Kaseyama Castle

History

Kizu Hidekiyo, the lord of Kizu, first built a castle at Kaseyama in 1188 as one of the outlying castles to protect Kofukuji. During 1562-68, Matsunaga Hisahide, a former retainer of the Miyoshi Clan, restored and improved Kaseyama Castle, so it could act as a defensive bulwark against attacks from Yamashiro (present day Southern Kyoto Prefecture) into Yamato (present day Nara Prefecture). Matsunaga Hisahide gained notoriety for killing his lord’s family and the 13th Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, as well as burning the big Buddha in Nara. He was also the lord of Tamonyama Castle, Shigisan Castle, and Ryuosan Castle in Northern Yamato. At that time, Matsunaga Hisahide was battling the Miyoshi brothers, so he fortified and used Kaseyama Castle to protect the area from Miyoshi Masayasu, who had taken nearby Kizu Castle. Kaseyama Castle has three main baileys in a line sitting on top of Mt. Kase. The main baileys are linked to each other by smaller terraced baileys and are protected by various kinds of earthworks and moats such as V-shaped and U-shaped moats as well as vertical moats running down the sides of the hill. The bulk of the fortifications are on the southern and western sides as that is where Matsunaga had considered the most likely avenues of attack by Miyoshi forces from Kizu.

Visit Notes

This may not be the biggest yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in the Kansai Region, but it is one with many typical defensive features found in a late Sengoku Period yamashiro. To get to Kaseyama Castle take the local mini-bus from JR Kizu Station to Kaseyama, the last stop. If you want to do the castle ruin quickly, you can follow the signs for the main course in about 1.5 hours from the trailhead. If you want to see everything listed on the detailed black and white map (Japanese only) and follow all the "sub courses" you should factor in around 2.5 hours, depending on how often you stop for photos. (RaymondW)

At the end of 2023 I had an extra vacation day to burn or I'd lose it so without much planning I finally decided to make a quick trip down to Kaseyama Castle which had been on my radar for some time. This castle vastly exceeded expectations and I spent most of the day wandering the trails and trying to get to every bailey, horikiri and tatebori on site. I wish I had gone sooner. This was the perfect way to round out 2023 castling. It's a bit hard to see in the photos and map but for a small footprint at the top of the mountain the stepped baileys going down each ridge are really brilliant. The relatively unknown unejo tatebori (multiple vertical trenches in a row) are spectacular and should be more recognized by castle fans. The castle is extremely well signposted for a mountaintop castle and trails even to the more remote parts of the castle are well maintained. (Eric)

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Gallery

Unejo Tatebori
Unejo Tatebori
Unejo Tatebori
Unejo Tatebori
Unejo Tatebori
Unejo Tatebori

Castle Profile
English Name	Kaseyama Castle
Japanese Name	鹿背山城
Founder	Kizu Hidekiyo
Year Founded	1188
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Top 100 Mountaintop Castles
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Year Reconstructed	1562-1568
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Kizu Sta. (Nara Line); bus, 20 min. walk
Visitor Information	mountain, open any time
Time Required	180 mins
Website	http://kizu1978.info/kaseyama.html
Location	Kizugawa, Kyoto
Coordinates	34° 44' 46.97" N, 135° 50' 36.67" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2012
Contributor	RaymondW
Admin Year Visited	2023
Admin Visits	December 27, 2023
Friends of JCastle
Kojodan
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