Takashima-jo

Last castle on the tour-de-Nagano Castles.

We got into Suwa fairly late (well, it was dark when we were leaving Matsumoto, then we had an hour or so train ride), found a place for dinner, checked out the castle, and headed back to the hotel. The next morning we were up to be at the castle when it opened at 9. A surprising number of other people were there, too!

Takashima castle is a reconstruction, but fairly cute. The museum inside displays items from the area of Suwa and details the history or the castle, town, and the town's famous dyeing techniques. Suwa is a very, very, very old town and at one time was its own 'country'.

This picture is taken from the apple orchard across the street from the castle. I took a bunch of shots from across the moat, but the light was bad due to shadows in the foreground and direct sunlight in the background, and although the gate is lovely when the sakura are in bloom, in the fall it looks rather desolate.

November 2012.

Other castles in Nagano: