Hagi Castle Ruins in Shizuki Park is located in downtown Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture and used to be the place where Hagi Castle once stood. Mouri Terumoto moved to Hagi after suffering defeat at the Battle of Sekigahara. He then built the castle in 1604.
The castle used to be called Shizuki Castle since it was located at the bottom of Mount Shizuki. However, in 1874 the castle was dismantled (by official order) after it had been abandoned for some time. Although most of the castle is gone, some structures still remain to the present day, such as its stone walls and moat. The stone walls are especially beautiful. When looking at this you can imagine what the castle used to look like. The nearby park covers about 200,000 square meters and offers a great place to cycle around and experience the rich history of the area.
Nearby to these ruins is Shizukiyama Shrine which is dedicated to the 12th castle owners. When walking around the park, you can see a big stone gate, called a torii. When entering the gate, there is the main hall. During spring, you can see midori yoshino. These are a special type of cherry blossom, which come into full bloom during this season. You can see midori yoshino only in Hagi City and they are specified as a Natural Treasure in Japan. Therefore, it is very precious to see such a flower. Of course, you can also see some other cherry blossoms and the scenery is beautiful! Spring is the best season for the castle and the park thanks to these cherry blossoms!
There are many tourist attractions such as the Kikuya family residence and the birthplace of Takasugi Shinsaku is also in the Hagi Castle downtown area, which is registered as a World Cultural Heritage site. If you rent a bicycle, you can easily access to the tourist attractions and look around these sites easily. I hope you can enjoy Hagi Castle ruins, Shizuki Park, and the downtown area!
