ART Update 2022 Part 1
ART Update 2022 Part 1
2022/09/04
Whole bunch of updates from ART. This is the first in a several part series. See the castles and map below for details. If you haven't seen his Facebook Japanese Castle Group yet I highly encourage you to do so. There are contributions from a variety of members, discussion and news about castle developments and discoveries.
Aida Iwabuchi Castle / 会田岩渕城
Aida Yakata / 会田館
I visited Aida-yakata ahead of my planned large scale assault on the castle ruins of the Aida Clan in the mountains above. This is planned for the autumn, and so I figured I'd save time by exploring the sites in the Aida Basin now in summer. I cycled from Matsumoto in a round trip of about 50km. In the Aida area, formerly Shiga Village Municipality, I also visited Toride-toride, Iwabuchijō, and got as close as possible to Bizenhara-yakata, before re-visiting some minor sites in the basin's northwestern arm which I had only seen in the dark before, and exiting the basin toward Akashina, returning to Matsumoto via the area of the River Sai in Aźumino (though on the old Chikuma side), thereby completing a large circuit.
At Aida-yakata I actually made an amazing discovery, albeit nothing to do with castles -- I found a giant mushroom! It was slightly smaller than a football with a dimpled dome, and the cap was so bulbous I couldn't see the stem, though the fruity body wobbled on it sure enough. It was white and, though I am not an aficionado, of an edible variety I believe. There was what looked like a triangular cutting made from the top of the cap, but there was also here four grooves which looked like some animal had pawed at it. Since this was the largest mushroom I had ever discovered, I photographed it next to a bottle of tea.Aimiyamamonomi Fort / 逢見山物見砦
Akazawashi Yakata / 赤沢氏館
Azumi Horinouchi Yakata / 安曇堀之内館
Azumi Ogiwara Yakata / 安曇荻原館
Azumi Shimizu Yakata / 安曇清水館
Azumi Uchibori Yakata / 安曇内堀館
Azumi Wakamatsu Castle / 安曇若松城
Bizenhara Yakata / 備前原館
Chiisagata Kemi Castle / 小県花見城
Chiisagata Komaki Castle / 小県小牧城
Chiisagata Komakikamino Castle / 小県小牧上ノ城
Chiisagata Nakano Castle / 小県中ノ城
Chiisagata Nakao Castle / 小県中尾城
Chiisagata Nishiyama Castle / 小県西山城
Chiisagata Shirayama Castle / 小県白山城
Deura Castle / 出浦城
Deurajō has a well preserved shukuruwa (main bailey) surrounded on all sides by dorui (earthen ramparts). There are a couple of well ruins in the shukuruwa. A karabori (dry moat) wraps around the shukuruwa, becoming a tatebori (climbing moat) on the eastern slope, and a terraced bailey to the south. To the north side there is another karabori and the two are separated by dorui. There is tall dorui all around these karabori too. It is such a fine complex of karabori that if one was suddenly teleported here one might for a moment think they were at one of the great medieval plains castles of Kantō. The castle ruins expand toward the west in a series of terraced baileys which stagger the mount's less severe western slope. Between the second and third bailey is another section of karabori and dorui. The castle's ôte (main path) appears to be combined with a steep, long tatebori. To the northwest of the shukuruwa and third bailey are convincing tatebori which invite one to fall into and have a bad day.
Hitherto described features constitute the main portion of the castle, but there are extra ruins below. One will have to back-track to see these but I'm glad I did. As the ridge descends it is split by three horikiri. The first struck me as being most forceful where it became a tatebori, and there was a bailey space here too. The second horikiri is deep and wide, and the largest trench at the castle. It is a double trench, having a smaller satellite trench beneath, with a berm in between them. There is a final trench after the ridge descends somewhat more toward the place where it levels out and begins climbing again to connect with other sibling mountains beyond. This last trench is solid. I also noticed that to the northwest was a large flattened area. Is this natural? Was it a place to muster troops? It wasn't on my map (by Yogo-sensei).Fukuzawa Yakata / 福沢館
Furuhata Yakata / 古畑館
Hikidono Yashiki / 日岐殿屋敷
Ina Higuchiuchi Castle / 伊那樋口内城
Ina Horinouchi Yakata / 伊那堀ノ内館
Ina Ichinodaira Castle / 伊那一ノ平城
Ina Koujin'yama Castle / 伊那荒神山城
Ina Maruyama Fort / 伊那丸山砦
Ina Ohniwa Castle / 伊那大庭城
Ina Shimohiraideko Castle / 伊那下平出古城
Ina Tenpaku Castle / 伊那天白城
Ina Yokokawa Castle / 伊那横川城
Ina Yokoyama Castle / 伊那横山城
Jinbagahara Castle / 陣場ヶ原城
If one visits this outré plateau then one is between two points which are said to be the 'centre of Japan'. There are many centres of Japan, it must be said, and the exact position will depend on the mode of measurement and how one defines the centre. We went to the point along the ridge called 'Nihon no Chūshin' where there is a small stone monument. There's not much to do but to take a picture of and with the thing. There is also no view to write home about and the area is surrounded by tall trees. Such centre points are also called 'heso (臍)', which means 'navel'. Naruheso!
I thought it might be that this heso is the furthest one can be in Japan from the sea and ocean, but that might be in Hokkaidō. A nearby point is also called 'Japan's Zero-Point' and refers to the bisection of latitude and longitude at the zero minutes mark. As I say, determining a geographic centre depends on method, and Tatsuno Municipality obviously just chose the one which best suited it, and now promotes the spot as a low maintenance tourist or hiking destination. The road to the castle and centre of Japan is best taken from the Tatsuno side (south), rather than the dirt and gravel track which runs along the mountain chain to the Shidareguri Forest Park in the north. There is another heso just north of the Shidareguri camping ground called 'Nihondo no Mannaka' . This one is easier to get to and a monument has been there erected by Shiojiri Municipality.Jouhikage Fort / 城日影砦
Koide Ara Castle / 小出荒城
Koide Kamijima Castle / 小出上島城
Koide Maruyama Castle / 小出丸山城
Koide Uchi Castle / 小出内城
Koide Yakushidou Castle / 小出薬師堂城
Koraku Castle / 狐落城
Related sites:
Murakami Katsurao CastleKosobu Yakata / 小曽部館
Kubodono Yashiki / 久保殿屋敷
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