2022年9月 – ページ 2 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

83.Uwajima Castle Part3

Uwajima City is attracting people.

Features

Interior of Main Tower

You can enter the inside of the Main Tower. Its interior is basically made for living, not for fighting. For example, the first and second floors are divided into the central room and the defense passage around by paper screen doors called Shoji. The floor of the central room is boarded now, but was Tatami-matted in the past. Shoji and Tatami mat are typical items for traditional Japanese living room. There are not any loopholes for guns and machicolations other Main Towers usually had. That’s why this is called the Main Tower of peace time.

The central room of the 1st floor, there is the miniature model of the tower made in the Edo Period for repairing

However, it actually has minimum defense system that each lattice window has a gun rest and the floors are set properly to shoot the guns from the windows.

A set of lattice window and gun rest on the defense passage at the 2nd floor

The stairway to the 2nd floor, the ceiling of the 1st floor is high to set the 2nd floor properly

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, many of the castle buildings were demolished and the moats were filled. The former lord, Date Clan continued to maintain the few remaining buildings and the mountain until the clan donated them to Uwajima City in 1949. Unfortunately, the Main Gate was burned down by the Uwajima air raid in 1945. Only the Main Tower and the Nobori-tachi-mon Gate on the back route remain. The Main Tower has been designated as an Important Cultural Property since 1950.

The remaining Nobori-tachi-mon Gate *(licensed by Saigen Jiro via Wikimedia Commons)*

My Impression

Uwajima City is warm all the year around and has a lot of affordable delicious food. A writer, Akira Yoshimura who has written about Choei Takano and Ine Kusumoto, the first woman doctor in Japan who also visited Uwajima. He came to love Uwajima through the data collection for his the novels. He visited there over 40 times in his life. This city is likely to have both a local laid-back atmosphere and a tolerance to accept others. I feel the same way and would like to visit there many times.

Ine Kusumoto *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

How to get There

If you want to visit the castle by car, it is about 30 minutes away from Seiyo-Uwa IC on the Matsuyama Expressway. There is a parking lot at the entrance of the castle.
By public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot from the JR Uwajima Station.
If you go there from Tokyo or Osaka, I recommend traveling by plane or using an express bus.

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

83.宇和島城　その３

宇和島は人々を魅了し続けています。

特徴、見どころ

天守の内部

天守の内部にも入ることができます。その内装は基本的には戦いのためではなく、居住のために作られています。例えば、一階と二階のフロアは中心部の身舎（もや）と周辺部の武者走り（むしゃばしり）に分かれていますが、障子によって区切られています。身舎の床は今は板張りになっていますが、過去は畳敷きになっていました。障子と畳と言えば、日本の伝統的な居間で使われる典型的なアイテムです。他の天守で通常みられるような鉄砲狭間や石落としなどもありません。そのため、平和の時代の天守と言われるのでしょう。

しかし、実際には最低限の防御のための仕組みとして、格子窓の下には鉄砲掛けがあり、床面の高さはその窓から鉄砲を撃てるよう適切に調整されています。

その後

明治維新後、城の多くの建物は撤去され、堀は埋められました。元藩主であった伊達家は、わずかに残った建物とそれがあった山を維持し続け、1949年になって宇和島市に寄贈しました。残念ながら、大手門は1945年の宇和島空襲により焼け落ちてしまっていました。天守と、搦手道にある上り立ち門だけが今に残っています。天守は1950年以来、重要文化財に指定されています。

現存する上り立ち門 *(licensed by Saigen Jiro via Wikimedia Commons)*

私の感想

宇和島市は一年中温暖で、安くておいしい食べ物がたくさんあります。作家の吉村昭は、高野長英や、日本で初めての女医となり宇和島も訪れた楠本イネについての小説を書きました。彼は、小説の取材のために宇和島を訪れるうちに、そこが好きになり、生涯で４０回以上訪れたとのことです。この街には、地方都市ののどかな雰囲気と、他人を受け入れる寛容さの両方を持ち合わせているようです。私も同じように感じたので、また何度も訪れたみたいです。

楠本イネ *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

ここに行くには

車で行かれる場合、松山自動車道の西予宇和ICから約３０分かかります。城の入口のところに駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、ＪＲ宇和島駅から歩いて約１５分かかります。
東京か大阪から行かれる場合は、飛行機か高速バスを使われることをお勧めします。

リンク、参考情報

・宇和島城、宇和島市ホームページ
・「よみがえる日本の城１０」学研
・「よみがえる日本の城、天守のすべて２」学研
・「築城の名手　藤堂高虎／福井健二著」戒光祥出版
・「伊達宗城／神川武利著」ＰＨＰ文庫
・「週刊名城をゆく３４／宇和島城大洲城」小学館

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

83.Uwajima Castle Part2

The Main Tower of peace time remains

Features

Entrance to Castle

Today, Uwajima Castle has few buildings, but including one of the twelve remaining Main Towers in Japan. The sea and water moats around the castle were removed and only the mountain parts remained. If you want to visit the castle from Uwajima Station, you can walk through the city area and enter the eastern side of the mountain beside the fire station. There was the Third Enclosure in the past. You will see a traditional building like the Main Gate at the entrance. It is actually the Nagaya-mon Gate of the house of the Kori Clan, a senior vassal of the Uwajima Domain, which was moved from another place in 1963.

The map around the castle

The entrance to the castle from Uwajima Station

The Nagaya-mon Gate of the house of the Kori Clan

Climbing up with Seeing Stone Walls

You can climb up to the top of the mountain through the zigzagged trail, seeing old stone walls which might have been built in Takatora’s period. You will first be the Well Enclosure on the way. This is one of the many small enclosures of the castle, which had not only a well but also a set of defense; a gate, turret and stone walls. If you go farther, you will be under the high stone walls of the Main Enclosure. You can see half of the stone was built using some old stones and you can also see the trace of some parts that were repaired. After that, you will reach the Main Enclosure, passing the Second Enclosure.

The high stone walls of the Main Enclosure

The right side of the blue line was built using old stones, while the left side was repaired, from the signboard

Views from Main Enclosure

The Main Enclosure originally had many buildings around the Main Tower which was the only thing that remained. You can enter the enclosure through the stone walls of the Kushigata-mon Gate. You can also enjoy views of the city area in the northeast and the Uwajima Bay in the northwest. In fact, the bay was beside the mountain, but the reclamation of the bay started in the Edo Period, probably it was reclaimed earlier than other castles.

The past Main Enclosure drawn in the “Folding Screen of Illustration of Uwajima Castle and Town”, from the signboard

A view of Uwajima city area from the Main Enclosure

A view of Uwajima Bay from the Main Enclosure

Elegant Appearance of Main Tower

The highlight of the Main Enclosure is, of course, the Main Tower. The tower is not so large (15.7m high) compared with other remaining Main Towers in Japan. However, it looks very elegant with white plaster walls and lots of decorations. It has three levels with three roofs which all have a good design. The top roof has a Chinese styled gable. The second roof has a large triangular shaped gable, and the first roof has two smaller gables. In addition, the entrance of the first floor has another Chinese styled gable on its roof.

The Main Tower seen from below the high stone walls

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