views.
