Photo/Illutration The three-story “yagura” defense tower of Miharu Castle recreated using virtual reality technologies (Provided by the Miharu town office)

MIHARU, Fukushima Prefecture--The ruins of Miharu Castle, which once dominated this town in northeastern Japan, can now be viewed in all its former glory courtesy of an app developed by the municipal government.

Digitally reconstructed virtual reality images of the feudal-era castle come up when an exclusive smartphone app is accessed at the hilltop site.

Town authorities developed the app in the hope it would promote the charms of the castle town and encourage tourism.

The VR images are recreated using an app called StreetMuseum.

Visitors using smartphones installed with the app near the castle ruins on a 400-meter hill close to the town office building will be able to view the main gate, the three-story “yagura” defense tower, the main residence and other structures.

The app, which can be downloaded for free, also displays a bird’s-eye view of the castle and images of the castle town.

According to town officials and experts, Miharu Castle was built in 1504.

It was a typical mountain castle that was occupied by the Tamura clan during the Warring States period (late 15th to late 16th centuries) and by the Matsushita and Akita clans during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

Like many other castles from the feudal period, it was dismantled after the 1868 Meiji Restoration. The site is currently used as a park.

In 2017, the Japan Castle Foundation included Miharu Castle in its second list of 100 famous castles in Japan.

Town officials started the VR project this fiscal year as part of measures to promote the castle town, using subsidies for the promotion of regional revitalization provided by the prefectural government.

The VR images were created based on drawings from the Edo Period, which are housed at the town-run history and folklore museum. Masayuki Miura, a professor emeritus at Hiroshima University who is well-versed in castle architecture, served as supervisor for the project.

The town office provides tourism information through the app. It also plans to host a stamp-print collecting event from April.

“Miharu Castle is the symbol of our town’s history and culture. We want to make use of the VR images for tourism and education,” Mayor Hiroyuki Sakamoto said.

Related News