Lots of trains and a castle

As another experiment I’m trying a mostly photos-only blog to show yesterday’s adventures.

While walking through Kyoto:

Gate to Nishi Hongan-ji Temple near our hotel

We saw a Grey Heron (I think) in a pretty little park

The street benches each had their own little statue

This statue was of one of Japan’s fast trains

We saw these cartoons buses/trains on some posters, they are perhaps mascots of the transport system?

A potel? Also the clouds were striking today

At the Kyoto Railway museum:

This one is very sleek, had a top speed of 300km/h

Wider view, plus this gives an idea of the building the trains were housed in

There was also a train shed and turntable area with a score of steam trains

Steam train controls look intimidatingly complex

At Ninjo Castle:

I’m trying to make this a mostly photos-only post, but I can’t help adding some context here. This castle is the residence of the Edo period Shoguns in the imperial capital.

For those who aren’t familiar with Japanese history, there were periods where Japan was ruled by a Shogun. The word Shogun means something like “Grand General” and was technically a position appointed by the Emperor. But there were periods, the last of which was the Edo period, where the Shogun was actually in charge and the Emperor was a largely ceremonial and religious role.

Kyoto in this period continued to be the Imperial Capital, but the Shoguns had their own capital in Edo (later Tokyo). So this castle is the Shogun’s place of power within the Emperor’s capital. The impression I get is that this fortress was more about being a statement of political strength than a defensive fortress. It was still formidable, as befits a military ruler, but some defensive attributes had been sacrificed to athletics. There was no reference to it ever being attacked.

It’s worth noting that the Emperor was still highly respected even while not in power. To the point where a second story was taken off the main gateway of this castle in anticipation of an Imperial visit so that no one would look down on the Emperor as he entered.

It was in this castle where the last Edo Shogun, facing likely defeat, formally resigned, handing back power to the Emperor.

The castle is laid out as a rectangle with two square inner areas, each containing a palace. One of the inner areas has an ornate wall around it, the other is much more fortified with a moat and a stone defence wall. The outer area around these inner areas is broken up by a number of walls with gateways. The photos below show a circuit of the outer area followed by going into each of the two inner areas.