Hagi Castle Town

Background

Hagi Castle Town is in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, around Minami-Kohagi-chō, Gofuku-machi and Horiuchi. White walls, namako-walled earthen walls and summer oranges (natsumikan) leaning over them form its typical streetscape. Three lanes run through it — Kikuya Yokocho, Iseya Yokocho and Edoya Yokocho — and the Kikuya family residence is a large Edo-period merchant house. Horiuchi, the former upper-samurai quarter, keeps its right-angled road bends called "kagimagari." Mōri Terumoto began building Hagi Castle in 1604, and it was completed in 1608; for more than 250 years it was the base of the Chōshū (Hagi) domain. In 1874, under the castle abolition order, its keep and turrets were torn down, leaving only stone walls and water moats; the castle site is now Shizuki Park. This entry covers the castle-town district, and the castle site is described separately. The castle town was designated a National Historic Site in 1967, and in 1976 the Horiuchi district was among the first group of Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings in Japan. In 2015 the "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution" were inscribed as World Heritage, with five component parts in Hagi: the Hagi Reverberatory Furnace, the Ebisugahana Shipyard site, the Ōitayama Tatara Iron Works site, Hagi Castle Town and Shōkason-juku. The World Heritage component "Hagi Castle Town" includes three parts: the castle site, the former upper-samurai quarter and the former merchant quarter. As National Historic Sites, the castle site and the castle town are designated separately. Shōkason-juku stands in the grounds of Shōin Shrine, about 2.7 kilometers east of the castle town. It began as a private school opened by Tamaki Bunnoshin in 1842, was taken over by Yoshida Shōin in 1857, and closed around 1892; its schoolhouse is a small one-story building centered on an 8-tatami lecture room. Shōin was born in 1830 in Matsumoto Village near Hagi Castle and was executed in the Ansei Purge of 1859, at only 29. He ran the school himself for no more than a year or two, yet his students included Takasugi Shinsaku, Kusaka Genzui, Itō Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo. Kido Takayoshi was not a student of the school, but he studied military science under Shōin at the Meirinkan. Hagi ware is prized by tea practitioners, as the saying "first Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu" suggests. It is fired from local clay and is porous, often with a milky-white glaze and fine crackle; its color slowly changes with use, a quality known as the "seven transformations of Hagi" (Hagi no nanabake).

Local customs

Walk the three lanes — Kikuya Yokocho, Iseya Yokocho and Edoya Yokocho — to see the Kikuya family residence, Takasugi Shinsaku's birthplace and Kido Takayoshi's former residence. Go to Shōin Shrine, about 2.7 kilometers east of the castle town, to see the small Shōkason-juku schoolhouse and picture the discussions between teacher and students in front of its 8-tatami lecture room. At Hagi Meirin Gakusha (on the site of the former domain school Meirinkan, in a wooden school building from 1935), see exhibits on the domain school and the Industrial Revolution heritage. Stop by a Hagi ware kiln or shop. If you have time, visit Shizuki Park to see the castle site's stone walls and moats.

Travel tips

• Walking the district is free
• facilities charge separately, as officially announced. The castle town is best explored on foot, so wear comfortable walking shoes
• Shōkason-juku is about 2.7 kilometers from the castle town, so take a bus or cycle between them. Summer sun is strong and winter winds on the Sea of Japan side are cold, so dress for the season. Hagi ware is fragile, so take care with packing when you buy.
• Take the JR San'in Main Line to Higashi-Hagi Station, then the Hagi city loop bus: the westbound loop stops near "Hagi-jō Jōkamachi Iriguchi" and the eastbound loop at "Shōin Jinja-mae"
• you can also rent a bicycle. From Shin-Yamaguchi Station, express buses run to Hagi. Check official notices for timetables. Cherry blossoms around Shizuki Park are the signature of spring, and the streets are lovely in autumn
• in winter, summer oranges hanging on the trees are a highlight of the streetscape. Stone paving is slippery in the rain.