William. A short moat traverses the distance between the path from the castle parking lot to the road to the parking lot. It is called yakkenbori or yagenbori (薬研堀) and is usually dry (karabori - 空堀). It’s a fun place to play with young children because they can’t get too far and the scenery is wonderful. However, due to the recent deluge, it is dry no more; officials note that the drain at the lower end of the moat may have been damaged during the quakes, but that’s a good thing as all of that water would have flowed down to Josaien. I suppose one could still play there, but bring a swimsuit. Video at the link. https://youtu.be/nkaNEJxq84s https://www.tku.co.jp/news/?news_id=20210814-00000004 *Addendum: There has been some discussion about whether the kanji 薬研堀 is pronounced “yakkenbori,” as our friend Michael Rupp believes, or “yagenbori,” as our friend Hiromi Chida maintains - she notes the reporter used the former but thinks he made a mistake. But this is Japan - they’re probably both right.