Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories featuring the aesthetic landscapes of Mount Fuji, Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture and Izu in Shizuoka Prefecture, which have been visited by an increasing number of tourists from overseas. Based on conversations with travelers, the series casts light on sceneries and cultural heritages that gave form to these areas.

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Near the Akagane-mon gate of Odawara Castle I ran into a visitor from Britain, Steve Murphy, 65, who had just come from the main keep.

He has been fascinated by Japan ever since he was a teenager after seeing an ukiyo-e featuring big waves and Mount Fuji drawn by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), he said on Oct. 4. It was his first trip to Japan, during which he also watched Rugby World Cup matches.

“This one has been recreated, reconstructed since 1960, which is great. Very interesting,” Murphy said of the main keep.

He also cited an English royal house that began in 1603, the same year when the Edo Period (1603-1867) started, saying that the look of the entire exterior of the castle had something in common “to match with our period of history in the 1600s, which is our Stuart period.”

Odawara Castle was abolished after the Meiji Restoration that restored imperial rule, with its main keep and gates dismantled. After the end of World War II in the Showa Era (1926-1989), the city government placed importance on entertainment and built a zoo, an amusement park and a baseball field at the ruins of the castle.

Meanwhile, residents had a deep-rooted adoration for the castle structures. City officials rebuilt the main keep in 1960 with donations raised by residents and city bonds issued for international tourism projects.

Murphy also spoke highly of exhibits and footage shown inside the main keep and added that a replica of a street scene from the 1600s would be a great addition.

"People can see the living history," he said. "It takes you back to the samurai period and (the time of) the shogun."

Actually, there is a space made of lumber on the top floor of the main keep which is identical to one from the Edo Period. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell Murphy about it because he had hastened to Odawara Station.

The room with a floor space of about 40 square meters, which was added to the structure in 2016 based on a model of Odawara Castle’s main keep passed down from the feudal times, is called “Marishiten-zo Anchi Kukan” (space dedicated to the statue of Marishiten).

The Buddhist deity of Marishiten (Marici) is the boar-riding guardian of samurai warriors. It is believed that the statue was enshrined by Okubo Tadatomo, who became lord of the Odawara Domain in 1686. The statue has a significant presence in the space equivalent to that of Odawara Castle before it was demolished.

The central pillar of the Anchi Kukan space is called “Shogun Bashira” (Shogun’s pillar), which is about 45 centimeters in diameter. It was made from a cedar tree singled out from its siblings planted in an Odawara Domain-controlled forest after Mount Fuji erupted in 1707, before it was crafted into an octagonal shape. Many people enjoy the texture of the 300-year-old wood, with the parts within the reach of visitors faintly smeared.

However, there are no descriptions about the Anchi Kukan in foreign languages. Video footage shown nearby is available only in Japanese. The city government may as well devise ways to meet the needs of many foreign tourists interested in history like Murphy.

After rebuilding the main keep, the city government also restored the Akagane-mon and Umadashi-mon gates. It intends to restore a Warring States period (late 15th to late 16th centuries) garden and other facilities at the ruins of the Goyomai Kuruwa rice storage area, where a baseball field once stood.

Meanwhile, in Honmaru Hiroba square, where there was once a zoo, tourists can walk around in costumes of feudal warlords, ninja and princesses available for rental.

On weekends, they can also learn ninja skills.

On Oct. 5, Bailey Draper, 13, from Australia, threw a star-shaped “shuriken” dagger that landed slightly above the target.

“It’s harder than it looks,” he said. “Next time, definitely get the ten (points).”

“To have a look at the history of Japan, it’s amazing,” his mother, Jenny, 50, said, adding that they wanted to see cultural and historical heritages without Western influence.

When I recommended the statue of Marishiten and the Shogun Bashira pillar, she said: “That’s a beautiful part, yes. We love it,” before heading to the main keep with her son.

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Eiichi Murano is chief of The Asahi Shimbun’s Odawara and Atami bureaus.