ページ 117 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

62.Wakayama Castle Part2

There are so many attractions you should check out in the castle.

Features

From Main Gate to Nakagomon Gate Ruins

Today, Wakayama Castle site has been developed as Wakayama Castle Park by Wakayama City. It still includes the main portion of the original castle. It has five entrances same as the castle had, as the Main, Okaguchi, Oimawashi, former Akazuno, and former Fukiage Gates.

The map around the castle

If you want to see what the castle was like, it may be better to enter the Main Gate at the northeastern part of the park. The gate and the bridge in front it over the Inner Moat were restored in the present time. Once you enter the gate, you will see how large the castle grounds and moats are.

The Drawing of the Main Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the site

The Inner Moat at the eastern side of the castle

You will go to the ruins of Nakagomon, the second gateway, which still have alternating stone walls. This is an interesting spot where you can see two types of the gate stone walls using roughly and precisely processed stones. In addition, you can see the old stone walls surrounding the hill using natural greenschists ahead. These walls were built in different periods.

Looking down the alternated part from the top of the stone walls

The walls using granite porphyry stones on the left and the walls using sand stones on the right

The walls using natural Greenschist stones

Second and Western Enclosures

The Second Enclosure is the west of the Main Gate area. It has only a rock garden built in the present time, but it had the luxury Main Hall with turrets beside the Inner Moat. The Large Hall, part of the Main Hall, was moved to Osaka Castle and remained until 1947 when it was burned. Wakayama City is planning to restore the Large Hall at the original position with some turrets and the O-oku residence in a long term. The distant view of the Main Tower may be the best seen from the enclosure.

The map around the Second Enclosure

The ruins of Monomi-Yagura Turret at the Second Enclosure

The Inner Moat at the northern side of the Second Enclosure

The Large Hall which was moved to Osaka Castle, quoted from the website of Wakayama City

A distant view of the Main Tower from the Second Enclosure

In the next Western Enclosure, the water garden, called Momijidani-teien or the Autumn Leave Valley Garden, was restored in the present time and designated as a National Scenic Beauty. the Passage Bridge between the Second and Western Enclosures was also restored in 2006. You can walk into the roofed and slanted bridge which is quite rare.

The Autumn Leave Valley Garden in the Western Enclosure

Remaining Okaguchi Gate

The area around the Okaguchi Gate at the southeastern part of the park is also great to visit. The gate building with the mud wall beside is one of the few remaining buildings of the castle and designated as an Important Cultural Property. It looks like a simple gate with a gabled roof, but it was sandwiched by turrets on both sides.

The map around the Okaguchi Gate

Part of the Drawing of the Okaguchi Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the site

Inside the gate, there is the second gateway similar to the Main Gate area. You can see a great and high stone wall base for Matsunomaru Turret on the left. Other stone walls form a square space called Masugata to prevent their enemies from attacking them. No buildings remain on them, however, these newer stone walls are also worth seeing.

The second gateway from the Okaguchi Gate

The stone wall base for Matsunomaru Turret

The square space seen from the top of the base

Going Main Enclosure and Main Tower climbing Slope

There are two routes to the Main Enclosure on the hill as the Front Slope and the Back Slope. The Front Slope is a gentler but longer route. The first part of it is wide and zigzagged, with beautiful paved Greenschist stones.

The map around the Main Enclosure

The last part is long, with old stone walls on the right hill side and several turret stone wall bases on the left valley side. Currently, visitors can enjoy a relaxing walk on that route, but at that time, the enemies would have found the route troubling as they could be counter-attacked.

A turret stone wall base on the valley side

The Back Slope is steeper but shorter. This route is also made and surrounded by old stone walls, but has a different taste with the mossy stones.

The top of the hill has two peaks, one was for another Main Hall, and the other is for the Main Tower. The Main Hall coexisted with that of the Second Enclosure, but it was not often used for its small size and inconvenient location. There is a water station now and it is a good view point of the Main Tower.

Going to the Main Enclosure from the Front Slope

The Main Hall Ruins of the Main Enclosure

Most visitors’ destination is the Main Tower. It is actually a modern building, not original, but was apparently restored in 1958. Its stone wall base is original and thought that it is the oldest among the stone walls in the castle. A building like the Main Tower may have been built on it from the first stage.

The style of the tower is called Renritsu-siki or the Tower Grouping, which refers to the Large and Small Main Towers and turrets being connected by Hall Turrets like a corridor. The interior of the tower is used as a historical museum and the top floor is used as the observation platform.

You can see the style of the Tower Grouping from the top floor

A storage box for tea ceremony utensils, one of the exhibitions in the tower

The top floor of the Large Main Tower as the observation platform

An eastern view including the Main Hall Ruins from the platform

To be continued in “Wakayama Castle Part3”
Back to “Wakayama Castle Part1”

62.和歌山城　その２

この城には山ほど見る所があります。

特徴、見どころ

大手門から中御門跡へ

現在、和歌山城のある場所は、和歌山市により和歌山城公園として整備されています。ここには、もともと城だった範囲の内、主要部分が含まれています。入口の数は、城の現役時代と同じです。大手門、岡口門、追廻（おいまわし）門、不明（あかずの）門跡、吹上（ふきあげ）門跡の５ヶ所です。

城周辺の地図

城の姿がどのようであったか知りたければ、公園の北東の方にある大手門から入ってみるのがおすすめです。この大手門と、その前の内堀にかかっている橋は現代になって復元されたものです。一旦門から入ってみると、城の敷地と堀がどんなに大きいか実感できると思います。

二番目の関門である中御門跡には、今でも石垣が食い違いになって残っています。この辺は面白い場所で、門に使われている２種類の石垣を見ることができます。粗く加工された砂岩を使った場所と、精密に加工された花崗岩を使った場所です。それに、少し進んだ場所では、緑泥片岩の自然石を使った丘を囲む古い石垣を見ることができます。それぞれの石垣は異なる時代に築かれています。

二の丸と西の丸

二の丸は、大手門がある場所の西側にあります。ここには今では現代になってから作られた石庭しかありませんが、かつては豪華な御殿と内堀に臨んだ複数の櫓がありました。御殿の中の大広間は、大坂城に移築されて1947年まで存在していましたが、残念ながら失火により焼けてしまいました（当時進駐軍により使われていました）。和歌山市は大広間を元あった場所に復元することを計画しています。また、長期的には一部の櫓と大奥の建物の復元も検討しています。この曲輪から見える天守の遠景は一番映えるかもしれません。

二の丸周辺の地図

そのとなりの西の丸では、紅葉谷（もみじだに）庭園が現代になって復元され、国の名勝に指定されています。二の丸と西の丸の間をつなぐ御橋廊下も2006年に復元されました。この中を歩いてみることもできますが、傾斜している屋根付きの橋は大変珍しいそうです。

現存している岡口門

公園の南東方面にある岡口門にも是非行ってみてください。門の建物と傍らの土塀は、この城ではわずかに残っている建物の一つであり、重要文化財に指定されています。切妻屋根のシンプルな門に見えますが、かつては両側を櫓によって挟まれていました。

岡口門周辺の地図

門から入って行くと、大手門がある場所と同じように、二番目の関門があります。左側には、松の丸櫓が乗っていた立派な高石垣が見えてきます。その他の石垣が桝形と呼ばれる四角い空間を形作り、敵が攻めてくるのを防げるようになっていました。ここに建物は残っていませんが、これら新しい方の時代に属する石垣は十分見るに値します。

坂を登って本丸、天守へ

丘の上の本丸に行くには、２つのルートがあります。表坂と裏坂です。表坂は緩やかですが、その分長いです。登り始めの部分は広い道が曲がりくねっています。緑泥片岩が敷かれていてとても美しいです。

本丸周辺の地図

後半の部分は長く、右側が丘の側面になっていて、左側は谷側でいつくかの櫓台石垣があります。現代のビジターはこの道をゆっくり楽しみながら歩いていますが、その昔敵がここを通ったときには反撃を受けて相当な困難を感じたことでしょう。

裏坂は、急な分短くなっています。この道も石が敷き詰められ、古い石垣によって囲まれていますが、苔むしていて表坂とは違った趣きがあります。

丘の頂上は二つの峰から成っていて、一つ目にはもう一つの御殿がかつて存在していて、もう一つの方には今でも天守があります。この御殿は、二の丸にあった御殿と共存していましたが、狭かったことと、立地の不便さのためあまり使われませんでした。現在ここは給水場となっていて、天守を眺めるにはよい場所です。

ほとんどのビジターの目的地はやはり天守でしょう。実際にはオリジナルではなく、近代的ビルとして1958年に外観復元されたものです。天守台石垣はオリジナルであり、城の中では最も古い石垣であるとされています。天守のような建物が城の初期段階から建てられていたのかもしれません。

この天守の形式は連立式と呼ばれていて、大天守と小天守が廊下のような多聞櫓によってつながっています。天守の内部は歴史博物館となっていて、最上階は展望台として使われています。

「和歌山城その３」に続きます。
「和歌山城その１」に戻ります。

62.Wakayama Castle Part1

The castle was completed after three periods.

Location and History

Wakayama was one of largest cities in Japan

Wakayama Castle has been located in Wakayama City, the capital of Wakayama Prefecture which was called Kii Province. Now Wakayama may seem to be a local city which is far from the main artery of Japan between Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. However, it was one of the ten largest cities in Japan until the Edo Period when the castle was on active service. This is because Wakayama area was once on the main route of water transportation between eastern and western Japan. As a result, the castle finally became the home base of the Tokugawa Clan, one of the three branches of the Tokugawa Family. In addition, the clan produced two Shoguns, Yoshimune and Iemochi Tokugawa, as the successors of the head family.

The range of Kii Province and the location of the castle

The portrait of Yoshimune Tokugawa, owned by Tokugawa Memorial Foundation (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Iemochi Tokugawa, owned by Tokugawa Memorial Foundation (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Period of Kuwayama Clan

In the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period, a group of the local lords, Saika-shu governed the area by themselves and often sent soldiers for other warlords. However, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the ruler of Japan, conquered the area by destroying them in 1585. Hideyoshi then chose a hill and ordered his younger brother Hidenaga to build a new castle on it, that would be Wakayama Castle. Takatora Todo, one of Hidenaga’s retainers who would later become a master of castle construction, was responsible for it. After its completion, another retainer, the Kuwayama Clan lived in it. The history of Wakayama Castle is divided into three periods, one of which was done by the Kuwayama Clan. What the castle was like in the period is uncertain, but its range was roughly around the hill. This is because the old stones of Greenschist are still piled around the hill, which look very different from the other stone walls of the castle. The reason why the stones were first used was that they could easily get the stones from the hill itself or around.

The portrait of Hidenaga Toyotomi, owned by Shungakuin Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Takatora Todo, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The stone walls surrounding the hill of Wakayama Castle

Period of Asano Clan

In 1600, the Asano Clan became the lord of the Kii Province, based in Wakayama Castle, while the Kuwayama Clan was transferred to another. The Asano Clan had a much larger territory than the Kuwayama Clan, so they improved the castle according to its structure. They built the Main Tower on the hill and the residences and tea-ceremony houses on new enclosures at the northern foot. These enclosures were surrounded by stone walls which were piled mainly using roughly processed sandstones. These stones were carried from the places some distance away such as Tomogashima Island, because they were easy to process. The Inner Moat also surrounded the enclosures in the north and east. The southern and western sides were protected by a natural sand dune in front of the sea. In addition, the Main Gate was moved from the south to north, because the castle town, the later Wakayama city area, was also developed in this direction. It is said that the basic structure of the castle was done by the Asano Clan.

The imaginary CG image of the Main Enclosure Main Hall in the Edo Period, from the signboard at the site

The illustration of Wakayama Castle, in the Edo Period, exhibited by Historical Wakayama Castle

The stone walls of the Sand Enclosure, built using sandstones

Period of Tokugawa Clan

In 1619, Yorinobu Tokugawa came to the castle, while the Asano Clan was transferred to Hiroshima Castle. The castle was improved by him as the home base of one of the three branches of the Tokugawa Family. To make the castle stronger, he built more enclosures on the sand dune such as Sunanomaru or the Sand Enclosure. These enclosures had high stone walls which were basically piled in the same way as the Asano Clan. Some of them would be later piled using more precisely processed granite porphyry stones called the Kumano Stone. Yorinobu built the Third Enclosure for warriors’ houses outside the Inner Moat in the north. He tried to develop the castle more by building the Outer Moat, but had to stop it, as the Tokugawa Shogunate including the head family was against it.

The portrait of Yorinobu Tokugawa, owned by Wakayama Prefectural Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The stone walls of the Nakagomon Gate Ruins, built using granite porphyry stones

In the peaceful time during the Edo Period, the center of the castle moved from the hill to the foot of it, for convenience of the government. The Second Enclosure at the northern foot had the Main Hall dividing Omote, Nakaoku, O-oku like the government office, official residence, and private residence. The hall looked like that of the Shogun, the head family in Edo Castle. The neighboring Western Enclosure was the cultural center of the castle. It had a Noh stage, a water garden, and a tea ceremony room, where the lord enjoyed and sometimes invited people. A roofed bridge called Ohashi-Roka or the Passage Bridge was built over the Inner Moat connecting the two enclosures, which only the lord and his relatives could use.

The illustration of the Second Enclosure (in the right) and Western Enclosure (in the left)

The water garden in the Western Enclosure and the Passage Bridge (in the back)

However, the Main Tower got burned down by the fire due to a lightning strike in 1846 but it was rebuilt in 1850. In 1945 during World War II, it got burdened down again due to an air raid, but was rebuilt with the same appearance in 1958. It is uncertain if the tower that got burned down was the one that the Asano clan built.

The miniature model of Wakayama Castle, exhibited by Historical Wakayama Castle

The present Main Tower of Wakayama Castle

To be continued in “Wakayama Castle Part2”