Hikone Castle visit 5/15

   Hikone Castle was the second castle we visited after Nagoya Castle. Naturally, I compared these two castles. Unlike Nagoya Castle which was reconstructed due to the destroy from the war, Hikone Castle was well kept and survived after a long time. Therefore, I personally prefer Hikone Castle than Nagoya Castle. The steep stairs was kind of inconvenient and scary, but it kept the original of the castle.

Hikone Castle

   The most interesting thing was seeing the Hikonyan, the mascot of Hikone Castle. He was really cute and every guest seemed like him. It just supported how successful the invention of Hikonyan was.

The mascot Hikonya

Hikonyan was created in 2006. The creation of Hikonyan did bring a lot of guests to come to visit Hikone Castle. According to Mr. Yasui's presentation, in 2007, there was about 750,000 people come to visit. And it was the third most attendance in the castle's history. Apparently, the invention of Hikonyan caused a great impact on the local economy.

However, I was a little bit concerned about what exactly can make people aware of the history, including the ancient and valuable buildings. Using mascots is a way to attract people to come to visit the castle. Most people might come to visit only because of the adorable mascot but not willingness to learn the history. It was kind of pathetic that ancient culture is ignored and modern people are using additional stuffs to request guests to come. In other word, in a way, the primary position of the castle is replaced by the mascot. But anyway, the mascot did help a lot in attracting guests.

For whatever reason it is, the history should be always highly valued. There are so many ways to make the public know the history. I think the key is that people they actually learn the history. Then the purpose or whatever methods used can be concluded as successful.