Welcome to 700 travel blogs, to access a full index on your mobile please scroll to the bottom & choose from 700 locations. Email is [email protected]
Earthquake damages Kumamoto Castle
November 19, 2016by David Herd
Kumamoto Tram
Earthquake damages Kumamoto Castle
Earthquake damages Kumamoto Castle, I was travelling on the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Kagoshima & decided to spend 24 hours in Kumamoto to see the earthquake damage to the beautiful castle. I am very glad I stopped, firstly the damage was more than I expected, secondly Kumamoto turned out to be yet another very interesting Japanese city. The colourful efficient trams were a great way to move around the city.
Comfortable, cheap & efficient
My hotel the Toyoko Inn was in a terrific location but I couldn’t check in until 3 pm so I took a tram to the castle and walked around the perimeter.
First glimpse of the castle
My first reaction was there didn’t seem to be much damage, however I was totally wrong.
Not too much damage on this side
However the further around I went the worse the damage was.
The extent of the damage is starting to show
Naturally the castle is closed due to the damage and lots of work is being carried out.
Crumbling walls
Very few structures have survived the centuries since the castle’s construction in 1607. The original castle keep burnt down in 1877 just before the siege in in the Seinan Civil War.
Three years to repair wall
The city hopes to repair the main keep within three years, while the rest of the grounds are expected to require about 20 years to be fully repaired.
What a mess
Naturally as you would expect the castle grounds are closed to the public indefinitely until further notice. Knowing the nature of Japanese workmen they will ensure the repaired buildings and grounds will be close to perfect for the public to once again enjoy this great Japanese castle.
Earthquake damages Kumamoto Castle
Thanks for visiting my Earthquake damages Kumamoto Castle photo blog.
My history, particularly over the last 30 years is dominated by overseas travel. I sold my home in Australia October 20th 2011 and have have been living in Thailand since then. I don’t know where the time has gone? It seems like you go to sleep one night, wake up the next morning, and 20 years have flashed by. Not sure how many years I have left, however I have enjoyed a wonderful charmed life, and if it all ended today I would leave this world with no regrets.
I was born in Sydney halfway through the last century, started my travels in the 60s with the usual U.K. Europe adventure at the age of 20, back to Australia and worked in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide in Sales & Marketing with multinational companies including Sanyo, Canon & Remington.
Engaged to be married 3 times and never quite made it to the alter, finally realized by the mid 90s I was not cut out for "long term relationships" so I moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland in January 1987, worked for a couple of banks as a Financial Planner, I took a year off work in 1998 to travel and never went back to full time work again, after 25 fun filled years on the Coast I packed up and moved to Thailand.
What is the purpose of this blog? Well I really want to use it to record my travel experiences & to display my photographs, give and receive travel tips, comment on places I visit, restaurants I eat in and use it to replace the autobiography I intended to write, apart from all that it helps me fill in my day. :)
I moved to Thailand mainly because I wanted to keep travelling while my health allowed me to, there are huge advantages being closer to all the places I want to visit.
Cost of living in Thailand is around 35% of the cost in Australia, plus flights are 50% cheaper because you are much closer to everywhere. ????
Consequently I am able to travel to many more places compared to living in Australia.
Having said all that, it is & has always been my intention to return to Australia when my travelling is finished, I predict this will happen around 2021.
