Sunset over lake Inba-numa in Chiba Prefecture.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being hired for a photo shoot in Narita in Chiba Prefecture, in an amazing park and temple complex not far from Narita Airport that I will have to write about sometime soon.  The photo shoot finished early, and since I didn’t want to waste a beautiful day by heading straight home, I decided to see what else was nearby to check out.  I quickly realized that I was only a short train ride from Sakura, a city in northern Chiba that was, at one time, home to a large castle.  Since castles are kind of my thing, I set off on an adventure that was a bit more than I had expected in the best way possible.

A dry moat separates baileys of Sakura Castle, which is surrounded by sakura trees.  Sakura Castle is unique in that, rather than the usual stone walls, the castle was protected by this style of earthworks.

Sakura Castle was built from 1610 to 1617 under the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu on the remains of an incomplete fortification built by the Chiba Clan to serve as protection for the eastern flank of Edo Castle.  One of Tokugawa’s chief advisors, Doi Toshikatsu, was given a large turret, or Yagura, from Edo Castle and told to establish the newly minted Sakura Domain.  He served as Daimyo there until promoted in 1633 when he was promoted to a larger domain.  Eventually, the domain and castle passed to the Hotta Clan – also Tokugawa Shogunate Advisors – who held the castle until the end of the Edo Period when the feudal system was abolished and the castle torn down.  Sakura Castle is also notable as it was a collection of dry moats, earthworks, and buildings, but contained none of the stone walls or large fortified gates found in other castles.  Today, very little remains of the castle, other than some of the earthworks and moats, and a single gate.  The castle site is a large park and a large part of the grounds are taken up by the National Museum of Japanese History – which sadly was closed when I visited.  Appropriately the site of Sakura Castle famously has numerous cherry trees throughout the grounds, making it a great place to visit during the first week of April.

A statue of Townsend Harris stands in Sakura Castle Ruins Park. Harris was an American diplomat who was responsible for convincing the Japanese Shogunate to open the country to trade in the 1860s. The lord of Sakura Castle and close adviser to the Shogun Hotta Masayoshi was assigned to carry out the negotiations, which lasted several weeks. Finally, Harris stated that the two would only reach a good trade agreement through “mutual friendship”. After two years of negotiations, the first treaty between Japan and the U.S. was signed.

After exploring the castle, I wandered out the back gate, an original structure that was moved around the city for a while before being returned to the castle to serve as a back entrance.  Beyond the back gate, is a large river which fed the outer water moats and also feeds the nearby Lake Inba Numa and surrounding marshland.  This area is a nature photographer’s dream and very soon I found myself walking along the river, surrounded by fields, with only a few fishermen anywhere near me.  It was a glorious feeling, especially in late afternoon.  The lake itself was beautiful, and felt more like the lakes where I would go fishing when I was a kid.  In fact, American servicemen in the 1940s and 1950s thought the same thing and introduced largemouth bass and bluegills into the lakes, which are now seen as invasive species.  The lake is also a great place to see waterfowl, like cranes and herons.

The Chiba countryside around Lake Inba Numa. It was amazing how, just by going from one side of Sakura Castle to the other, I had completely left the city and found myself surrounded by fields.

Sakura is a great place to visit, and there was much more to see, even just in the castle park and museum, but I sadly was short on time.  Even if you just want to get away from the city and spend the day walking through nature and surrounded by farms and fields, Sakura is the place to go.  And while the city is far from where I live in Kanagawa, it is an easy day trip from Tokyo.  One day, even though it is far, I will need to visit again, even if just to sit on the shores of Lake Inba Muma and soak in the nature.