Kirk here with a screenshot of one of the pictures from an Asahi Shimbun article entitled “Powerful quake raises nightmare specter of 2011 disaster.” Of course, seeing castle walls destroyed reminded my 2016, not 2011.
Actually, today happened to be my day to get vaccinated at the KKR Hotel, which is very near the castle. On my way back I walked through the castle grounds. The repaired keep (tenshukaku) is looking very good but the castle walls are still largely in disarray because each stone must be located and put back in exactly the same position. For that reason, many of the crumbled walls have not been touched since the quake and now lots of plants can be seen growing in the crevices between the stones. It’s perfectly natural but rather sad looking just the same.
Sendai Castle was build in 1601 (just a year after Kumamoto Castle) by Date Masamune, a figure as important to the people of Sendai as Kato Kiyomasa is to Kumamoto.
I’m thinking of the people of north-eastern Japan today and hoping for the best.