Masugata Castle (Minochi)

History

Masugata Castle is not mentioned in any historical records so details are few. Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province famously contested this area in a series of battles at Kawanakajima. It is thought that this site belongs to a network of fortifications built by Uesugi Kenshin. The castle ruin also shares a mountain with a large boulder named for Uesugi Kenshin (Kenshin's look-out boulder). So Masugatajō was used to fortify this area and as a base for the campaign at Kawanakajima - in all likelihood.

Visit Notes

I visited the ruins of Masugatajō after going to Ohmine Castle. If one takes the mountain road from there, which is now closed to vehicles, it goes by Masugatajō and comes out at the top of Jitsukiyama Park, which is the place where I descended the mountain. The ruins of Masugatajō consist of two principal baileys, dorui (earthen ramparts), and various trenches. Some maps of the castle seem to indicate that the road was formerly a trench too, which is perhaps why a bridge was built over it leading to the castle site? This path is quite overgrown now, which is unfortunate since I ignored the sign post and tried to take it. There is another path indicated by sign posts which is better maintained. There are signs up throughout the site to indicate features, and an explanation board and map in the shukuruwa (main bailey). Indeed, Masugatajō is being much better maintained than Ôminejō!

"Masugata" means "box-shape" or "square". Since it indicates the layout of the fortification, there are several castles with this name: this is the second Masugatajō I've been to, the other being Musashi-Masugatajō. "Musashi" refers to the province and "Minochi" refers to the district. Nagano is vast with many, many medieval castle ruins and so I've been cataloguing smaller castle sites by district. Most of Minochi District is now the City of Nagano.

Gallery

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  Dorui
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  Site is on the left side of this bridge in this photo
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Castle Profile
English Name	Minochi Masugata Castle
Japanese Name	水内枡形城
Founder	Uesugi Kenshin
Year Founded	Sengoku Period
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Artifacts	Kuruwa, Dorui, Hori
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Hongou Station on the Nagano Line; 45 minute walk to trailhead at Jitsukiyama Park
Visitor Information	24/7 free
Time Required	45 minutes
Location	Nagano, Nagano Prefecture
Coordinates	36° 40' 54.26" N, 138° 11' 22.88" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2020
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed

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