Iwadono Castle, Katsuyama Castle, Yamura Castle

2020/05/03

The second update of my personal castle visits jumps from the first castle of 2020 back in time to the first castle visit of 2019, Iwadono Castle. This is a site I had wanted to visit for a long time, but I was waiting for a perfect weather winter day for the great views of Mt. Fuji. At some point the trails got closed due to erosion from heavy rains and my wait extended to a couple years. Unfortunately, in August 2019 the trails were agin closed due to a rockslide and remain closed today. See the Iwadono Castle profile for more details. I was very lucky to visit when I did and get these great photos of both the castle ruins and Mt. Fuji.

From Iwadono, I also visited nearby home castle of the Oyamada family, Yamura Castle and it's mountain fortress, Katsuyama Castle just across the river.

Yamura Castle / 谷村城

The school grounds occupy much of what was the former Yamura Castle. Unfortunately, there are no significant remains to be seen today but excavations have uncovered stone work and a well on the school grounds. Yamura Castle is just a few minutes walk from the station and should be visited with Katsuyama Castle, the mountain redoubt of Yamura Castle. The hill in the background I s actually Katsuyama Castle. There is a better picture below showing this.

Loading map...