Last week drove down to the Odawara Castle located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan on the way to a hot spring close to the coast to take a break from work for a few days. On the way after coming out of a turn on a new highway which reduces an hour and thirty minutes driving time to Odawara, Japan was able to get this image in through the windshield of the car of Mount Fuji on a spectacularly clear day.
The Odawara Castle is a well known tourist attraction and a landmark site in the city of Odawara. Even though I've lived in Japan for years, never made it to Odawara until last week. What surprised me were how many foreigners were in the city of Odawara especially around the train station. As readers can see from the beautiful vivid blue sky in this image of the castle, it was a spectacularly clear day and hardly any people visiting the castle. Outside around the very top of the castle is a walkway where it is possible to walk around the upper part of the castle to get a fantastic view of the ocean. If the image of the castle is viewed there is a steel fence that can be see on the second section from the top of the tiered roof. That is where the outdoor walkway is located.
Inside the castle on the very upper floor a 300 year old tree was cut, finished and used as a support structure when the castle was remolded a few years ago. The carpentry used was as one would expect from the highly skilled Japanese carpenters, put in place with exacting and perfectly fitted tight joints where the large 300 year old tree support meets the ceiling and the floor.
One of the most iconic swords ever forged out of steel is the katana sword which there is one on display inside the castle. This katana sword traces its history back to 1887 when it was forged for one of the members of the Odawara family. I've watched a blacksmith in Japan who are becoming fewer and fewer, forge a katana sword. It is hard to imagine the skill required and the years and years of patient tedious work to forge one of these swords without watching for a few hours.
After leaving the castle standing in the court yard around the castle are these enormous trees. One tree standing directly in front of the castle in the image below is 400 years old. The tree has seen lightening strikes, typhoon winds and heavy snow causing some of its bark to be ripped off in a vertical direction when large branches broke off. This tree is prevented from falling after a large steel frame was built to support the tree from tilting anymore than it already is.
If anyone visits Japan the Odawara Castle is definitely a must see if you visit the Odwara area. It is very easy to get to by train from Tokyo Station.