Japanese Castle nicknames, Kumamoto the Ginkgo-nuts Castle

Many Japanese castles have meaningful nicknames, some because of their shape or color (like the Okayama Castle, called U-jō the "Crow Castle", or the Matsumoto Castle - Karasu-jō, which also means "Crow Castle"), others because of the area (that's the case of the Hiroshima Castle who is Ri-jō, the “Carp Castle") or because of a legend (Maruoka Castle - Kasumi-ga-jō, the “Mist Castle")...

The impressive Kumamoto Castle is called Ginnnan-jō, the "castle of ginkgo nuts" and its nickname comes from a tree, a ginko planted in 1600, when Kato Kiyomasa begun the construction works. During the Satsuma Rebellion, in 1877, the tree was burned by the fire that consumed the main tower, but the nature proved to be stronger and the tree survived. The main tower was also rebuilt in 1960, and here it is, in all its glory...