Mikazuki Jinya, Kohyama Castle, and updated Hikone Castle

Mikazuki Jinya and Kohyama Castle and Hikone Castle updates

2024/07/27

This is a quick update for a day out in Hyogo Prefecture. The main goal was Mikazuki Jin'ya which has a splendid mix of original and reconstructed buildings. The other big benefit, and one of my main reasons to visit, was the samurai homes there. They are not open to the public but I've seen very little documentation about them online so I wanted to get my own photos out there before these rapidly deteriorating sites disappear forever. The main profile page for Mikazuki Jin'ya has links in the bottom right to photos for each of the houses.

Shingu Jin'ya was a convenient little site to walk to from Harima Shingu Station while waiting for the bus to Kohyama Castle. In fact the bus goes almost right past the site so I could save a few bus stops and the walk back to the station anyway.

Kohyama Castle really exceeded my expectations. There is not much documentation out there about this site either but the stone wall remains are remarkable. It's almost like a second Kannonji Castle or Azuchi Castle. Most of the stone wall remains are for a terraced city around the castle for retainers, but it is still impressive to walk along these walls built nearly 500 years ago.

For Hikone Castle I created a new album of photos for the Genkyuen Garden and uploaded photos from the special opening of the Keyaki Palace to the profile kindly written by Adam.

This will be my last update for awhile now as I take some time off for summer vacation things. If I get some downtime in between I might get a couple more sets of castle photos sorted and posted to Facebook. If you don't follow the site on Facebook please do so.

 

Kohyama Castle / 香山城

This is an intriguing site. First, it is not well known but has a tremendous amount of stonework remaining. It's also in an area rich with other quite high mountaintop castles. They could have built this castle on top of the mountain but chose a site closer to the bottom. Further, most of the stonework you see is not actually "castle" specifically but the terraced residences (yashiki) of retainers and samurai. The stone walls create a terraced village for living quarters and roads along the mountainside town. Even when you're not looking at stone wall remnants you are likely walking across stones from crumbled stone walls and pilings. The footing is actually poor in some places for all the small stones.

The main bailey and second bailey are right at the highest point of the terraced village with additional high stone walls and a water moat carved from the bedrock to separate it from the rest of the town. Such terraced residences at the foot of the mountain with a castle at the peak are not a unique concept, but I have not seen this much stone work to support the terraces except at Azuchi castle of course.

This would have been a really interesting place to visit in its prime. There is a well marked trail through the castle ruins but going off trail is easy and highly recommended to find a lot more of the interesting stonework. In early November, it was full of giant spider webs EVERYWHERE. I guess the site does not get many visitors. There were so many times when I was concentrating on taking photos that I backed into or walked through a spider web. I had to change lenses at one point because I got a piece of webbing stuck across my lens (thank goodness for UV protector filters and carrying an extra lens!). I was expecting Shelob to come bumbling out at some point. I also ran into a few snakes along the way. This place is like the Mirkwood of castles.

This was my +1 castle after visiting Mikazuki Jin'ya. I was looking for something else interesting in the area and stumbled across this one in some materials from the Nishiharima Tourism Board that had a nice map and illustration of the site. It is a little challenging to get to however since there are few busses from Harima Shingu Station. Even with this many photos and 2.5 hours on site I did not see the whole site. I tried to get everywhere that was marked with stone walls on the map, but had to skip some to make the last bus before dark and before Shelob's minions came out. There are a couple more castles nearby that are high on my to do list too so I might make it back here again.

 

Mikazuki Jin'ya / 三日月陣屋

The Monomi Yagura, the large slightly darker colored yagura on the left side of this section of castle, is original. It was used as part of the Civic Center (kominkan) following the Edo Period until it was dismantled and move back to its original location in 2003. The inside has been restored and you can go inside today. The connected Tamon yagura houses a small museum of artifacts but mostly explanations about the reconstruction.

The Omotemon Gate is also original. It was moved from the castle to Saihoji Temple, about 6km away, in the Meiji Period but was moved back to its original location in the castle town in 2018. You will still see many castle websites that show it at the Saihoji Temple.

The Kogyokan building is from the Hanko, or Domain School. It was built in the 1700s and was relocated to the nearby shrine just a short walk from the restored castle.

The restored and reconstructed fortification is a truly imposing structure. The long wall of tamon yagura connecting three gates and the big Monomi Yagura is one of a kind. I imagine this is what some complete defensive walls at other big castles like Osaka Castle or Edo Castle might have looked like. For this small jin'ya though, all it had was the one major defensive structure, but it is still a fabulous reconstruction and thankful for it. The jin'ya is nestled right at the edge of the valley and effectively closes off a corner behind it which results in something a bigger castle than it is. From the castle spreading out downhill to the river was a well developed castle town. It still holds many signs of the castle town from the end of the Edo Period in the layout of streets and plots of land.

There is a grouping of 4 extant Samurai Residences near to the castle in the area that was zoned for middle class samurai. The Takeuchi Residence has seen some modern renovations. Two seem to have been condemned and a fourth (Fukaya Residence) is hidden in trees. No one lives in the Takeuchi Residence today, but the house has a collection of artifacts from the Edo Period and tours are occasionally held during local festivals. The 2023 autumn festival held a tour and was gathering donations to restore the house. I had actually planned my visit to Mikazuki Jin'ya precisely for this tour and event only to come down with COVID. Even so, I visited as soon as I recovered anyway, even if I could not go inside. Perhaps they will do it again. I'm watching and waiting, but Mikazuki is not an easy place to get to! I also have leads on two other samurai homes in the town to check out if I ever make it back.

There are few trains running from Himeji all the way to Mikazuki. Mikazuki Station also does not take IC cards. You'll need to buy a paper ticket from Himeji. The train conductor was kind enough to ask if I was going to the castle and would be going back to Himeji or not (yes). He told me to keep my IC card and settle up for a round trip fare back at Himeji Station. This is probably another "only in Japan" moment that they would be so trustworthy.

 

Shingu Jin'ya / 新宮陣屋

There is really not much here to see. It's just looks like a corner of an abandoned lot, but it's nice of them to maintain the stone walls and put up a sign. The Jin'ya site is about a 10 min walk from Harima Shingu Station and I happened to have just enough time before my bus to Kohyama Castle to take a quick walk over here.

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