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The road south of Nagasaki The Hara Castle ruins is the main objective of this day of driving.
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| Road to Hara | Unzen fumeroles | Shimabara town | |
| Hara castle ruins | |||
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_15nov12_0939.jpg The only picture we snapped of farming.  |
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Our route crossed the volcanic national park. Mt. Unzen is a very active, very powerful volcano. It has killed many people.
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A castle town know for its fresh artesian water, 1000 tons flows every day along the old streets and within the gardens of the tea houses and guest houses. It was known as the "Town of Swimming Carp"
This vigorously flowing clear water, routed everywhere, is refreshing to see. Probably thanks to the rapid flow there are fewer insects than one would expect. But behold the moss and lichen! We bought macha castella at a castella bakery in the back streets. Castella was developed in Nagasaki via Dejima and the taste for castella and methods of its making emminated outward. Here remains the best. | ||
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_15nov12-nn_2333.jpg Resting at a tea room.  |
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The remains of Hara Castle has been determined as a World Heritage Site in 2018.
"By 1637, more than 20 years after the ban on Christianity, Japanese leaders assumed that the foreign religion no longer existed in the country. But a rebellion erupted in the former Christian districts of Shimabara and Amakusa the same years. The Matsukara family, who had taken control of the Shimabara domain in the wake of Arima Harunoba's death imposed heavy taxes and mistreated former Christians. The people of Amakusa suffered similar abuse. Famine added to their hardships, and the people of the two districts rose up in protest. Led by the charismatic youth Amakusa Shiro, the rebels surrounded Tamioka Castle but failed to break its defences and finally corssed the Ariake Seak and took up positions in the ruins of Hara Castle, joining their Shimabara comrades and growing to some 37,000 in number. The Shoganate dispatched a force of 120,000 to suppress the rebelliion but the leader, Itakura Shigemasa, was killed in battle. His successor, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, used starvation tactics and also enjoyned the Dutch to bombard Hara Castle from the sea. The Shogun's forces quashed the rebellion and put the severed head of Amakusa Shiro on display near Dejima. As a result of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637 the Shogunate decided to expel the Portuguese from Japan. The Dutch, meanwhile, gained the trust of the authorities after they bombarded Hara Castle where the insurgents had taken refuge. They thus gained a monopoly on European trade with Japan. | ||
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_15nov13-nn_1726a.jpg There is actually almost nothing to see. All that remains is a modest size flat terrace. Not even foundations remain.  |
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