Odawara Castle Profile Renewed
Odawara Castle Profile Renewed
2020/08/05
I've renewed the Odawara Castle profile and most notably added an album just for pictures that detail the Sogamae (outer defenses) of Odawara Castle. The Sogamae is a network of over 9km of trenches and earthworks that surrounded Odawara Castle to help defend against Hideyoshi's forces before the Siege of Odawara. There are some remnants in the city but most of them are in the mountains northwest of the castle. I strongly encourage castle fans to have a look at this album.
Another reason to re-visit this castle was to see the recently renovated castle museum. Photos for the rest of the castle have been renewed as well. I think I will need to re-visit Ishigakiyama Castle this fall to update those as well.
With this update, I've also changed how full size photos are displayed. If you click a photo in any album it should open faster. Scaling to different browser sizes should be faster too. Profiles and photos more than 5 yrs old are usually uploaded in 600px sizes which don't enlarge, but more recent photos are uploaded at 2000px and scaled to the browser size. Some contributors though have been uploading even larger photo sizes so I hope this helps the latency of viewing larger photos. This new system works better for large panorama photos too allowing you to zoom in and out for more details. If you run into any problems please let me know.
The museum has been recently renovated with great new exhibits. In particular I appreciated that they have a book of all the exhibits, not just the artifacts but the information panels and displays, which is something I always thought museums should do.
Odawara Castle is like getting two castles for the price of one. The main keep, moats and other great reconstructions of the central compound are what most people are familiar with. While this was the center of the Hojo's castle, structures of this type were not from the Hojo's time. They are Edo Period structures. The Odawara Castle of the Hojo was mostly built over by a new Edo Period castle, but the outer ring of defenses, called the Sogamae, were mostly abandoned after the Siege of Odawara. These classic examples of Hojo type earthworks in the mountains surrounding the city are well preserved in many places today. Here is a good map of the castle and sogamae ruins. Despite visiting twice in the autumn of 2019, I still didn't make it around to all the remnants of this great castle.
The castle is still undergoing study and they are constantly improving the site. Recent efforts have focused on the Sogamae developing parks at the Shinbori Dorui and Hachimanyama East Bailey. Current studies are closer to the inner compounds looking at the Goyomai Bailey. Gardens, stone paths and shojibori moats have been uncovered around this bailey. I really hope they are developed for castles fans to enjoy.
Odawara also provides some apps to help increase your enjoyment of your trip to Odawara.
- Odawara Sampo - Odawara Walking Courses this page on the castle site only lists the Japanese version but here is a link to the English version for iOS - these walking courses include 2 versions that will take you to parts of the Sogamae too.
- Guide to Castle Exhibits - you need to be at the museum for this one to work properly
Jan 17, 2021
Kanazawa Castle Komatsu Castle and Ritsuunkyo (Takeda Castle)
Jan 16, 2021
34 New Nagano Prefecture Castle Profiles from ART
Dec 11, 2020
44 new castle profiles from ART
Dec 7, 2020
17 new castle profiles and 14 samurai residences from ART
Aug 31, 2020
Hishakuyama Castle, Hikobe Yashiki, Teusuyama Fort
Aug 23, 2020
4 Castle Hike in Gunma (Takasaki)
Aug 21, 2020
3 new castles and 2 yakata in Saitama
Aug 17, 2020
Ogyu Castle, Matsudaira Castle, Koromo Castle, Sakura Castle in Toyota City (Aichi Pref.)
Aug 10, 2020
3 Castles and 5 Forts Of Okehazama
Aug 5, 2020
Odawara Castle Profile Renewed
Jul 25, 2020
Asuke Castle, Nagoya Castle, Okazaki Castle Profiles Renewed
Jul 19, 2020
Ogaki Castle, Gifu Castle and Kano Castle Updated
Jul 7, 2020
6 new Tokyo area castles
Jul 1, 2020
Fortified Manors on Jcastle.info and 24 new profiles from ART
Jun 28, 2020
56 New Nagano Prefecture Castle Profiles by ART
Jun 24, 2020
Renewed Hikone Castle and Takatori Castle
May 31, 2020
Sasou Castle and Sawayama Castle
May 23, 2020
Added 3 castles in Tochigi: Nishikata Castle, Manago Castle, Nijo Castle
May 18, 2020
Gochaku Castle, Miyao Castle, Iwakuni Castle
May 16, 2020
Himeji Castle Profile Renewed
Enable comment auto-refresher