Hanasaki Castle (Tsuru)

History

Hanasakijō is not well remembered to history but there are hints here and there. Oral traditions, chiefly the name of some surrounding localities, suggest that the fort was used as a signal fort or fortified belltower for the striking of warning bells and production of smoke signals, part of a large network of such forts in the borderlands between Kai and Musashi. The Kōshū highway runs below, so the fort may have been given a degree of fortification, suggested by surviving ruins, congruent with a fort also used to guard the trade route. It may have been a satellite fortification of Iwadonojō. The castellans are unknown.

Visit Notes

Hanasakijō is a very minor yamajiro (mountaintop castle) site but some ruins remain. The shrine area is thought to have been a castle bailey. It is about 40m long. To the rear there is what looks like the remains of a trench and dorui (earthen ramparts). The trench's middle section may have been filled in for rear access to the shrine for vehicles, but to either side there are chutes which appear to be tatebori (climbing trenches). There is dorui just behind the shrine building. The dorui is less certain toward the rear of the site where the road runs because probably dirt was heaped up and cut away to construct the roads below, though it's tempting to imagine some kind of gate complex here. Some castle explorers speculate that more ruins may be located further up the ridge beyond the large road which was cut for the neighbouring golf course.

Gallery

Dorui with chutes to right and left

Castle Profile
English Name	Hanasaki Castle (Tsuru)
Japanese Name	都留花咲城
Alternate Names	花咲鐘撞堂
Founder	Takeda Clan
Year Founded	Sengoku Period
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Artifacts	Tatebori, Dorui, Horikiri, Dobashi
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Kami-Ôtsuki Station on the Fujikyū Line; 30 minute walk to shrine causeway
Visitor Information	24/7 free; shrine
Time Required	20 minutes
Location	Ôtsuki, Yamanashi Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 36' 23.26" N, 138° 55' 18.80" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2023
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed
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