28 new profiles from ART

2024/07/22

28 new profiles from ART including: 7 for Mie Prefecture, 5 for Shiga Prefecture and 16 for Gifu Prefecture...

If you haven't seen ART's Facebook Japanese Castle Group yet I highly encourage you to do so. There are contributions from many members including discussion about castle related news new discoveries and photos from members' travels.

Binmanji Castle / 敏満寺城

Binmanjijō is a hirayamajiro (hilltop and plains castle) ruin on a small hill overlooking Binmanji village, Taga Township, Inukami County. Ruins are in the form of earthworks, including dorui (earthen ramparts), hori (trenches) and a bailey space.

I started climbing the hill from near the bottom when I thought I recognised a residual trench in the bushes. The main bailey is now a small park neighbouring the Taga Service Area. There is a small bridge over a depression which may have been a moat, and beside this a large mound which served as a bulwark.

The castle is named for the once large Tendai temple called Binmanji; it seems the hilltop was used as a fortified redoubt for when the temple came under attack. As for the rest of the temple, it is long since gone. The Meishin Expressway runs to the rear of the castle-mount.

Chikusa Castle / 千種城

Chikusajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Chikusa township, Komono Municipality. Chikusajō consists of a large main bailey and an outer bailey separated by karabori (dry moats) and connected via a dobashi (earthen bridge). The main bailey is surrounded on two sides by tall, wide dorui (earthen ramparts).

Fukuju Fort (Odani Castle) / 小谷城福寿砦

Fukuju-toride is a yamajiro (mountainop castle) ruin in the Odani area of Nagahama Municipality. The fort, also called Fukuju-maru, was part of a network of fortifications centred upon Odanijō. Fukuju-toride sits along the ridge between Yamazaki-toride and Ôzukujō at the peak. Ruins include dorui (earthen ramparts) ensconcing a single bailey, and karabori (dry moats). An 'L' shaped segment of dorui is positioned between two gate sites. To the north there is a trench proecting the fort's rear.

Fuseya Castle / 伏屋城

Fuseyajō is a hirajiro (flatland castle) ruin in Ginan Township, Hashima County. Ginan is mostly what I call agri-suburban, with fields interspersed with housing plots. The ruins of Fuseyajō can be found in a bamboo grove between houses. There is a signboard for the castle where the bamboo affronts the road. To find the ruins one has to plunge into the grove where can be found the remains of what looks like a corner segment of dorui (earthen ramparts).

Fuwa no Seki / 不破関

Fuwa-seki (Fuwa-sekisho / Fuwa-no-seki) is a barrier-gate and fort site in Sekiǵahara Municipality, Fuwa County. Not much remains of the fortress except for some dorui (earthen ramparts) in the north and south of the site. Due to time constraints I only visited the southern perimeter ruins before visiting the Fuwanoseki Museum, but there are also remains in the north on the other side of the railway tracks; the distance between the two ends is about half a kilometre. The museum includes a model of how the fort looked in the 8th century. It is based on archaeological excavations carried out in the 1970s. Other exhibits include ceramics and replica armour as was worn at the time (notably being different from samurai armour). It seems that the scale and structure of Fuwa-seki was more akin to Nara period jōsaku (citadel) sites than to the fortified checkpoints of the Edo period.

Injiki Castle / 印食城

Injikijō is a former fortification site in Ginan Township, Hashima County. No ruins remain and the site is now that of a temple, Senkōji. I came here because Senkōji's necropolis contains the cenotaphs of men of the Iwaki-Taira Domain who served at nearby Kiridôshi-jin'ya. Kiridôshi was a sub-domain and exclave of Iwaki Domain in the Edo period. My first (fulltime) job in Japan was in Iwaki, and so, feeling nostalgic, I went to pay my respects. It just so happens that Senkōji was formerly the site of a medieval fortification, which was Injikijō.

Kaganoi Castle / 加賀野井城

Kaganoijō is a former hirajiro (flatland castle) site in Shimonaka Township, Hashima Municipality, just south of Kaganoi village. There is a hillock with a stele on and information board for the castle. It's not clear whether the small mound is a remnant of any fortification. The castle originally had an inner and moat bailey and a ring of moats. The site today is fields and rural homesteads.

Kiridohshi Jin'ya / 切通陣屋

Kiridôshi-jin'ya is a former jin'ya site in the Kiridôshi neighbourhood of Gifu. No ruins remain but there is a stele and explanation panel for the site at a local altar hall. The site is now housing. This site is fairly minor but I wanted to visit because the domain was an exclave of Iwaki-Taira Domain where I used to live - albeit it was no longer ruled by a daimyō when I was there, though from how I saw the mayor dressed one time who could say... In medieval times, Kiridôshi-jin'ya was the site of Nagamori Castle. Interestingly the site today is found near two stations, Nagamori Station on the Takayama Line, and Kiridôshi Station on the Meitetsu-Kagamiǵahara line.

Kozubeta Castle / 上津部田城

Kōźubetajō is a hilltop fort ruin in Isshinden Township, Tsu Municipality. Excavations in 1989 led to the restoration of the site and the protection of its remains. Ruins include dorui (earthen ramparts), kuruwa (baileys), and karabori (dry moats). There is a well in the main bailey, and the foundations of several buildings are indicated based on excavations. This site is quite strange in that it is partially preserved atop of a road, with seemingly only a metre of concrete separating the ramparts of the castle from collapsing into the road cutting below. Up the hill from the site is a complex of culture halls, presumably built at the beginning of the Heisei period. The site is maintained as a park, but is quite secluded for being in a dense residential area. I didn't enter the bailey via the park path, but dived into the karabori and emerged upon the ramparts from below.

Matsubara Castle (Omi) / 近江松原城

Matsubarajō is a former yakata (fortified manor hall) site in Matsubara Township, Hikone Municipality (technically separate from the Matsubara neighbourhood in downtown Hikone). It is now the site of a daimyō-tier residence built by Ii Naonaka in 1810, which is why I visited. Although, I consider my formal visitation to Matsubarajō to be earlier in the morning before the Ohama-goten ('Honourable Beach Palace'), as the residence is called, opened to the public.

I was staying at the Hikone Station Hotel, surprisingly a good ten minute walk from the station, from which it is just under 2km to Ohama-goten and Hikone Harbour. I thought about walking, but decided to rent a free bicycle from the hotel, even though the bikes were very old and dubious. The old fellow at the cashier said the bicycles were only meant to be rented for up to two hours, but I explained my intention to cycle to the port to catch the ferry to Chikubushima, and he relented.

I looked around Matsubara (there is another, smaller bukeyashiki there besides the goten) before having a konbini breakfast on Matsubara Beach. Lake Biwa is really like a sea, and, indeed, the name of the old province, Ōmi, means 'Near Sea' in relation to the Yamato Kingdom; conversely, Tôtōmi means 'Distant Sea', which was the original name of Lake Hamana.

After getting back from Chikubushima, I then peddled back to Ohama-goten for the somewhat rare public opening that was happening that day. I explored the 19th century residence site, which I have described in more detail here. A moat partially surrounds the residence grounds, and I did wonder if this didn't have its antecedent in the foritifications surrounding the medieval residence, Matsubarajō. However, castling blogs say no ruins remain of Matsubarajō, so maybe not. Many hours later I sheepishly returned the hotel bicycle.

Matsugashima Castle / 松ヶ島城

Matsuǵashimajō is a hirajiro (flatland) castle ruin in Matsuǵashima Township, Matsusaka Municipality. Ruins remain on-site in the form of a grassy hillock which used to be the castle's tenshudai (platform for a donjon). Despite once being quite a vast fortress, very little remains of Matsuǵashimajō, abandoned in 1588, and the site is now fields. The tenshudai is maintained as a small park. It's strange to find this small park in the middle of rice paddies, accessed via dusty country roads. From atop of the tenshudai, toward dusk, I saw a fox bounding along the edge of a paddy.

A sea wall can be seen 400m to the north of the tenshudai, with fields all around. However, the sea used to come up to the castle itself. The main bailey extended north of the tenshudai, and there was a small, ellipitcal bailey beyond that separating the main bailey and the sea. There were several outer baileys in which the castle-town was constructed.

Local neighbourhood names such as 'South Bailey', 'Inner Castle', and 'Outer Castle' give a clue as to this once being a large fortification site. Besides from the tenshudai, which is on-site, several buildings exist which are said to have been relocated from the castle to various temples in Matsusaka. These include a gate at Ryūsenji, and a shoin (drawing room) at Keishōji, which must've been part of the castle's goten (castellan's palace). If that shoin, which I was regrettably unable to visit, is really a building from Matsuǵashimajō, then that's quite incredible; I shall have to investigate another time.

Misaki Castle (Kuwana) / 桑名三崎城

Moroto-teien is a garden and Meiji period villa site in Kuwana City. I didn't go looking for a castle site, but when I came here, having first gone to the neighbouring Rokkaen, I realised the site was surrounded by a moat! So I decided to investigate. It turns out, in short, that this area is the former Taichimaru of Kuwanajō, and should be properly understood as an extension of Kuwana Castle, but it was also the site of a medieval fortified manor hall belonging to the Yabe Clan called Misakijō. Moroto Garden was built by Moroto Seiroku and his son; the latter also built Rokkaen which is next door. Moroto-teiein is only occassionally opened to the public, so I got lucky being able to enter. It is designated as a national historical site and contains several important cultural properties. There is an idyllic teahouse from the Edo period, and many other architectural treasures from the late 19th century and Meiji period.

Mochibuku Castle / 茂福城

Mochibukujō is a hirajiro (flatland castle) ruin in the Mochibuku neighbourhood of Yokkaichi Municipality. Ruins, designated a municipal historic site, consist of earthworks, principally a dorui (earthen ramparts) segment. A signboard for the castle and an earthen embankment can be see from across the railway tracks.

Nemoto Castle / 根本城

Nemotojō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Nemoto Township, Tajimi Municipality. Ruins include earthworks such as horikiri (trenches), tatebori (climbing trenches), dorui (earthen ramparts), kuruwa (baileys) and a dobashi (earthen bridge). A large horikiri separates the two upper baileys. In the main bailey the earth excavated from the horikiri has been piled up into dorui. There is a sub-bailey beneath the main bailey. To the rear of the rear upper bailey is a smaller trench straddled by a dobashi, with the mountain ridge beyond. The site features as part of a hiking course and is well maintained. Signs appear everywhere, and parts of the earthworks are cordoned off. Some signs proclaim defensive features, whilst others are just warnings and imprecations. There were many cordons and signs, many saying such things as "do not enter", so that it was almost like having a jealous land-owner breathing down one's neck. Anyway, the site makes for nice, compact ruins accessible to those even with limited experience with yamajiro.

Nemotogoten Yashiki / 根本御殿屋敷

Nemotogoten-yashiki is the kyokan (residential area) at the foot of the Nemoto castle-mount; the site is a field and was previously excavated, but now access is restricted. According to field reports, the remains of earthworks in the form of a gate complex and trenches are extant, but some bloggers report that the ruins are too overgrown to see clearly.

Ochaya Yashiki / 御茶屋屋敷

Ochaya-yashiki is a unique Edo period fortification site in Akasaka Township, Ôgaki Municipality. The site's name means 'Teahouse Residence'; have you ever heard of a fortified teahouse? The explanation for this site, and the reason for its creation, is somewhat obscure even to fans of Japanese history.

Students of the samurai will have heard of the sankin-kōtai (alternate attendance) system whereby samurai lords and their retinues were compelled to spend a year living in Edo and a year living in their domains. The purpose was to keep a perpetual strain on daimyō finances due to the expense of travelling and maintaining dual residences, as every lord who had a castle in his own domain had several townhouses in Edo, and the cost of journeying to Edo and back every other year was considerable. Handing over effective control of their domains to a deputy also undermined daimyō power even within their own realms. Furthermore, their wives and children lived permanently in Edo, making them perpetual hostages.

In order to facilitate sankin-kōtai, shukuba (inn towns) popped up along major trade routes. These shukuba supported special inns like safehouses for daimyō to stay in whilst on the road. This is well known. What is much less well known is that in the early Edo period, until 1689, the Shogunate maintained its own parallel system of palatial compounds and safehouses for the shoguns to stay at when travelling between Edo and the capital, Kyōto. Large compounds were called goten (palaces) and smaller safehouses were called ochaya (teahouses). In 1689 this infrastructure was considered superfluous since the shoguns were no longer keeping up pretenses by visiting Kyōto, and the goten and ochaya were decommissioned - though some goten would become castles, like Minakuchijō in Kōka.

Ochaya-yashiki in Mino Province, despite being a humble teahouse, was relatively well fortified with four towers and a gatehouse, and the remains of karabori (dry moats) and dorui (earthen ramparts) can still be seen today. It is therefore special among ochaya, and even goten, for the extent to which it was fortified, and for its extant ruins.

It should be noted that, at least according to Wikipedia, whilst goten and ochaya were distinguished in eastern Japan, with goten being for longer stays and ochaya being fort shorter stays, the two facilities were often conflated in western Japan. So maybe the Ochaya-yashiki should be properly considered a goten afterall.

In 1949 half of the site was demolished for the construction of a school, but the remaining half, including moats and ramparts in the north, east and south, survived, and the site is now a park and peony garden open to the public. It was designated as a protected historical site in 1976.

There is a handsome thatched-roof gate at the entrance of the garden. I visited before the brief peony-blossoming season, but instead found many other flowers, such as camellia, cherry blossom, daffodils, tulips, and so on. I was particularly attracted to the garden's 'mosscapes' which were bespeckled and mottled by sunlight creeping through foliage.

Ohzuku Castle / 大嶽城

Ôzukujō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in the Odani area of Nagahama Municipality. This site is better known in conjunction with Odanijō, as it is part of the network of fortifications which surrounded and protected the valley where the Azai Clan had their base. Ôzukujō may be considered a satellite fortification of Odanijō, though it sits on the peak of Mt Odani above the main fortifications of Odanijō, and is the highest situated of all the forts in the network.

Ôzukujō's ruins feature primarily earthworks with some residual masonry. Features include dorui (earthen ramparts), ishigaki (stone walls), horikiri (trenches bisecting ridges), karabori (dry moats) and kuruwa (baileys). There is a lower area of the castle with impressive tatebori (climbing trenches going up the hillside) too.

The layout of the fort is concentric, with a dorui-ensconced main bailey at the top surrounded by tiers of terraced baileys below. In the west is a wide karabori. An illustration on a signboard about the ruins indicates that this was once full of abbattis. Beyond this is a double horikiri system. This part of the ruins is ill-frequented, and there is no path, though the ridge beyond leads to a minor fort site called Yakeo-toride which I didn't visit.

If one follows the trail down to the outlying ridge forts of Fukuju-toride and Yamazaki-toride, one will pass through a lower terraced bailey of Ôzukujō with dorui and remnant ishigaki on the inside of the ramparts. A pair of large tatebori can be found by striking off to the right here. This area does not seem to be depicted on the aforementioned on-site illustration of the fort.

Seki Castle (Mino) / 美濃関城

Sekijō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin site in the municipality of the same name. There is a large hill right by downtown known as Asakurayama Park. Mino-Sekijō is also known as Asakurayamajō. Seki itself means ‘gate’, and the area has been famous for quality sword production since the Kamakura period.

What attracted me to this site, since I was in the area, is the observation platform in the general shape of a miyagura (watchtower). It is basically a mogi (folly) inspired by a medieval castle’s sentry tower. The actual viewing platform is on top of what would otherwise be a steep roof, but parts of a traditional roof skirt around the edges, including two gables.

The castle ruins are actually located just east of the mogi on the very top of the mountain. The layout of the castle is of a single bailey complex and basic earthworks structure. The castle’s topmost bailey is surrounded by a series of terraced sub-baileys which form a ring (a feature called obikuruwa, ‘belt bailey’), particularly to the northeast, carved from the mountain. These obikuruwa and koshikuruwa (sub-baileys) are very narrow, and the ramparts of earth are steep. Part of the ridges which lead to the summit are also terraced to form earthen bulwarks.

Sekijō also features a tatebori (climbing trench) which streaks down the mountainside. This was constructed to prevent enemies who had breached the lower ring baileys easily looping around to the other side of the castle. Seki Castle is a compact but quite neat castle ruin overall. The main bailey of the castle is now used as a shrine within the forested park, and the views of the town and surrounding plains are good.

Tajimi Castle / 多治見城

Even though this, the site of Tajimijō in Tajimi Municipality, also known as the residence of Tajimi Kuninaga, is a prefectural-level designated historical site, there are no ruins to speak of. Next to a small park there is a stele to mark the site with an explanation board featuring a portrait of Tajimi Kuninaga. There is an old shopping arcade here with a roof section. This obscures the grand old merchant residence which neighbours the small park and was of interest to me. The roofed shopping promenade had signs saying 'Ginza', but most of the shops along it were closed. A ginormous Ion Mall has recently been constructed in the hills between Tajimi and Toki.

Takasu Castle (Mino) / 美濃高須城

Takasujō is a former hirajiro (flatland castle) site in Kaizu Township, Kaizu Municipality. There is an explanation board about the castle at a small park in the Takasumachi neighbourhood, Kaizu's downtown, but few ruins remain (of which a moat segment is said to remain; it looks like a small park with a water feature next to Takasu Elementary School). However, the goten (castellan's palace) which stood at the castle has now been partially reconstructed on the rooftop of a local history museum.

Takasujō, in addition to having an off-site reconstructed goten, also has an extant portion of that same goten in existence. This small part of the original Takasu-jin'ya goten has been relocated to Rokkaen, a Meiji period merchant's villa and garden in Kuwana.

These photos mostly show the restored palace buildings at the Kaizu City History Museum, and the relocated segment in Kuwana. Outside the Kaizu City Museum some stone blocks from the site of the castle can be found. They have kokuin (seals) carved into them.

Takayama Castle (Mino) / 美濃高山城

Takayamajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Toki Municipality. The castle-mount is maintained as a park and a watchtower has been reconstructed. The castle's layout consists of three baileys. There is an outer bailey formerly separated from the main bailey by a trench which appears to have now been filled in, and a lower bailey beneath the main bailey, which appears to have been eaten away at by landslides. There are other reconstructions, including a small gate. There is even a tiny bridge leading to a kabukimon (gateway without doors). I was impressed by this enthusiasm for the castle and put a shiny hundred yen coin in the donation box for the park's maintenance, found by the main gate; also, leaflets are stored here.

Takegahana Castle / 竹ヶ鼻城

The Takeǵahanajō mogi is a rare breed of hybrid mogi built to house the Hashima Municipal History Museum. Half of the building is designed to somewhat resemble a castle tower, whilst the other half is a faux reconstructed cinema hall. The castle facade appears to float above its stone walls. It is a strange sight. The museum, located in Takehana Township, Hashima Municipality, mostly focuses on things related to the cinema, commemorating the Asahi Cinema Hall which operated on the site from 1934 until 1971. The museum was constructed in 1996. The castlesque design was inspired by Takeǵahanajō, a historical fort of which little to no ruins remain, notable for a waterborne siege conducted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Ueno Castle (Ise) / 伊勢上野城

Ise-Uenojō is a hirayamajiro (hill and flatland castle) ruin in Kawage Township, Tsu Municipality. Ruins consist of earthworks, including dorui (earthen ramparts), karabori (dry moats), kuruwa (baileys), and even a tenshudai (a platform for a main keep) and dobashi (earthen bridge). The site's main bailey area is maintained as a park, and the tenshudai now hosts a large, modern tower used as an observation deck.

The main bailey, as well as containing the tenshudai, is surrounded for the most part by dorui. The castle ruins are quite vast, however, including a secondary bailey in the north (now a parking area) and a tertiary bailey in the south. On the lowermost tier of terracing there is a small, shaded area enclosed by dorui, which contains old cenotaphs (gravestones) that must be centuries old. This is all in the eastern part of the castle.

Uenojō also contains a western area which is also extensive, though now it is almost entirely overgrown, covered in bamboo groves. Nonetheless, exploring this area of the castle proved to be the most exhilarating part of my exploration of this site. The difficult-to-traverse western area contains baileys surrounded by dorui and separated by deep karabori. The outermost bailey on the plateau is connected to another bailey by a dobashi, with dorui heaped up on both sides of a karabori.

The dobashi I found to be blocked by fallen bamboo, and I smashed my way through like Crash Bandicoot. I passed into and out of another karabori, finding a third large bailey, quite amazed at the scale of the fortifications. Whilst exploring a segment of dorui between this new bailey and yet another bailey, I encountered a flying object silently drifting through the bamboo that was very easy to identify by its orange and black striped colouring. I climbed down from the ramparts in the opposite direction from one of the larger specimens of giant hornet I have seen. Luckily I soon found a path out of the bamboo grove.

The outer environs of the castle ruin overlap with two temples, Enkōji and Saishōji, which are also partially surrounded by old earthworks. Enkōji has a beautiful, mossy causeway leading from a cutting into the earth. There are indications of former fortifications around the temple.

Before leaving I ascended the observation tower. Half way up there was a closed door. Apparently this is sometimes open and there is a model of the castle inside.

Ushigahana Fort / 牛ヶ鼻砦

Ushiǵahana-toride, also known as Môriyamajō, is a clifftop fort site straddling the border of the municipality of Mino-Kamo and the township of Kawabe in Kamo County. It is apparently reported that ruins remain in the form of earthworks, trenches, baileys, and even stone walls, but many castle bloggers have reported no ruins. Because the site is now that of a shrine of some mad tengu cult, access is limited. The fort’s main bailey is presumed to be where there is a traditional shrine building, the walls of which are decorated with hundreds of tengu heads. There may be a moat site beneath here, but it is difficult to see. The ruins seem to have been altered or developed over by the cult. The Tenguists have also erected a gigantic tengu (humanoid form) statue at the compound. There is a sign for the fort with two large stone blocks which are supposedly from the stone walls of the fort.

Yamanaka Castle (Mino) / 美濃山中城

I visited this site as part of our 'Sekigahara Magical Happy Wonderland Tour' in May 2023. A bunch of use j-castlers - myself (ART), RonS, Furinkazan - where guided around Sekigahara Township by 豪谷 (ChrisG).

Chris stopped the car in a dark forest and we crossed a dam over the Fujiko River to reach the Yamanaka castle mount which was the site of the battle camp of Ohtani Yoshitsugu. Going through a forest plantation which ominously had some kind of tape criss-crossing the trees in the gloom, we came to the grave of Ohtani Yoshitsugu which the Tōdō Clan erected some months after the battle out of respect for the deceased leper general. The headstone is a small gorin (‘five circle’) stone stupa.

Finally we came to the site of the encampment itself. There is a curious ditch-like structure that straddles the mountain, made by embanking the earth downslope. The trench isn’t wide, and wouldn’t make a good barrier therefore. In one place it cuts across a ridge, but in another follows a ridge along its length, and in yet another cuts down a hillside. Chris floated the idea that it was used as a small trench for gunners to fire from with cover. The trench appears to face toward Matsuojō where Kobayakawa Hideaki was encamped. But Ohtani and Kobayakawa were allied, no? Did Ohtani have the trench built because he suspected Kobayakawa would turn? We discussed the possibilities on top of the mountain, in a forest away from a trail, whilst it rained. What a strange meeting. As for the trench, it could’ve been dug later for other purposes, such as pest control, and so we can’t make any conclusions without more data. There are no other ruins it seems, but part of the hilltop has been flattened.

Yamazaki Fort (Odani Castle) / 小谷城山崎砦

Yamazaki-toride, also called Yamazaki-maru, is a fortification ruin in the Odani area of Nagahama Municipality. This yamajiro (mountaintop castle) was part of a complex of forts centred upon Odanijō. Ruins consist primarily of dorui (earthen ramparts) around a bailey. The dorui makes several turns, encompassing gate and turrets sites.

Zenrinji Castle / 禅林寺城

Zenrinjijō is a former fortification site in Shimomura village, Komono Township, Mie County. No ruins remain. It is said that the temple Zenrinji's main hall is the former shoin (drawing room) of the Komono-jin'ya goten (castellan's palace). However, in 2008 the main hall was rebuilt and bears no resemblance to the former structure. Apparently some materials from the original building have continued to be re-used in the rebuilt hall, but it's difficult to consider this an extant structure, and it now appears to be just a regular temple hall. Happily, though, Zenrinji is itself the site of a former fortification now known as Zenrinjijō, though, sadly, no ruins remain.

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