Oct. 30, 2011
Old castle town "Little Kyoto" trying hard to keep its own life
Cities and towns in various parts of Japan are trying hard to bolster their life by their respective means as the Japanese economy as a whole has been decelerating over the years. Among them is Akizuki of Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, which boasts of its natural beauty and historically important sites as a former castle town.
Akizuki, which literally means “the autumn moon,” is one of more than 20 old towns across the country that are nicknamed “Little Kyoto” because their appearance and historical atmosphere resemble those of Kyoto, Japan’s capital from the late eighth century to the middle of the 19th century.
Akizuki attracts about 500,000 tourists a year, enchanting them with flowering cherry trees in spring, fireflies and moon viewing in summer, colored leaves in autumn and snow scenes in winter.
Akizuki Castle, which had been built on the southern slope of Mt. Kosho, was deserted after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. On its ruins is a junior high school. Tourists cannot enter the school premises, but they can see Kuromon Gate and Nagayamon Gate, the two former gates leading to the castle which have been restored with almost the same style as they used to have. They can also see a 500-meter straight road in front of the castle ruins, which was used for horsemanship training and other purposes by samurai.
Akizuki is just one of the numerous former castle towns in Japan. It is also rather a smaller one, but it is one of the oldest towns of this kind. The original Akizuki Castle was built early in the 13th century by a warlord who worked with the Kamakura shogun government. Akizuki is also unique because its basic structure and layout as a town, including building sites for samurai and ordinary people like merchants as well as roads and watercourses, have been preserved almost as they were. Preserved sites in the town also include a few houses for senior samurai families with thatched roofs and the 200-year-old stone bridge, called Meganebashi, which still stands at one of the entrances to the town. Some Buddhist temples were built mainly on the edges of the town so that they could be converted into forts in wartime.
Akizuki had a population of about 5,000 at its prime time. Its population has decreased to about 1,000, and visitors are limited on weekdays and off season. But local people receive tourists warmly all the time while living a calm life which has been kept over the centuries.
Old castle town "Little Kyoto" trying hard to keep its own life
Cities and towns in various parts of Japan are trying hard to bolster their life by their respective means as the Japanese economy as a whole has been decelerating over the years. Among them is Akizuki of Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, which boasts of its natural beauty and historically important sites as a former castle town.
Akizuki, which literally means “the autumn moon,” is one of more than 20 old towns across the country that are nicknamed “Little Kyoto” because their appearance and historical atmosphere resemble those of Kyoto, Japan’s capital from the late eighth century to the middle of the 19th century.
Akizuki attracts about 500,000 tourists a year, enchanting them with flowering cherry trees in spring, fireflies and moon viewing in summer, colored leaves in autumn and snow scenes in winter.
Akizuki Castle, which had been built on the southern slope of Mt. Kosho, was deserted after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. On its ruins is a junior high school. Tourists cannot enter the school premises, but they can see Kuromon Gate and Nagayamon Gate, the two former gates leading to the castle which have been restored with almost the same style as they used to have. They can also see a 500-meter straight road in front of the castle ruins, which was used for horsemanship training and other purposes by samurai.
Akizuki is just one of the numerous former castle towns in Japan. It is also rather a smaller one, but it is one of the oldest towns of this kind. The original Akizuki Castle was built early in the 13th century by a warlord who worked with the Kamakura shogun government. Akizuki is also unique because its basic structure and layout as a town, including building sites for samurai and ordinary people like merchants as well as roads and watercourses, have been preserved almost as they were. Preserved sites in the town also include a few houses for senior samurai families with thatched roofs and the 200-year-old stone bridge, called Meganebashi, which still stands at one of the entrances to the town. Some Buddhist temples were built mainly on the edges of the town so that they could be converted into forts in wartime.
Akizuki had a population of about 5,000 at its prime time. Its population has decreased to about 1,000, and visitors are limited on weekdays and off season. But local people receive tourists warmly all the time while living a calm life which has been kept over the centuries.
