Edit castle info: Busetsu Castle

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English Name: Most widely known name in English only, don't use -jo
Japanese Name (Kanji):
Japanese name in Romaji:
Alternate Names:
Founder:
Year Founded:
Castle Type:	MountaintopHilltopFlatlandFortified Manor
Castle Condition:	Original main keepReconstructed main keepNo main keep but other buildingsRuins only
Designations:	Top 100 Castles  Next 100 Castles  UNESCO World Heritage Site  has Important Cultural Properties  has National Treasures  Top 100 Mountaintop Castles  National Historic Site  Prefectural Historic Site  Local Historic Site  Special Historic Site
Historical Period: Check Edo Period only if the castle active during the Edo Period, otherwise check Pre-Edo Period	Edo PeriodPre Edo Period
Main Keep Structure: ex: 5 levels, 6 floors
Year Reconstructed:
Artifacts: List any original buildings that survived	Kuruwa
Features: Features you can see at this castle today	main keep  gates  turrets  bridges  palace  samurai homes  water moats  trenches  stone walls  walls  castle town
Access: basic access directions to the castle from the nearest station. ex: 15 min bus (bus #15) from Hachioji Station, 5 min walk. If you want to add many details about the route please use the Notes field
Visitor Information: Input hours and admission fees if relevant
Time Required: Time required onsite to tour the castle
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City:
Prefecture:	Aichi PrefectureAkita PrefectureAomori PrefectureChiba PrefectureEhime PrefectureFukui PrefectureFukuoka PrefectureFukushima PrefectureGifu PrefectureGunma PrefectureHiroshima PrefectureHokkaidoHyogo PrefectureIbaraki PrefectureIshikawa PrefectureIwate PrefectureKagawa PrefectureKagoshima PrefectureKanagawa PrefectureKochi PrefectureKumamoto PrefectureKyotoMie PrefectureMiyagi PrefectureMiyazaki PrefectureNagano PrefectureNagasaki PrefectureNara PrefectureNiigata PrefectureOita PrefectureOkayama PrefectureOkinawa PrefectureOsakaSaga PrefectureSaitama PrefectureShiga PrefectureShimane PrefectureShizuoka PrefectureTochigi PrefectureTokushima PrefectureTokyoTottori PrefectureToyama PrefectureWakayama PrefectureYamagata PrefectureYamaguchi PrefectureYamanashi Prefecture
Notes: useful information about visiting the site, impressions, etc that are not entered elsewhere	Busetsu is a hirayama-jo, a mountain and flat-land castle, well situated on a hill overlooking the Busetsu Valley on the delta of the Kuroda River to the north and the Nagura River to the east acting as natural moats. The old Bukeyashiki, warrior residences were located in an area directly north east of the castle, with Chuma Kaido running between the samurai homes. The castles’ main gate, the Daimon, was to north east. The lower areas directly west of the castle was marsh land adding to the fortresses’ protection. The castle ruins descend like steps with the Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru constructed one below the other in a line, forming a Renkakushiki formation. This suggests a weak formation, as the important Honmaru baily is exposed on three sides, however the area is surrounded by numerous kuruwa baileys affording adequate protection. Busetsu has 16 main baileys, and over 30 smaller baileys. A swordsmith forgery was located on the site of one of the lower baileys. The amount of earthworks and the quality of the early 16th century manual labor is amazing. Having large numbers of baileys carved into the hillside means lots of kirigishi, artificially created cliffs and steep slopes. A large Karabori, dry moat, winds its way through the site, linked to smaller dry moats carved into the hill itself. These remain in form from over 500 years ago! The site of the monomidai tower and noroshi smoke signal tower above the Honmaru now houses a small shrine. The Honmaru bailey is vacant, but is used as the shrine’s carpark. The Ninomaru bailey is also vacant, but the San-no-maru is now a vegetable garden. One of the larger baileys has long been used as graveyard, another as a gate-ball field. Others are gardens and even private housing on the castle site. Most are now overgrown with trees and bamboo. The site hasn’t been maintained very well, and although a road has been built leading to the Honmaru, although it does not follow the original path in and out of the castle. It is thought the original route led from the Jokamachi, castle town below, to the lower corner of the San-no-maru bailey. The castle has not yet undergone any research excavations, and one of the reasons is because it is dubious much would be revealed. The Honmaru and Ninomaru are now vacant, but during WWII were used as potato growing fields, which appears to have been the reason for the important soseki building foundation base stones having been dug up and removed. I discovered piles of large stones, which appear to be both soseki foundation stones and possibly roof weighting stones in the Ni-no-maru bailey. On March 30, 1984, the ruins of Busetsu Castle were designated as a Toyota City (former Inabu Town) Historic Site, along with nearby Busetsu Kojo. Profile by Chris Glenn.
History:	Busetsu was a small but prominent castle built circa 1504 – 1520 by Suganuma Sadanobu, lord of nearby Damine Castle on a 70m high hill in Inabu, modern-day north eastern Aichi Prefecture. Also known as Chifuku -Jo, Busetsu Castle lay on the border of Mikawa, Shinshu and Mino provinces, overlooking the important Chuma-Kaido highway, which branched off to the equally strategically important Iida-Kaido trade route. 450m north of the castle is the site of the Kamakura period (1185 -1333) Busetsu Ko-jo, or Old Busetsu Castle, built by the Nakura clan high on a mountain overlooking the present site. Surrounded by Kawate Castle, Natsuyake Castle, Oshiyama Castle, Naka Castle, Noiri Castle and other fortificated mountaintops, Busetsu Castle was active for around 100 years and played an important role at the center of the information network, conveying enemy information via smoke signals. In 1556, Shimojo Nobuuji of Shinshu (Nagano) attacked and brought down Busetsu after a fierce battle. During the Battle of Busetsu Valley, a princess of the castle fearing the invading forces committed suicide by jumping down a well, now known as Himedo (Princess Well). Busetsu’s existence was of interest to the Takeda and the Tokugawa. In 1571, Takeda Shingen commenced a full-scale assault against Mikawa, leading an army of 25, 000 men from Iida southwards. Shocked at the numbers, Busetsu surrendered without fighting. The Takeda then attacked Asuke and Kameyama castles before Noda Castle in Shinshiro, in 1573, where Shingen was shot by a sniper. Tokugawa Ieyasu’s eldest son, Matsudaira (Tokugawa) Nobuyasu fought his first battle aged 14 at the attack on Busetsu in 1573 in an attempt to win back the fortress. Busetsu is next mentioned in history books and the Shincho-koki, the Chronicles of Lord Oda Nobunaga in 1575, after the late Takeda Shingen’s son, Takeda Katsuyori had attacked and taken Ena Akechi Castle, then attacked and captured another 18 castles before arriving at Nagashino, where the great gun battle took place. The battle against the joint Oda and Tokugawa forces served Katsuyori the greatest loss in Takeda clan history. On May 21, 1575, the master of Damine Castle, Suganuma Sadatada, who had served with Takeda Katsuyori during the siege of Nagashino and subsequent battle, fled from Nagashino with the defeated Lord Takeda Katsuyori, having offered him refuge at Sadatada’s Damine Castle. Upon their arrival, they discovered that Sadatada’s uncle, Suganuma Sadanao, supported by clan vassal Imaizumi Dozen had defected to the Oda clan, and shut the gates on Sadatada and Katsuyori, denying them entry. As it was evening, and very dark in the middle of the mountains, they sought refuge in a nearby taka koya, a hawk coop, overnight. The next morning an 18 year-old samurai named Kihachiro led their escape across Mt. Dando to Busetsu Castle, about 20km away. When they arrived at Busetsu Castle, the garrison had been reduced to support the Takeda at Nagashino, and the remaining handful of defenders were more than surprised to have Lord Katsuyori and Lord Sadatada suddenly turn up on their doorstep on the evening of May 22. Not having much to give them, Lord Katsuyori was offered warm Umezu, plum juice and vinegar tea, which he greatly appreciated, and (the beverage) has since remained a popular refreshment in the region. After a night in the castle’s honmaru, Katsuyori continued his escape to Shinano the next morning. With the defeat of the Takeda, Busetsu came under Tokugawa control until 1590 when Tokugawa Ieyasu transferred to Edo (Tokyo) in the Kanto area. Busetsu was abandoned just after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.
Year Visited: refers to the Webmaster's visits, select Viewer Contributed otherwise	Viewer Contributed  1992  1993  1994  1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2020  2021  2022  2023
Year Added: Year first added to Jcastle.info	200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017199920012002201820192020202120222023
Japanese Notes:
Visits: leave blank
GPSLocation:	Map goes here...
Contributor: prefilled with signed user
Collection:	Koka Castles

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