Just wanted to give everyone a head’s up about this, sorry it’s so late!! Megan here!
Until the 28th, you can see the new しゃちほこ 鯱 that will be placed on the roof of Kumamoto Castle (maybe in March or April, my friend wasn’t sure). The roof is almost finished and they’re planning on removing the white cap and displaying the complete roof, adorned with the shachihoko for all to see.
It is 300円 to enter WakuWakuZa but it was worth the price! You can even touch the new shachihoko and take a picture with them. So if you’re not busy on Tuesday or Wednesday, you should head over. It was interesting to see them and get a better understanding of the damage the castle sustained. It was a very informative trip!
For those interested, shachihoko are from Japanese folklore. They are mythical fish that have the head of a tiger and the body of a carp. It was believed that shachihoko could cause the rain to fall, so castles and temples often used them to protect against fire.
Also, fun fact: There were two new pairs of shachihoko crafted for the castle: a larger pair for the greater keep (119 cm tall and 100 kg) and bit smaller pair for the lesser keep (86 cm tall and 70 kg). They were crafted by Kosuke Fujimoto, whose father crafted the previous shachihoko which were completed in 2008.