Mihara Castle

History

Kobayakawa Takakage built this large scale castle with 3 baileys, 32 sumi yagura (corner yagura), and 14 gates. It was built on the coast and connected two islands giving rise to the nickname Ukishiro, or "floating castle." Kobayakawa moved from Shin Takayama Castle, a typical mountaintop castle, to this site to better manage the Mori's sea forces and to help protect from Oda Nobunaga who was advancing from the East.

The third son of Mori Motonari, Kobayakawa Takakage was responsible for developing the naval forces which took part in the subjugation of Kyushu, Shikoku, Odawara and also took part in the advances on Korea.

After Hideyoshi conquered Kyushu, Kobayakawa was rewarded with more lands in Chikuzen, Chikugo and Bizen. He moved to Najima Castle in the East of Fukuoka and renovated much of Najima castle, which was also a seaside castle. In 1595 after handing over the Chikuzen and Chikugo to his son, he retired to Mihara Castle where he died in 1597.

The tenshu foundation of Mihara Castle was the largest ever built, similar in size to that of Edo castle, but the main keep was never actually built. Mihara Castle escaped demolition during the Meiji Period so that it could be used as Imperial naval base. It was later decommissioned and Mihara Train Station was built on the site in 1894. At this time all the buildings were destroyed and much of the stone walls torn down. The honmaru was further cut to make way for the bullet train in 1975.

Visit Notes

I've seen some people rate this very low because of the train station built right in the middle, but the massive stone walls and moat are quite impressive. If you visit you should also see the stone walls south of the station and the Funairi Yagura park area. There are also some other minor ruins north of the station too beyond the moat, but I did not have a time or daylight left to search them out (after Niitakayama Castle and Takayama Castle (Hiroshima) I didn't have much energy left either).

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Gallery

Main keep foundation area
Funairi Turret area
Honmaru Nakamon Gate area

Castle Profile
English Name	Mihara Castle
Japanese Name	三原城
Alternate Names	Ukishiro
Founder	Kobayakawa Takakage
Year Founded	1567
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Next 100 Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Features	water moats, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Mihara Sta. (San'yo Line), 1 min walk
Visitor Information	Tenshudai open 6:30-22:00; free
Time Required	75 mins
Website	http://www.city.mihara.hiroshima.jp/soshiki/4/shiro.html
Location	Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture
Coordinates	34° 24' 4.46" N, 133° 4' 57.61" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2007
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2018
Admin Visits	November 8, 2018

1.43

(7 votes)

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ARTShogun

66 months ago

Score 1

Much of the castle has been built over and the honmaru is now the site of Mihara Station. Parts of the ishigaki (ramparts) run under the track.The tenshudai can be accessed via the train station between 6am and 10pm. I found a moat segment with ishigaki on the otherside of the station.

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RaymondWDaimyo

147 months ago

Score 0

There isn’t much to see here. The JR train line runs right through the middle of the honmaru. There is some ishigaki to be seen as well as part of the water moat seen in the pictures on this website. Also, you can find part of the honmaru ishigaki embedded in a passageway that runs right under the train line. I only sussed out the honmaru part of the castle ruin as I had a connecting train to catch. Nearby are the remnants of parts of the outer moats and outer baileys’ ishigaki. Only stop by here if you are visiting the Onomich / Mihara area or you’re on your way to Hiroshima by local JR trains and have some time to spare. This is just barely a one-star site for me.

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