Aizuwakamatsu: Exploring the Byakkotai and Tsurugajo

All buildings, including the main keep, were demolished by 1874, but the main keep was rebuilt in 1965, and during the Heisei era, the tea room and corner turrets were also restored. In 2011, the roof tiles were replaced with the red tiles from the late Edo period, highlighting the beauty of the time.

It began when Ashina Morihisa, the guardian of Aizu during the Muromachi period, built a villa in this area where a sacred spring bubbled up. Later, the founder of the Aizu Matsudaira clan, Matsudaira Masayuki, developed it into a daimyō garden, and the second lord, Masakage, established it as a medicinal herb garden for the prevention and treatment of illnesses for the local people.

Aizu's local cuisine includes dishes like pickled herring with sansho and boiled dried cod. You can savor unique meals such as kozuyu.

It is said that the production of pottery began when the Aizu lord, Gamō Ujisato, had tiles made for the current Tsuruga Castle. Later, in the early Edo period, Matsudaira Masayuki, the founder of the Aizu Matsudaira clan, invited potters from Owari to start full-scale production.

In 1868, during the battle at Togukuhara, the Byakkotai boys suffered a decisive blow. When they fled to Iimoriyama through the tunnel, they mistakenly believed that Tsuruga Castle had fallen while watching a fire in the city, and the Byakkotai boys committed seppuku on the spot. (The image shows the Aizu Festival.)

Aizu's hidden retreat, Higashiyama Onsen, is said to have been discovered about 1300 years ago by the famous monk Gyoki, and is a historic hot spring village counted among the Three Scenic Areas of Ou. Experience the atmosphere of bygone times and soak your feet in the foot bath.