2022年2月 – ページ 3 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

164.Sumoto Castle Part3

What is the essential value of this castle?

Features

Attractions of Eastern Enclosure

If you have time, I recommend you seeing the Eastern Enclosure more, which also have many other attractions. For example, there is Jitsugetsu-no-ike Pond, or the Pond of the Sun and the Moon, which was used as a well for the castle. The enclosure also has the ruins of the Second Eastern Gate on the eastern side, which use the oldest stone walls in the castle. Outside the gate ruins, you can look down the eastern Climbing Stone Walls which line from the foot to the top. They look great, but you had better not get too close to them, because part of them collapsed and could be dangerous to explore.

The map around the castle

The Pond of the Sun and the Moon of the Eastern Enclosure

The ruins of the Second Eastern Gate of the Eastern Enclosure

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Sumoto Castle was abandoned and its ruins on the mountain became part of a natural park called Mikuma Park. The imitation Main Tower was built as an attraction for the park. Its area at the foot of the mountain was turned into the city area including a court, a museum, and residences. The stone walls on the mountain have been researched and restored. As a result, the mountain part of the castle was finally designated as a National Historic Site in 1999. On the other hand, the imitation tower will soon cease to exist. However, under the current regulations for National Historic Sites, the tower may not be allowed to be replaced without certain evidence for its original building. Local people want to maintain something for a symbol of the castle, despite the fact that it is still unknown what the castle buildings on the mountain looked like. This is because they were demolished about 400 years ago. How will the local governments such as Sumoto City decide the future of these castles?

The Imitation Main Tower of Sumoto Castle

My Impression

I was really surprised to see such great original stone walls remain in good condition on the mountain. There are few similar cases in Japan. This is because people in Sumoto have been putting great efforts in maintaining them. However, I think these stone walls are not popular despite being the most important element of the castle, so they and their history should be known to more people in other areas. I also hope that all the stone walls of the castle including the Climbing Stone Walls could be made intact. It may be difficult to do it in a short time, but if it is done, Sumoto Castle could become more popular and people in Somoto could have more pride in Sumoto Castle no matter the imitation tower is kept or not.

The stone walls of the Belt Enclosure in front of the Main Gate Ruins

The stone walls of the southwest corner of the Main Enclosure

The Imitation Main Tower on the original stone wall base

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 20 minutes away from Sumoto IC on Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway.
The ruins offer a parking lot near the top of the mountain.
By public transportation, it takes about 40 minutes walking from the Sumoto Bus Center.
You can take an express bus from Osaka or Kobe to the bus center.

The parking lot near the top of the mountain

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Sumoto Castle Part1”
Back to “Sumoto Castle Part2”

164.洲本城　その３

この城の根本的価値とはなんでしょう。

特徴、見どころ

東の丸の見どころ

お時間があれば、東の丸をもっと見学されることをお勧めします。ここには他にも興味深い見所があります。例えば、日月（じつげつ）の池は、城の井戸として使われていました。東の丸の東側には、東二の門跡があり、ここの石垣はこの城では一番古いものです。この門跡の外側では、山裾から山頂まで伸びる東登り石垣を見下ろすことができます。とても素晴らしいものですが、あまり近づきすぎない方がいいようです。一部分が崩れており、近づいて見るには危険が伴うからです。

城周辺の地図

その後

明治維新後、洲本城は廃城となり、山上の城跡は、三熊公園として自然公園となりました。模擬天守は、その公園の呼び物として建設されたのです。城の山麓部分は、裁判所や博物館、一般住居などの市街地となっていきました。山上に残っていた石垣は、調査及び復旧がなされました。その結果、城の山上部分はついには1999年に国の史跡に指定されてした。一方では、模擬天守はもうす建物としての寿命を迎えるものと思われます。ところが、現在の国の史跡に適用される基準下では、天守は、もとあった建物についての明確な根拠資料がなければ、建て替えが認められないかもしれません。地元の人たちは、城のシンボルとして何らかのものを維持したいと考えていますが、山上にどんな城の建物があったのか今だわかっていないのが実態です。何しろ約４００年前に建物が撤去されてしまっているのです。洲本市など地元の自治体は城の将来についてどのような決断を行うのでしょうか。

私の感想

山の上にこんなにも素晴らしい石垣がよい状態で残っていることに本当に驚きました。日本にはあまり似た状況のところはありません。洲本の人たちが石垣を維持するのに大変な労力を注いできたからだと思います。しかしながら、これらの石垣がこの城の最も重要な要素である割には知られていないように思います。ここの石垣や城の歴史はもっと他の地域の人たちにも知られるべきではないでしょうか。また、登り石垣を含むこの城の石垣が、より完全に近い形で残されていくことを望みます。短期間で成し遂げることは難しいでしょうが、洲本城のことがもっと知れ渡れば、洲本の人たちは模擬天守があってもなくても、この城のことをより誇りに思うことができるのではないでしょうか。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：
神戸淡路鳴門自動車道の洲本ICから約２０分かかります。
山頂近くに城跡の駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、洲本バスセンターから歩いて約４０分かかります。
大阪または神戸からバスセンターに高速バスが出ています。

リンク、参考情報

・洲本城跡について、洲本市ホームページ
・「城郭研究の新展開２　淡路洲本城」戒光祥出版
・「よみがえる日本の城１３」学研
・「日本の城改訂版第２０号」デアゴスティーニジャパン

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。
「洲本城その１」に戻ります。
「洲本城その２」に戻ります。

164.Sumoto Castle Part2

Great stone walls remain on the mountain.

Features

Castle Entrance was strictly protected

Now, the ruins of Sumoto Castle on the mountain are developed for visitors and maintain their original stone walls. If you drive to the ruins, you can easily park near the top of Mikuma-yama Mountain. The mountain has steep slopes in all directions except for the southeast direction where the diving route is on a gentle slope. For the castle, such a slope could be a weak point, so the strongest defense system in the castle was developed in this direction such as the Main Gate. In fact, the parking lot you can park was one of the enclosures called Umaya or the Stable, which protected the gate. You can also see a great view of Kii Channel to the south from here. That’s why this enclosure could have been used as an observation platform.

The map around the castle

From the parking lot to the center of the castle, you will first have to walk on the narrow route along the stone walls of the Eastern Enclosure on the right, and in front of the stone walls of the Southern Enclosure. Then, you will enter the ruins of the Southern Gate of the Eastern Enclosure

The map around the castle

The narrow route to the center of the castle

The entrance is surrounded by the stone walls

The ruins of the Southern Gate of the Eastern Enclosure

If you climb up these stone walls after entering the gate, you can clearly look down the route you passed and understand how such a system protected this spot in the past.

In the case looking down from the stone walls of the Eastern Enclosure

*In the case looking down from* the ruins of the Corner Turret of the Southern Enclosure

The ruins of the Corner Turret of the Southern Enclosure

After that, you can reach the Main Enclosure by passing the Second Enclosure which is also surrounded by the stone walls.

Main Enclosure, symbol of Authority

The Main Enclosure has the greatest and highest stone walls in the castle. It has the front side in the south with the Large Stone Steps and the front entrance called Koguchi. The entrance has a square space inside surrounded by the stone walls, which is also called Uchi-Masugata. You can also climb up the surrounding stone walls and look down the entrance and see the shape of the square space. It is thought that a turret gate building was built on the stone walls, which made the entrance more defensive and displayed the authority of the lord.

The map around the castle

The Large Stone Steps of the Main Enclosure

The Koguchi Entrance of the Main Enclosure

Imitation Main Tower, Symbol of Present Castle

The Main Enclosure also has the imitation Main Tower on the original stone wall base for the Main Tower. It was built to celebrate the enthronization of Emperor Showa in 1928 as a modern observation platform. However, it cannot be used for observation now because it has aged and could prove to be quite dangerous. Therefore, it is used as just a symbol of the castle or a landmark of the city. You can even see a great view of Sumoto city area – the former castle town, and Osaka Bay to the north under the tower. You will once again understand why this was a good location for the castle, which served to protect it and overlook the area around.

The name plate installed when the tower was built

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