Shingu Castle (Koka)

History

It is not known who built this castle but it was likely to be a branch family of Hattori. The main Hattori Castle is about 200 meters away. Shingu Castle is considerably well developed so it would have been an important castle and possibly one that helped to hide Rokkaku Yoshikata when he fled Nobunaga's forces. See The Castles of Koka for more details.

The main Bailey is approximately 25m x 30m with 4m high embankments. From the bottom of the trenches today to the top of the main Bailey embankment peaks at about 10m at its highest point. On the North and South sides of the castle are high embankments built outside the main bailey. The castle features terraced baileys along the trail to the main bailey and a kind of masugata square entrance built into the Second Bailey, which also connects directly to the entrance to the Main Bailey. This structure for the masugata indicates the castle was just the original main bailey. The masugata entrance was likely added in the Sengoku Period and then the Second Bailey and terraced baileys were subsequently built down the ridge side.

The opening in the north side of the main bailey that drops down the steep side (kirigishi) is likely from erosion or other latter man-made reason. The entrance looking location with Dobashi (earthen bridge) over the trench in the southwest side with a sign for the castle was also probably added later to make it easier to traverse the castle for other work in the mountains.

Visit Notes

Shingu Castle is paired with nearby Shingushi Castle and is one of the largest and best of the Koka Castles. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2008 as part of the "National Historic Sites of the Kokagunchuso".

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Castle Profile
English Name	Shingu Castle (Koka)
Japanese Name	新宮城
Founder	Hattori? / unknown
Year Founded	Muromachi Period (1336-1573)
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Konan Sta. (JR Kusatsu Line); 35 min walk
Visitor Information	park, open any time
Time Required	60 mins
Location	Koka, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	34° 55' 3.79" N, 136° 9' 43.81" E
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Collections	Koka Castles
Admin
Added to Jcastle	2022
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2022
Admin Visits	February 11, 2022
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