hikone and castle, shiga

i’ve been to shiga twice before – once as part of an english summer camp, and the other for my translation/interpretation course – but never had the chance to sightsee in the prefecture.

i made my way to hikone, the town famous for Hikone Castle, one of the few original remaining castles left in japan (most of them, like the garish Osaka Castle, were all rebuilt, and some fairly recently too).

And the castle pretty much is the only thing in the town worth seeing. Hikone seemed really quiet; i was there around 3.30pm but there was hardly anyone (much less tourists) about. Most of the people I saw were students jogging around the castle’s moat.

just outside Hikone JR station, you’ll first come across this:

note the really cute miniature model of the castle, and the samurai’s helmet, whose look i assume is what Hikonyan, the uber cute mascot of Hikone, is based on:

see the cat figure on the right of Hikonyan? he’s one of the sidekicks; the tourist information office below the station sells cups featuring each member of the Hikonyan + sidekicks crew! i’d always thought that Hikonyan was a solo act.

just before entering the castle compound, i came across this shrine which had an uncommon feature:

 

there was a little corner dedicated to peace statues and memorials – i’ve seen a fair number of these in various temples and shrines, but they’re usually just a simple plaque like the one in the following picture or a bell; never have they ever featured a human face of war.

Hikonyan is there to greet you right outside the castle’s admission ticket booths. this is my favourite position of his:

some pics of the castle’s exterior:

the view from just outside the castle – i heard a guide telling a trio of ladies that you can see lake biwa from where we were, but i spotted no sign of it:

ruins of a wall – can you spot the kitty?

Hikone castle is surprisingly small. It was only 3 stories high, and not very spacious either. It looks a lot bigger than it actually is, as you have to climb up some fairly steep steps before reaching the inner castle grounds. Inside the castle are some of the steepest and narrowest flights of stairs i’ve ever seen too:

i was a little nervous as i took the above shot. if you’ve been to himeji castle and thought that the stairs were bad, these are far worse. good thing there’re only a few of them; i still wouldnt recommend Hikone castle for people my parent's age though..

adjacent to the castle is Genkyu-en, a pretty little garden that is meant to contain the 8 scenic spots of Lake Biwa in the form of rock formations. I couldnt identify any – mainly cos i dont know what the 8 spots are, besides Hikone Castle – but it made a pleasant enough stroll. Admission to the garden is in the same ticket as that to the castle, so it’s very much worth seeing.

there was this interesting bridge made entirely out of reeds; most bridges i’ve seen here are either wooden, concrete or stone:

more views of the garden – the sun was out that day, and the foliage looked to me almost exactly the same colour as they’ve turned out in the pictures!:

heading out from the castle’s main gate, you will come across Yume Kyobashi - a stretch of touristy but traditional-looking shops on both sides of a road leading out from the castle’s main gate. Guidebooks might recommend it, but I’d suggest you skip that bit entirely, as the shops arent as interesting as those you can find anywhere else near tourist attractions in Japan, and that it requires a detour away from the train station.

i saw an interesting sign along that street though:

 

the area around Yume Kyobashi seems to have been revitalised recently; there was a plaque with the tagline “New Old Town”. Indeed there were some pretty and new buildings; some sections even seemed un-japanese, with european-style beautiful signs hanging perpendicular to the building above the shop.

i suppose the area is nice enough to wander around in, but it’s a bit harder to navigate as it doesnt have any T-junctions. Roads come up straight against a row of buildings, so you can never see where you’re going beyond what’s perhaps 50-100m ahead of you - “unique characteristics of a castle town”, as a sign informed me, without actually pointing me in the direction of the train station :P

that little wander (and getting lost) around Yume Kyobashi yielded me this – i find signs in Japan a mixture of the funny and slightly disturbing:

as well as a photo-op of Hikonyan and two of his ultra cute sidekicks in a shop window:

i think Hikonyan is the cutest ever Japanese mascot, and his friends pack a pretty punch too. now, if only the mascot i see the most – Sento-kun – was half as appealing as Hikonyan….