Saga: Of Castles, Ceramics, and Saving Everyone from Threats of Oversized Black Ships

One of the things I love most about Japan is the history. I mean, America has history, but we are a new country. Practically babies as far as world history goes. We have old things, just not ancient things. What ancient things we do have are 1) largely lost and 2) not nearly as plentiful or as easily accessible to public view as they are here Japan. I can't even say how thrilling it is to walk through Tokyo and see an 800 year old shrine immediately next door to a shopping mall. You never have to walk far to see a taste of ancient history still standing tall and proud as a testament to the rich and beautiful heritage of the Japanese people.

Today, I'll take you to Kyuushu, the most underappreciated of the four main Japanese isles, and more specifically Saga, the most underappreciated city of all. Saga has a special place in my heart. It was where I first learned to live life in Japan. Despite being "small" (population is 250,000), there is so much here that I love and remember fondly.

As a refresher, Kyuushu is the southern (western?) island. It is where my husband is from and it is magical. Called "Onsen Island" by tourist agencies, the area is rich in mountains and natural hot springs. As much as I love Tokyo, there are some things you just can't find there, like little fishing towns tucked between forested mountains and the sea.

So without further ado, behold the gate of Saga Castle. It's a "newer" castle, and far from intact, and not nearly as ornate as some of the others, but it is beautiful all the same in its simplicity.

So every castle I've been to has both a moat and tall stone walls. Stone walls, check. The moat is not visible here because it's behind me. Way behind me. Like, blocks behind me. Check out this map of what Saga Castle was historically.

According to the brochure, the moat is 70 meters (230 feet) wide, to give you a sense of scale.

The moat encircles a huge portion of land. Big enough for a few neighborhoods. Today, only a scant scattering of original buildings still stand, and most of those are reconstructions. Life has moved on for the land, and except for the few surviving buildings enclosed in stone walls, most of the area is used for normal, modern life.

So a little history before we go inside. Saga Castle was completed in 1611 but had a really rough go of it. Large swaths of the palace were reduced to ashes due to massive fires - not once, but twice - caused by (I'm not kidding) maintenance negligence. I promise that someone was fired for that. Twice. Take care of your castles, people. 

So it kept having to be reconstructed. Eventually, they just gave up on some structures, like the watchtower. Later, in 1874, it was decimated again in the Battle of Saga. So today, very little of the original structures survive, and only some of later reconstructions. Still, the renovations are beautiful. The Japanese take extreme pride in their heritage and guard it with care.

Some notable notes about Saga. The area has been famous for its ceramics since forever ago. Learn more about it in this great article! (It's in English, don't worry).

http://japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp/en/1410_saga.html

Saga was also big on making cannons. Sound Random? Kind of. But it made Saga extremely important. Here's some little-known American history for us Americans. In 1853, American Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan, tasked by President Fillmore to open up Japanese ports to American trade. Japan was fiercely isolationist at the time and had rejected trade with almost the whole world, but America doesn't take "no" for an answer. Thankfully (sort of), all he really had do to was show up, not resort to any violence. But no one is arguing that he wasn't a jerk of historic proportions. His tactic: *sigh*...elaborate posturing. 

The black ship he showed up in was the stuff of nightmares. It scared the ever loving heck out of the Japanese, who had never seen anything like it. When his first ship wasn't impressive enough to force trade through, Perry showed up with a fleet of them, with 100 cannons between them, and that did it. Seriously, what a jerk. Just look at this artist's depiction of Perry's ship:

And look at their portrait of Perry.

Personally, I don't think they liked him very much.

So Japan was scared out of their wits. Now they had a horrifying understanding of how vastly outdated their defenses were and how easily they could be decimated. The frenzy was on to catch up. Enter, Saga. Saga, for whatever reason, was the only place that managed to successfully manufacture working cannons, not for lack of effort from other areas, surely. So cannons were a thing. And people were very happy that Saga was able to figure it out.

Ok, back to the castle, that's probably what you came here for, anyway.

Here's the main entrance, There's not much more for me to say except to show you.

You can only tell so much about the details from pictures, but I tried...

Some views of the buildings:

Here's a panoramic view of the courtyard:

And some pictures of the inside:

This is the great ceremonial hall. See those partitions? This pictures shows three sections of about five or six. This hall is looooooong.

So like I said, Saga Castle isn't the grandest or best preserved specimen of Japanese castles, but it means a lot to me. And look at how simply beautiful it is! The floors are the finest, silkiest tatami (woven reeds) I have ever felt, and I love the warmth of the woodwork. I love the sunlight through the shoji paper and the quiet reverence with which the employees and patrons alike treat these ruins. I love when women come to the castle in their kimonos and the employees dress in their finest ninja garb (yes, I saw a team of ninjas, but they evaded my camera). 

I will do more posts on castles as I visit them, as well as shrines and temples. They are constant, ever-present reminders of the past and of what makes Japan, Japan.