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Kumamoto Kumamoto Castle: one of the three premier castles in Japan. Intact when we visited, prior to the 2016 earthquake.
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| Lafcadio Hearn Museum | Misumi Nishiko | Castle | |
| House of _______, Kumamoto | |||
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Kumamoto is a tourist magnet. The number of tourists interested in Hidden Christians or in Lafcadio Hearn is trivial in comparison. Thirteen structures in the castle complex are designated Important Cultural Property. The stonework is wonderful. The signature curved stone walls, known as musha-gaeshi, as well as wooden overhangs, were designed to prevent attackers from penetrating the castle It's fortifications were first established in 1467. There are excellent museums in Kumamoto but they were all closed: we visited on a Monday. | |||
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This is where Hearn wrote "Natsu No Hi No Yumi" - "Dreams of a Summer Day." This work appears familiar to all Nihonjin. There are pop songs, even pop groups. The location seems to offer peace and refliection.
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Misumi West Port was constructed between 1884 and 1887 by Mulder, a Dutch hydraulics engineer. The port was designed with a 730m long stone wharf and a floating pie. Our reason for stopping is the Lafcadio Hearn memorial.
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In 1960, the castle keep was reconstructed using concrete. From 1998 to 2008, the castle complex underwent restoration work, during which most of the 17th century structures were rebuilt. The castle sustained damage in a magnitude 6.2 eqrthquake that struck at 9:26 pm on 14 April 2016.A stone wall at the foot of the keep partially collapsed, and several of the castles shachihoko ornaments fell from the roof of the keep and broke apart. It sustained further extensive damage the next day on 15 April following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake where some portions were completely destroyed. While the keep itself withstood most of the earthquake with little structural damage, two of the castle's turrets were severely damaged and partially collapsed, more of the exterior walls at the foot of the keep also collapsed, and large amounts of kawara roof tiles on the keep's roof were also disrupted and fell. The repair and restoration of the entire castle is scheduled for completion by the year 2036. | ||
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