Takao Castle (Koka)

History

Takao Castle was a subsidiary castle to Ayukawa Castle. It also served to watch over the road that passes through the narrow north end of the valley which is not visible from Ayukawa Castle. The many vertical trenches (tatebori) indicate it was also likely used and renovated by the Kurokawa. See the Ayukawa Castle and Kurokawashi Castle profiles for more details.

Visit Notes

Similar to the mountaintop part of Ayukawa Castle, apart from a sign in the middle of the woods behind a temple, there is no decent trail up the steep slope. It's only about half as high as Ayukawa Castle so I managed to scramble up the side of this mountain kind of zigzagging back and forth until I got to the less steep ridge side and worked my way up to the top. Unfortunately, there is a wire fence that runs along the ridge and right across the top of the mountain and through the middle some nice horikiri and baileys. I found one big hole in the fence so I could go back and forth to get in all the pics around the castle. The castle itself is very small. One main bailey, one very small bailey, one side bailey, horikiri on either end and several of tatebori (vertical trenches) dropping down from a nice yokobori (horizontal trench).

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Gallery

Castle Profile
English Name	Takao Castle (Koka)
Japanese Name	高尾城
Founder	Ayukawa Yakuro
Year Founded	1300's (Nanbokucho Period)
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Kibukawa Sta (JR Kusatsu Line), local bus (Tsuchiyama Bus) to Ayukawaguchi, 20 min walk
Visitor Information	mountain, open 24/7
Time Required	60 mins
Location	Koka, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	34° 57' 38.30" N, 136° 20' 39.73" E
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Collections	Koka Castles
Admin
Added to Jcastle	2023
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2023
Admin Visits	March 19, 2023

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