Hagi Castle

History

After losing to Tokugawa at the Battle of Sekigahara, Mori Terumoto's lands around Hiroshima were confiscated. Tokugawa wanted to lock the Mori into a remote location on the Japan Sea so they commanded him to build his castle at Hagi. If you visit Hagi you'll see how far and difficult a place it is to get to. The Mori family continued to rule over Hagi until the Meiji restoration. In 1863, Mori Takachika moved the major government functions of the domain to Yamaguchi, because Hagi was too vulnerable to bombardment from the sea. From this point Hagi started losing it's importance and many of the castle buildings were dismantled. In the Meiji Restoration the main keep and the remainder of the buildings were destroyed.

The structure of Hagi Castle is actually very interesting and Mori built a brilliantly defensible little castle. Mt Shizuki is a small mountain right on the coast creating a small peninsula of land. The castle sits at the base of the mountain facing the land and occupies all the approachable land to the mountain. Stone walls and defensible positions on the coast prevent attack from the sea. The Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru baileys extend towards the land protecting the castle from a land invasion. The Sannomaru Bailey encloses much of the castle town which has numerous walled streets, narrow streets, T-junctions and dead ends to confuse and make it difficult for any attacker to reach the castle. A scattering of watchtowers, gates and strategically placed storehouses for weapons would have made any attack on Hagi very difficult indeed. At the top of the mountain is the Tsumenomaru, a fallback position in case of a siege. The Tsumenomaru itself is divided into two baileys ringed with stone walls and had multiple watchtowers. In the latter Edo Period a yagura partway up the mountain and a platform for cannon was also added to help protect it from the sea. Be sure to look at the <a href="http://www.jcastle.info/castle/zoom/86">map</a> to see how things are distributed around the castle and town.

Visit Notes

This was an amazing site to visit. Personally, I would include it as one of my favorites. The castle ruins themselves are much more extensive than most books give them credit for. There are many stone walls around the base of the mountain and some that go right up to the edge of the ocean. There are remnants of clay walls and the remains from splitting stones for the walls at both the top of the mountain and on the coast. The castle ruins are amazing enough, but the castle town really sets Hagi Castle apart from others. I've never seen another castle town that's so well preserved. There are several original samurai homes, gates, merchants homes, walls, storehouses, and more that make you feel like you've stepped back into the Edo Period. I only spent one day here (4 hrs at the castle ruins, including climbing the mountain) and 3 hours walking around the town, but I could easily spend two full days. I did not even visit the Hagi Museum. I did not have enough time on my first visit so I look forward to another visit in the future. I'm rating this four stars for the combination of the castle and castle town. I think I would recommend you to visit on a weekday if possible. Everywhere was fairly empty despite it being fall colors season but I saw a lot of bus parking and the crowd I saw the following day at Tsuwano on Saturday afternoon would probably pale compared to what Hagi could bring.

Also see this <a href="http://www.oidemase.or.jp/hagi_cg">interesting CG reconstruction</a> of the main keep at Hagi Castle

萩城は建造物がない割ににとても感動しました。私にとっては萩城は全国的にも最も面白いお城の一つです。城跡自体は多くの本に掲載されているより遺構が多いです。北矢倉付近の海岸沿いの石垣も特に面白かったです。寂れた土塀や崩壊した土塀も残っているのを見て城の元の姿を想像してしまいます。詰丸や海岸に残っている石切場を見るとこの美しい石垣を築くためにどれだけ大仕事だったのかも思わされます。城跡だけでも十分に感動しますが、萩城はどこよりも城下町もよく残されています。武家屋敷を始め、商人の家、矢倉、土塀などがあり、町を歩くと江戸時代にタイムスリップした感じがします。今回の城めぐりは1日(城跡４時間、城下町３時間)しかいられませんでしたが、城下町も全部見るのに二日間は必要です。萩博物館すら見る時間はありませんでした。今回は十分な時間がなかったのでまた訪れたいと思っています。城跡と城下町を両方考慮して四つ星にしました。

萩城の<a href="http://www.oidemase.or.jp/hagi_cg">CG再現</a>も是非見てください。

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Gallery

main keep foundation, moat, stone walls
Minamimon Gate (South Gate)
Minamimon Gate (South Gate)
Stone wall to the left of the Honmaru Gate
Mushabashiri in the stone wall
Main keep foundation
Honmaru gangi
The top of the main keep foundation
View of the moat and stone walls form the main keep
Moats viewed form the West Gate
Looking towards the main keep foundation
Ruins of a wall at the Hakken Yagura
Main keep foundation
Mushabashiri
Inner moat
Stone walls between the Honmaru Gate and the Tsukimi Yagura.
Wall remnants
Wall remnant
Wall remains
Kia Yagura stone walls
North Yagura stone foundation
Stone marked for splitting
Large stone with ya-ana
Shioiri Gate ruins
Stone walls by the ocean.
Stone walls and clay walls near the ocean
Ninomaru Shikirimon Gate
mushabashiri to the top of the sea wall.
East Gate
Map of the Tsumenomaru
Entrance to the Tsumenomaru
Entrance to the Tumemaru
Back side of the entrance clay wall
Ninomaru bailey of the Tsumenomaru
large stones with wedge holes
Yaguramon Gate
Steps to the Honmaru
View of the Yaguramon Gate and the Ninomaru Bailey
View of the Yaguramon Gate
Large boulder marked for splitting
Closer view of the huge stone with wedge holes
Marks from slitting the stones many times
Stone wall around the Tsumenomaru
Stone wall around the Tsumenomaru.
Uzumimon Gate of the Honmaru
Stone with wedge holes for splitting
Asa Mori Clan residence
Asa Mori Clan residence
Inside one of the apartments
A model of the castle found in the Asa Mori residence.
castle town road
castle town corner
Castle town walls
Kodama Clan residence Nagayamon
Kodama Clan residence Nagayamon
Maki Moku's Residence
Hagi Museum Walls and Nagayamon
Corner yagura at the Hagi Museum
Masuda Clan Residence Watch Tower
Hanzawa Clan Residence Nagayamon Gate
North Gate
North Gate
Kikuya Clan residence.
Kido Takayoshi's residence
Saeki Tange Residence
Map
The main house is on the left and the Front Gate is on the right.
Inside the house
House and garden
Omotemon, a Nagayamon type gate

Castle Profile
English Name	Hagi Castle
Japanese Name	萩城
Alternate Names	Shizuki-jo
Founder	Mori Terumoto
Year Founded	1604
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Top 100 Castles, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Top 100 Mountaintop Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Features	gates, samurai homes, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access	Higashi Hagi Sta. (San'in Line), bus
Visitor Information	8:00-18:30 (Apr-Oct), 8:30-16:30 (Nov-Feb), 8:30-:18:00 (Mar). 210 yen
Time Required	180 mins, including the top of the mountain
Website	http://www.hagishi.com/miru/
Location	Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture
Coordinates	34° 25' 3.61" N, 131° 23' 0.38" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2007
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2014, 2024
Admin Visits	November 21, 2014; March 21, 2024

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DiegoDeManilaAshigaru

82 months ago

Score 4

Visited 15 Nov 2016. Hagi was a day trip out of Yamaguchi, and I took the slow route (by train) - needless to say, I ended up rushing things far more than I'd have liked. Didn't manage to see much more than the graves of the local lords and a sliver of the castle ruins, but what little I saw was impressive enough. Marking this one as a priority for a future return visit, and I'll be sure to hit the samurai district next time.

https://with...vember-2016/

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PhibbyfanAshigaru

111 months ago

Score 0

I like World Heritage Sites, so I was keen to see exactly what was listed. Like you, I was surprised to see Hagi Castle and castle town as part of Hagi's sites. There is also a castle ruin that is within the \cultural landscape"of the Iwami Ginzan listing right near the mines (not yet on Jcastle). Although it's not an anticipated listing it should be added to your World Heritage category. Also Chihaya Castle is not linked from your Top 100 page"

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Jcastle.oldHatamoto

111 months ago

Score 0

Dregs, Phibbyfan, thanks of the follow-ups. There's been very little in Japanese news about the castle town part of Hagi being included. The intention is Meiji Period Industrial Sites. I wonder how they managed to squeak in the castle town which is certainly not Meiji Period even though it was certainly around then. IMHO it's a bit over reaching, like all of the recent additions from Japan. Anyway, it's good to see the site get some more recognition and hopefully they'll be able to preserve it better too. There are some old samurai houses that are not open to the public or well marked and also in need of repair. It's such a great place and there's even more they could do with it. When I asked someone why they didn't better preserve some of the old homes that are listed but not open, they said that the city was putting more efforts into the Bakumatsu and Meiji Period works and anything related to the NHK drama Hana Moyu. Hopefully other parts of the castle town will get more attention now too.

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Jcastle.oldHatamoto

117 months ago

Score 0

Ron, I think you're absolutely right. (If it's done historically correct of course!) Reconstruct the main keep and maybe the Otemon Gate. Also put up better signage and preserve what's there already and you'd have a really great castle museum park. Combined with the fabulous castle town it could be the \most complete"castle there is. The new NHK drama is focusing on the end of the Edo Period and I don't get the feeling the town values the castle ruins as much as the old Edo architecture so it doesn't seem like there will ever be such an interest to do it unfortunately. """

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RonSAshigaru

117 months ago

Score 0

I've always felt that Hagi Castle's tenshu was an excellent candidate for reconstruction. It has historical significance and the details of its structure are well documented. Or is the site better left as is? What do you think?

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Anonymous user #1

147 months ago

Score 0

Hagi in the Summer was definitely a good choice; the castle site is surrounded by amazing beaches and the green leaves, blue ocean, and stone walls looked fantastic. Even though I have reputation for being slightly Choshu-girai, I'm not a Mouri fan, and the fact that a black spider bit me on the lip at the tenshukaku ruins, (possibly due to the first two facts), Hagi was completely worth seeing. A friend and I walked from the Hagi Bus centre, (taking a detour to see the statues and houses of hot dead men), through the castle town, to the North Gate. Then from there we walked through the castle town to the beach, and then to the site of the castle ruins. Although they promote bicycle rental, walking was a great idea because there was so much to see, so many old buildings you could enter, and it recreated the feel of a castle town better than many other places I have been to. The beach was what surprised me the most – I have island resort style photos that the Bakufu could use in a Choshu seibatsu summer campaign – well it's not often you get to see turquoise seas and ishigaki together. It was peaceful to wander around and beautiful to see.

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