Japan Adventures

A Castle Town --- June 20, 2006

The Byokkotai, or White Tiger Warriors, a group of teenage warriors, after being defeated in a battle against the imperial forces, 20 members of the Byakkotai retreated to Mt. Iimoriyama. When they saw Tsurugajo burning, they thought it had fallen to the enemy and 19 of them committed ritual suicide. Their graves lie together on that hillside. They are remembered as examples of the samurai code.

In 1868, during the Bolshin Civil War, in which the imperial army fought the Tokugawa Shogunate regime, the castle was attacked by troops of the new government who were for the Meiji Restoration and in 1874 it was finally demolished.In 1934, the castle ruins were declared a national historical site and the current castle tower was rebuilt on the original site in 1965.

It was originally built in 1591 as a 7-story castle, damaged in an earthquake in 1611 and rebuilt as a 5-story castle in 1539.The huge stone wall is original and the castle is a symbol of the samurai culture of Aizuwakamatsu.


Aizuwakamatsu City is a castle town. Today after lunch our sight seeing continued with Tsuruga-jo Castle.

posted by Detra Jernigan @ 16:53