22.Hachioji Castle Part3

A castle which may be misundersood

Later History

After Hachioji Castle fell, the castle was abandoned. The ruins have been very well preserved as the Tokugawa Shogunate directly owned the land and did not allow people to access the area. The Japanese Government also considered the area as a national forest and did not allow for the removal of trees. The ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 1951. Since then, Hachioji City has been investigating and developing them as a historical park.

The Matsuki Enclosure
A view from the mountain

My Impression

Hachioji City is a large city with a population of nearly 600,000. The city first started as the castle town for Hachioji Castle. I knew this fact, but I hadn’t visited the castle ruins until recently. Before that, I thought the ruins may not have been interesting because the castle fell in just one day. Since my visit, I now feel the castle could have escaped capture if it had enough commanders and soldiers.

The restored Main Route
The stone walls around the entrance of the Main Hall ruins

How to get There

If you want to visit there using public transportation:
Take the Nishi-Tokyo bus from the bus stop No.1 at the north entrance of JR Takao Station, and get off at the Reien-Mae, Hachioji-joato-Iriguchi bus stop.
If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 10 minutes away from Hachioji-Nishi IC on Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway.
The guidance facility offers a parking lot.

The entrance of Hachioji Castle Ruins

Links and References

Hachioji Castle, Official Guide

That’s all.
Back to “Hachioji Castle Part1”
Back to “Hachioji Castle Part2”

投稿者: Yuzo

城巡りが好きなYuzoです。日本には数万の城があったといわれています。その内の200名城を手始めにどんどん紹介していきます。 I'm Yuzo, I love visiting castles and ruins. It is said that there were tens of thousands castles in Japan. I will introduce you top 200 castles and ruins of them, and more!

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