oka jyo was probably the coolest location of all because of the location,even w/o a tower, to build the foundation there must have been a huge burden...

I love castles, it's the history behind them that always gets me, these are beautiful, but my favourite is the Fukoka and oka castle ruins, don't know why really, I guess because out of all, they have seen the most.

those castles rock!  I'm hoping to goto Japan for vacation next year, and I'm definately coming to you for traveling tips before I go :)

seems very interesting, so many temples in Japan alone... i must go there ...

actually i enjoy the earthworks design more than just the 天守 design. (don't let these pictures fool you!)  Kumamoto castle has an amazing series of walls and motes!

this title definitely glued me to the monitor with immediate effect...
i'm a castle fan, more of a European Castle fan tho, maybe Chinese-influenced Asian Castles look more or less like temples, but some Japanese Castles have really nice landscaping!
if i ever visit one, i think i'll take hundreds of shoots...i'll take whatever comes into view that is interesting...i'm crazy...all my friends think i am...i take pictures everywhere, even when i'm in the streets and i see something amusing...
this is the wonders of digicams...unlimited films...i can never go back to using a 35mm camera with 36-images film strip...nooo waaay...

you can get pretty far in Japan w/ only understanding kanji.  stuff like signs and place names.   better than most westerners!

Should have learnt Japanese. I can only identify the Kanji characters...

w00t! i just added three more.  up to 19! ;-)

There's an old song I like called Ghost Castle or something. Do you know it? Kind of a haunting song with sad lyrics.

there are actually lots more. that is just a few of them!

Wow!  I didn't know there were so many Japanese castles!  What a great experience for you to visit them.  Thank you for sharing your pics.

P.S. Who ARE those three Ninjas? *razz*

wo ~great~want to go~