Many Japanese castles received during history… nicknames. Related to the castle’s appearance or to particular legends, these nicknames are varied, ranging from birds to natural phenomenons… Because of the white exterior, the Himeji Castle is known as Hakuro-jō, “White Egret Castle” or Shirasagi-jō, “White Heron Castle". Because of their black walls, two Japanese castles are nicknamed “Crow Castle": the Okayama Castle is the “Crow Castle” 「烏城」 pronounced in Japanese U-jō, and Matsumoto Castle is also a “Crow Castle", written with the same kanji but pronounced Karasu-jō. Maruoka Castle however, received its nickname from a legend and today it is known as Kasumi-ga-jō, the “Mist Castle".
The Hiroshima Castle received its nickname from the area were it was built, which was previously known as Koi-no-ura, “Carp Sea Shore". Hence the Hiroshima Castle is nicknamed Ri-jō 「鯉城」, the “Carp Castle"…
Destroyed by the atomic explosion in 1945, the Hiroshima Castle’s 5-story tenshu - main tower (in the photo), was rebuilt in 1958 with wooden decorations, to look exactly like the original:
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Yesterday’s Japan Photo:Kyoto, the birthplace of Kabuki |
