Hanaoka Castle (Saku)
History
There is a theory that Hanaokajō was first built by the Hanaoka Clan who were a branch family of the Tomono Clan. Archaelogical investigations have determined that the castle was in use from the late 15th century to middle 16th century. Hanaokajō was also used as the site of a noroshidai in the Takeda Clan's network of beacon towers throughout Saku.
Visit Notes
The second stop on our miyagura tour in Saku, Hanaokajō is a fortified beacon site with a reconstructed miyagura. In front of the tower is a fire pit for generating smoke signals. This fort is quite well developed with many climbing terraced baileys all around the main castle mount. At the bottom of the mount toward the mountainside rear is a wide karabori (dry moat). Since the miyagura had a visitor's book I wrote in it about our miyagura tour and drew a quick and simple sketch of what I found at the Kokuzōsan-noroshidai.
Castle Profile | |
---|---|
English Name | Hanaoka Castle (Saku) |
Japanese Name | 佐久花岡城 |
Alternate Names | Hanaoka-noroshidai 花岡烽火台 |
Founder | Hanaoka Clan |
Year Founded | Late 15th Century |
Castle Type | Mountaintop |
Castle Condition | No main keep but other buildings |
Historical Period | Pre Edo Period |
Artifacts | Miyagura, Karabori, Dorui, Kuruwa |
Features | turrets, trenches |
Visitor Information | |
Access | Yachiho Station on the Kōmi Line; 25 minute walk to trailhead |
Visitor Information | 24/7 free; mountain |
Time Required | 50 minutes |
Location | Sakuho, Nagano Prefecture |
Coordinates | 36° 8' 26.63" N, 138° 29' 7.98" E |
|
|
Admin | |
Added to Jcastle | 2021 |
Contributor | ART |
Admin Year Visited | Viewer Contributed |
Friends of JCastle | |
Hōrōki | |
Yogo |
Enable comment auto-refresher