2021年7月 – ページ 4 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

24.Takeda Clan Hall Part2

The legacies of Takeda and Tokugawa remain around the shrine.

Features

Center of Ruins becomes Takeda Shrine

Now, the center of the ruins of Takeda Clan Hall have become Takeda Shrine. If you visit there from JR Kofu Station, you have to go up through the gentle slope for about 2km. After that, you will see the entrance of Takeda Shrine with the front guard frame on the south of the shrine. In fact, the entrance is not original, and was built when the shrine was founded. You can also see the stone walls on both sides of the entrance, which were built by the Tokugawa Clan. The earthen walls and water moats surrounding the whole shrine were built by the Takeda Clan.

The stone walls built by the Tokugawa Clan

The earthen walls and water moat surrounding the shrine

The Main Shrine stands inside where the Main Hall of the Takeda Clan stood in the past. A circuit style garden was also built in front of the hall to host visitors. Next to the Main Shrine, there is the treasure hall where you can learn more about Takeda Clan Hall and see Takeda’s items such as a flag of Sun Tzu which shows Shingen’s motto and their armors.

The map around the castle

Eastern part developed as Park

There is another entrance on the east of the shrine called the Main Gate which was the original front gate. The stone walls around the gate are likely originally from Takeda’s period. In front of the Main Gate, there is the restored square stone mound to protect the gate. This is due to the achievement of the recent excavation, which was originally built by Tokugawa Clan. In fact, the ruin of the round Umadashi system by the Takeda Clan was found under the ruin of the square stone mound. That means Tokugawa replaced the Umadashi system with their stone mound. The excavation team found that another enclosure was also built on the east of the gate and the stone mound. It is thought that this enclosure was built probably by the Tokugawa Clan to protect the Main Gate as well. The entrance and earthen walls of the enclosure have been restored as a park area.

The restored enclosure on the east of the Main Gate

West Enclosure with Takeda’s atmosphere

On the west of Takeda Shrine, the West Enclosure remains. You can walk across the earthen bridge from the shrine to the enclosure. You can also see the exit to the enclosure with the stone walls on both sides, which may be Shingen’s period in origin. The inside of the enclosure is empty, and the halls for Shingen’s family and relatives were there. The antique earthen walls and water moats surrounding the enclosure highlight the mood at that time. In addition, the front entrance of the enclosure on the south also shows one of Takeda’s defense systems called Masugata. It has a square space inside the entrance surrounded by earthen walls like brackets to protect the enclosure.

Going to the West Enclosure form the shrine

The stone walls at the exit to the West Enclosure

The West Enclosure with an antique appearance

The southern entrance of the West Enclosure

The Masugata part surrounded by the earthen walls

To be continued in “Takeda Clan Hall Part3”
Back to “Takeda Clan Hall Part1”

24.武田氏館　その２

武田と徳川の遺産が神社周辺にあります。

特徴

中心地は武田神社に

現在、武田氏館跡の中心地は武田神社となっています。もし甲府駅からここを訪れる場合は、およそ２ｋｍの緩やかな坂を登っていく必要があります。そして、鳥居がある武田神社の入口が神社の南側に見えてきます。実はこの入口は元からあったものではなく、神社が設立されたときに作られました。入口の両脇には石垣もありますが、これは徳川氏の時代に築かれたものです。神社全体を囲む土塁と水堀は武田氏によって築かれました。

神社を囲む土塁と水堀 *(licensed by 前田左衛門佐 via Wikimedia Commons)*

神社の本殿は、かつて武田氏の御殿があった敷地の中に建っています。客をもてなすための回遊式庭園も御殿の手前にありました。本殿のとなりには、宝物館があり、武田氏館のことをより学んだり、信玄のモットー「風林火山」が書かれた孫子の旗や甲冑などの武田の遺品を見学することができます。

城周辺の地図

東側は公園として整備

神社の東側には、もう一つの入口、大手門がありますが、元はここが正面口でした。門の周りの石垣は武田の時代からのままのようにも見えます。大手門の前には、門を守るための復元された四角い石積みがあります。これは最近の発掘の成果によるもので、元は徳川氏により築かれたものです。実は、武田氏による丸い形の馬出しの跡が、四角い石積み跡の下に見つかりました。発掘により、この門と石積みの東側にもう一つの曲輪が築かれたことも判明しました。この曲輪もまた、大手門を守るために恐らくは徳川氏により作られたものと考えられています。この曲輪の入口と土塁が公園として復元されています。

武田の雰囲気を残す西曲輪

武田神社の西側には、西曲輪が残っています。神社からこの曲輪の方に土橋を渡って歩いて行くことができます。この曲輪に行く出口の両脇に石垣が見られますが、これは信玄の時代に由来するものかもしれません。曲輪の中は今は空ですが、信玄の家族や関係者のための館がありました。古風な土塁や水堀がこの曲輪を囲んでいて、当時の雰囲気が感じられます。更には、南側にあるこの曲輪の正面入口には、桝形と呼ばれる武田の防御システムを見ることができます。曲輪を守るため、括弧形の土塁に囲まれた入口の内側が四角い空間になっています。

「武田氏館その３」に続きます。
「武田氏館その１」に戻ります。

24.Takeda Clan Hall Part1

Were the people the castle, the stone walls, or the moats?

Location and History

Nobutora Takeda built Castle as Governor’s Residence

Takeda Clan Hall, which is also called Tsutsujigasaki Hall, was located in what is now Kofu City, the Prefectural Capital of Yamanashi Prefecture. I would say the hall is the origin of Kofu City. The Governor of Kai Province (now Yamanashi Pref), Nobutora Takeda first built the hall in 1519. The hall was not only for the official residence of the governor, but also for the home base of the Takeda Clan, so it is classified as one of the castles in Japan.

The portrait of Nobutora Takeda, attributed to Nobukado Takeda, owned by Daisen-ji Temple *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Its location had mountains behind on the north, and an alluvial fan spread down on the south from around there. This meant Nobutora was able to overlook the castle town and the area around. He built his hall on a square enclosure which was nearly 200m on one side, surrounded by earthen walls and water moats. This was a typical style of the residences for governors in Japan at that time, emulating the style of Shogun’s palace in Kyoto. In addition, he built another castle on a mountain about 2km away from the hall on the north, called Yogaisan Castle, for emergency. For example, he and his family could escape from the hall to the mountain castle when a battle happened. Indeed, his son, Shingen Takeda was born at Yogaisan Castle during the battle between Nobutora and the Imagawa Clan in 1521. The network of these castle was defensive enough to maintain their safety during that time.

The location of the castle

Shingen Takeda’s saying related to Castle

Shingen, who was one of the greatest warlords in Japan, developed the hall as well, adding the West Enclosure for residences of his family and relatives on the west of the center enclosure in 1551. Apart from that, the Umadashi system, which refers to a round shaped sticking out defensive position, was built in front of the Main Gate on the east. It is also said that the hall for Shingen’s mother was built on the north. Each enclosure was surrounded by nearly 10m high earthen walls and over 5m deep water moats.

The imaginary drawing of Takeda Clan Hall (from the signboard at the site)

However, the hall seems to be misunderstood by many people. This comes from Shingen’s saying “The people are the castle, the stone walls, and the moats…” recorded in the military science book called Koyogunkan in the 17th Century of the Edo Period. The sentence means it is more important to win the people’s hearts than to build a strong castle, but many people later have been thinking it shows the reason why Shingen only had such a small castle in comparison to other castles for other warlords such as Nobunaga Oda and Kenshin Uesugi.

*The portrait of Shingen Takeda, owned by Jimyo-in Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons*)

Takeda Clan Hall itself is much smaller than Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle or Kenshin’s Kasugayama Castle, but it is because their periods or situations were different. In the case of Shingen, his hall started from the governor’s residence. It was common for governors to live in such a hall at that time. The Takeda Clan added defense systems like the network of the castles and Umadashi to deal with their situation. It was enough for them.

Katsuyori Takeda moved to another

In 1582, Shingen’s son, Katsuyori Takeda decided to move his home base to a large new castle called Shinpu Castle, because the situation changed. Katsuyori was threatened by Nobunaga, so Katsuyori needed a stronger and larger castle than the Takeda Clan Hall which was once abandoned. Katsuyori was unfortunately beaten by Nobunaga before the hall was used by the Oda Clan and the Tokugawa Clan again. It was finally abandoned in 1590, when the Tokugawa Clan built Kofu Castle near the hall.

The Portrait of Katsuyori Takeda, owned by Koyasan Jimyoin *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Takeda Clan Hall Part2”