2022年9月 – ページ 6 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

80.Yuzuki Castle Part3

The castle ruins were saved by the decision of Ehime Prefecture.

Features

Great View from Top of Hill

Of course, you can climb up to the top of the hill, which is called the Hondan (like the Main Enclosure) which is now used as the observation platform. You can find a few explanations of the castle there because the excavation team didn’t find any relics. However, you can enjoy a view of Matsuyama Castle and the Dogo Spring Spot Town from the same platform. In fact, in the first 17th Century, Takatora Todo, who shared Iyo Province with his rival, Yoshiaki Kato, once used the abandoned Yuzuki Castle to monitor Matsuyama Castle which Yoshiaki built. Takatora would have seen the same view as we see now from Yuzuki Castle.

The aerial photo around the castle

The top called Hondan with the observation platform

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

Later History

In 1888 during the Meiji Era, Ehime Prefecture opened the Dogo Park at the ruins of Yuzuki Castle. The park became popular when a zoo opened in the park in 1953. However, the zoo was moved to another site in 1987 because of two issues. One was because of the bad odor, and another was because of the noise in the city area. The research of the Yuzuki Castle Ruins was done in the former area of the zoo before being turned into a modern Japanese garden. Plenty of relics were discovered in a good condition. Therefore, the prefecture reversed its decision to turn the ruins into a historical park in 1990. The restoration of Yuzuki Castle started in 1998 based on the results of the excavation and the examples of other sites like Ichijodani Castle before its eventual completion in 2001. the ruins were finally designated as a National Historic Site in 2002.

The remaining Inner Moat surrounded by the earthen walls

The flags of Yuzuki Castle at the entrance

My Impression

I didn’t know if Yuzuki Castle would have survived because of its severe history. I’m grateful for the prefecture’s decision to preserve them because no one would have remembered the history of Iyo Provence before Matsuyama Castle. The Dogo Park including the ruins has a good atmosphere. I recommend walking around the park as well as the town of the Dogo Hot Spring nearby where you can see other traditional buildings such as the Isaniwa Shrine and the Dogo Onsen Honkan bathhouse.

The Isaniwa Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

How to get There

If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is about 20 minutes away from Matsuyama IC on the Matsuyama Expressway. The Dogo Park offers parking lots.
By public transportation, take the tram in front of JR Matsuyama Station and get off at the Dogo-koen 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 “Yuzuki Castle Part1”
Back to “Yuzuki Castle Part2”

80.湯築城　その３

この城跡は、愛媛県の決断によって救われました。

特徴、見どころ

丘の頂上からの景色

もちろん、丘の頂上まで登ってみることもできます。その頂上部分は本壇（ほんだん）と呼ばれていて、本丸と同じような位置づけです。現在では展望台として使われています。ここでも発掘調査は行われましたが、出土遺物はほとんど見つからなかったため、あまり城らしい展示物はありません。しかし展望台からは、松山城や道後の温泉街の景色を楽しむことができます。実は１７世紀の初頭には、藤堂高虎がライバル関係にあった加藤喜明（よしあき）と伊予国を分割統治しており、喜明が築いた松山城を監視するために、高虎が廃城となった湯築城を一時使っていました。高虎も、今日われわれが湯築城から見る同じ景色を眺めていたのではないでしょうか。

城周辺の航空写真

藤堂高虎肖像画、個人蔵 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

その後

明治時代の1888年、愛媛県は湯築城跡に道後公園を開設しました。1953年には公園の中に動物園がオープンし、大変な人気となりました。しかし、1987年に動物園は他の場所に移転しました。その理由は、市街地の中で動物園からの悪臭と騒音が問題となったからです。元動物園だった区域は近代的な日本庭園になる予定で、その前に湯築城跡としての調査が行われました。その結果、数多くの遺物や遺跡が良好な状態で見つかったのです。そのため県は跡地の開発計画を変更し、1990年に歴史公園とすることに決定しました。発掘の成果や、一乗谷城のような他の城跡での事例に基づき、湯築城の復元工事が1998年に始まり、2001年に完成しました。城跡は2002年には国の史跡に指定されました。

私の感想

私は、湯築城がこんなにも大変な歴史を乗り越え、残ってきたことを全然知りませんでした。愛媛県の城跡を保存する決定には、今更ながら敬意を表します。もしそれがなかったら、松山城以前の伊予国の歴史を皆忘れ去ってしまっただろうからです。城跡を含む道後公園にはとても良い雰囲気があります。公園を歩いてみた後は、近くの道後温泉街に行き、伊佐爾波神社や道後温泉本館を見学するのもよいと思います。

伊佐爾波神社 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：松山自動車道の松山ICから約２０分かかります。道後公園に駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、ＪＲ松山駅前から路面電車に乗って、道後公園駅で降りてください。
東京または大阪から松山駅まで：飛行機か高速バスを使って来られることをお勧めします。

リンク、参考情報

・国史跡　道後公園湯築城跡
・「日本の遺跡３９　湯築城跡／中野良一著」同成社
・「よみがえる日本の城１０」学研
・「築城の名手　藤堂高虎／福井健二著」戒光祥出版

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

80.Yuzuki Castle Part2

The beauty between the Inner and Outer Moats of Yuzuki Castle was restored.

Features

Entrance of Castle Ruins

Today, the ruins of Yuzuki Castle have been developed as the Dogo Park. The western and southern parts of it are the restored area. The western entrance, which was originally used as the back gate, looks like the front gate now. If you go across the earthen bridge over to the Outer Moat to enter the inside of the earthen walls, you may feel like you are inside a medieval castle. You can first visit the Yuzuki Castle Museum near the entrance to learn more about the history of the Kono Clan and how the area was first developed.

The aerial photo around the castle

The entrance of Yuzuki Castle Ruins (the Dogo Park)

Restored Warrior’s House

Next to the museum in the western part, which is a middle-class warrior’s house, including the gate and mud walls in front of it, was restored. If you enter the house, you will see its interior was also restored because the layout was discovered by the excavation team. There are five mannequins representing people who once lived in the castle enjoying a poetry party in the meeting room, while another mannequin is preparing a meal and tea in the kitchen.

You can visit the other restored warrior’s house with the exhibition room inside. The reason for this is the original layout of it is not clear to see even though the excavation was already done.

High-class Warriors’ Residential Area

The southern part was originally used as a Japanese garden as well as the residential areas for the high-class warriors. You can now see the diagram on the lawn of how the residential were back then. The wild rocks of the hill still face where the garden was used to be, so the rocks might have been used as a natural scenery for the garden. I recommend seeing the Inner Moat with the earthen walls nearby.

The former residential areas for the high-class warriors

Unique Earthen Wall Exhibition Room

As for the earthen walls beside the Outer Moat, there is the exhibition room showing the earthen walls, inside them. You can see the original cutout model of the walls confirming how the excavation team penetrated, and explanation for them. This model was taken when the excavation was done and used to visualize how other earthen walls would have been restored. It is very interesting and easy to understand how great the construction was.

The exhibition room in the earthen walls along the Outer Moat

The original cutout model of the walls in the room

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