Komoro Castle Ruins - Kaikoen Park — Attraction in Komoro

Kaikoen(castle ruins), Komoro, Nagano, Japan. The Yatsugatake High Country rail which passes the highest station in the whole of Japan: Nobeyama is a restful way to see the spectacular countryside of the Japan alps on the way to the the castle ruin park Kaikoen of Komoro in Nagano Japan.

400 yen includes tickets to the Memorial Hall of Toson, the Koyama Keizo Museum of Art, and the Chokokan weapons museum. The castle ruin gardens are free. Toson was one the major authors of the Meiji period renowned for social realism; ‘The Broken Commandment’ depicts the life of a young man born into the despised burakumin class. Keizo Koyama’s Japanese western style paintings recapture the beauty of Komoro and the surrounding alps. Bridges, stone gardens and all that Japanese traditional gardens encapsulate can be found in this peaceful, uncrowded castle ruin park. Come November, the autumnal reds will bring the park ablaze, just as spring with transform the park with the cherry blossoms.

Opposite the park’s entrance a long line of people wait patiently for a seat in Kusabue (Whistling Grass) Soba restaurant . Be sure to write your name in the book before lining up!!! We lined up for maybe 30 minutes and we’re not disappointed; Toson soba included tempura, apples, walnuts, wakame(seaweed) and nagaimo(mountain potato).

The station is filled with home grown produce and an honesty box. We feasted on fresh apples on our train trip home. Four apples for 200 yen.

Komoro is well connected by rail and well off the usual...

かつて小諸城があり、江戸時代には小諸藩の藩庁が置かれ、藩の政治の中心部として機能していた史跡。現在は公園として整備され、有料で一般公開されている。 公園として整備されているものの、現在に至るまで城として機能していた時代の発掘調査が至る所で行われているため、敷地の全ての領域に立ち入れるわけではない。その一方で、明確にゾーニングされた上で、敷地内には小規模な遊園地や動物園、博物館、神社があり、しばしば訪れる人を驚かせる。しかし、ゾーニングされているからか、遊園地は色とりどりのアトラクションがあるものの、それ以外のスポットは派手な装飾はあまりなく、あまり景観を損ねていないような設計になっている。 立ち入れる範囲内だけであればそれ程広くは無いのだが、このようにスポットが多岐に渡っているため、敷地周遊するだけでも1時間は簡単に過ぎてしまう。城自体が天然の要害を巧みに利用して設計されたからか、千曲川をはじめ城からの眺望が素晴らしい。また、城跡としての見どころは、現存する石垣も勿論だが、城内に張り巡らされたように造られた空堀だろう。あまりにも大きく深く、簡単に敵を寄せ付けない造りが目を見張らせるだろう。動物園、遊園地、神社に立ち寄らなくても、往年の城の造りを充分に堪能できる史跡であると思う。

This is a historic site where there used to be Komoro Castle, and during the Edo period, the Komoro clan's clan office was located here, functioning as the political center of the clan. It has now been developed as a park and is open to the public for a fee. Although it has been developed as a park, excavation surveys are still being carried out in various places from the period when it was still functioning as a castle, so it’s not possible to enter all areas of the grounds. On the other hand, the site is clearly zoned, and there is a small amusement park, zoo, museum and shrine on the grounds, which often surprises visitors. However, perhaps because of the zoning, although the amusement park has a variety of colorful attractions, the other spots do not have much flashy decoration, and the design does not seem to spoil the scenery too much. If you only go as far as you can walk, it's not that big, but because there are so many different spots like this, it's easy to spend an hour just walking around the grounds. Perhaps because the castle itself was designed to make good use of the natural defences, the views from the castle, including the Chikumagawa River, are wonderful. Also, as a castle ruin, the highlight is of course the stone walls that still exist, but it's probably the dry moat that was built to encircle the castle grounds. The size and depth of the moat are so great that it would be hard for enemies to get close, and the structure is truly impressive. Even if you don't stop by the zoo, amusement park or shrine, I think this is a historic site where you can fully enjoy the structure of the castle...

2025年4月17日(木曜日)に、小諸城址公園の桜を見物に伺いました。 当日は朝から非常に良い天気で、まさにお花見日和となりました。 我が家は神奈川県にあり、自宅からは、「丹沢大山国定公園」の山頂まで見ることができます。 余談ですが、この大山は江戸時代大山詣でで非常に盛んにいるやに西方から産経に訪れられた名所であります。大山の標高は1251.7ｍあり、関東一円からこの採用は見渡すことができます。その麓に新たに新党名が据え付けられ、この観光地に便利になったインターチェンジが令和2（2020）...