2023年4月 – ページ 9 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

102.Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part2

A mountain castle with a medieval atmosphere

Features

Ruins can be accessible either from Seaside or Mountain side

Today, the ruins of Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date have been well developed by Kaminokuni Town. The ruins spread from 70 to 110m high on the hill. You can access the ruins either on the Main Route near the seaside or on the Back Route near Iouzan Mountain which is 159m high.

The aerial photo around the castle

If you drive to the ruins, it may be better to park and visit the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility below the top of the mountain before going to the ruins. You can learn about the history and the findings of the hall. The mountain top has a good view of the sea and has the Iouzan Shrine as well which worships Nobuhiro Takeda, the founder of the hall. The top was thought to be used as the final part in case of an emergency.

The top of Iouzan Mountain seen from the parking lot

Going to Back Route and Back Gate from Mountain

From the facility, you can walk to the Back Gate of the hall ruins passing the Iouzan Tombs which have over 600 burial mounds. Many of them are for Buddhists which are related to the mainland Japanese, but some of them are for the Ainu people. This is one of the reasons that both people lived together in the hall. Nobuhiro Takeda is thought to be buried somewhere around there.

The replica of an excavated Ainnu tomb, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The trail will bring you to the Back Gate Ruins with a dry moat in front of them. You can go across the moat over the restored bridge and you will see some restored wooden fences around the ruins. Inside the gate is the highest point of the ruins, which had the Tategami-Hachimangu Shrine as the guardian god of the hall. The shine remained even after the hall was abandoned. The lords of the Matsumae Domain visited it to worship for their ancestors during the Edo Period. The shrine was finally moved to another location in 1876 of the Meiji Era.

The dry moat and the restored Back Bridge

Center of Hall Ruins

The 3.6m wide central passage goes through the ruins. Next comes the main portion of the hall, a long and wide area gently going down to the Main Gate Ruins.

The imaginary drawing of the central passage with a turret gate on it, from the signboard at the site

There are no buildings, but lots of flat exhibits of what buildings were built, according to the excavation achievements. The exhibits show the Main Hall, the chief retainer’s house, a public well, a blacksmith‘s workshop, a stable, warehouses, residential houses, and so on.

The imaginary drawing of buildings of the hall, from the signboard at the site, adding the English letters

The interior model of the Main Hall, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

*The interior model of the workshop, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility*

The miniature model of the public well, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The excavation team also found about 100 thousand relics such as weapons, religious equipment, trading goods, tools, hunting and fishing items as well as household items including accessories. That means people lived their daily life there. In particular, some of the relics came from the Ainu people, such as their own penknives and poisoned arrows for hunting. This could be another evidence that the mainland and Ainu people lived together. You can also enjoy a good view of the Japan Sea and the seaside area.

The excavated lacquerware bowls, which were probably brought to the site by trading, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The excavated fishing items of Ainu (below) and a replica of an Ainu harpoon, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The hall ruins with a view of the area below

To be continued in “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part3”
Back to “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part1”

102.上ノ国勝山館　その２

中世都市と同居した山城

特徴、見どころ

海岸側、山側どちらからでもアクセス可能

現在、上ノ国勝山館跡は上ノ国町によってよく整備されています。館跡は、丘の上の標高７０ｍから１１０ｍの一帯に広がっています。館跡には、海岸に近い方の大手口からでも、標高１５９ｍの夷王山に近い方の搦手口双方からアクセスすることができます。

城周辺の航空写真

もし館跡まで車で行かれるようでしたら、その前に山頂下にある勝山館跡ガイダンス施設に車を停めて、まず施設を訪れてみるのがいいかもしれません。そこには、館に関する歴史を学んだり、発掘調査により発見された遺物を見学することができます。程近い山頂まで登ってみると、素晴らしい海原の景色が見れますし、館の創始者である武田信広を祀った夷王山神社があります。この山頂部分は館にとっても、いざというときのための詰めの場所としても使われていました。

山側から搦手口、裏門へ

ガイダンス施設からは、６００以上の墳墓がある夷王山墳墓群を通り過ぎて、館の裏門の方に歩いて行きます。墳墓のうちの多くは、本州出身の和人に関係する仏教様式のものですが、いくつかはアイヌ人の様式によるものです。このことが、館において和人とアイヌ人が一緒に暮らしていた根拠の一つになっているのです。武田信広も、これらの墳墓群の一帯のどこかに葬られていると考えられています。

ルートに沿って歩いていくと、その手前に空堀がある裏門跡に至ります。復元された橋を渡って空堀を越えていきますが、その周りには木柵も復元されています。この門の周辺が館跡では最高地点になっていて、かつては館神八幡宮（たてがみはちまんぐう）があり、館の守護神になっていました。この神社は、館が廃された後もしばらくは残っていました。江戸時代の間、松前藩の歴代藩主がここを訪れ、祖先たちを崇拝していました。明治時代の1876年になってから、他の場所に移されました（大手口近くにある上ノ國八幡宮）。

館跡の中心部分

幅３．６ｍの中央通路が館跡を貫いています。進んでいくと次は館の中心部です。長く且つ幅広な区域で、大手門跡に向かって緩やかに下っています。

ここには建物はありませんが、発掘の成果をもとに、ここにはどんな建物があったのか説明板がたくさんあります。客殿、城代の住居、馬屋、鍛冶工房、共同井戸、倉庫、住居などです。

また、発掘では１０万点を超える遺物が見つかっています。武器、宗教具、貿易品、工具、狩猟具、漁撈具、装飾品を含む生活用品などです。つまり、人々がここで日常生活を送っていたわけです。特にそのうちのいくつかは、特徴ある小刀（マキリ）や狩猟のための毒矢など、アイヌ人に関わるものです。これもまた、和人とアイヌ人が一緒に生活していた証拠となるでしょう。ここからも日本海と海岸地域の景色がよく見えます。

館跡で出土した漆器椀、交易によって持ち込まれたと考えられています、勝山館跡ガイダンス施設にて展示

館跡で出土したアイヌ人の漁撈具（下）と、アイヌ人の銛のレプリカ（上）、勝山館跡ガイダンス施設にて展示

「上ノ国勝山館その３」に続きます。
「上ノ国勝山館その１」に戻ります。

102.Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part1

The Mountain Castle & The Ainu People

Location and History

Japanese people get active in Hokkaido where Ainu people live

Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date was a hall which was built in the Middle Ages in the western part of Oshima Peninsula of Hokkaido. At that time, the island was called Ezo, where the Ainu people lived. They spoke a different language and had a different way of life from the Japanese people that lived on the mainland. They earned a living by hunting, fishing and trading, unlike the mainland Japanese people, who farmed.

The location of the castle

The painting of Ainu men, attributed to Isabella Lucy Bird, in the 19th Century (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

In the late 14th Century, some Japanese people were active in the Oshima Peninsula, in particular the southern edge of Hokkaido. The leaders started to build several halls for living and trading alongside this peninsula. The halls were called the Dounan (southern region) 12 Halls, such as Shinori Tate in the eastern part of the peninsula which was called “Shimonokuni” or the lower province. While the western part was referred to as “Kaminokuni” or the upper province.

Nobuhiro Takeda repels Ainu Rebellion

The Ando Clan, which led the Japanese people in Ezo, also tried to rule the island aggressively. Because of this, it caused an uprising of the Ainu people, who was led by their leader Koshamain in 1456. The angry Ainu people managed to capture 10 of the 12 Dounan Halls, including Shinori Tate. One of the two surviving halls was Hanazawa Tate located in the upper province, which was owned and controlled by The Kakizaki Clan, who was affiliated with the Ando Clan. They were obviously at a disadvantage however, because the rebellion was ultimately crushed when Koshamain was shot with an arrow by Nobuhiro Takeda, a guest commander of The Kakizaki Clan.

The portrait of Nobuhiro Takeda (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Nobhuhiro is originally from Wakasa province, which at that time was located in the central region of the mainland of Japan, which did a lot of trading with Ezo, via the Sea of Japan. For example, potteries like Echizen ware that were made in the surrounding areas were often used in Ezo. The province sold kelp, processed from Ezo. Nobuhiro might have been a vagrant on this well-known route. Therefore, he managed to only become the adopted son of The Kakizaki Clan, but also the chosen leader of the Japanese people in Ezo Island.

A jar of Echizen ware in the Middle Ages, owned by Hakone Museum of Art (licensed by Daderot via Wikimedia Commons)

Nobuhiro builts Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date

Nobuhiro would eventually build a new hall near Hanazawa Tate, on a hill located below Iouzan Mountain, which is now known as Kaminoyama-Katsuyama Date, in 1470. The word “Date” means “hall”, however because of its size, it looked more like a mountain castle or a sort of medieval city on the mountain. Nobuhiro probably built his stronger hall based on his experience because most of his previous halls ended up being captured. The hill of the hall had deep valleys on both sides, and dry moats in both the front and the back. There were lots of houses on the hill as well, which were surrounded by fences. A famous region was the Oma Port, located below the hill, so the lord of the hall managed to control the trading that happened at the coast of this region.

The miniature model of Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

Even after the completion of the new hall, some Ainu people would sometimes rebel and attack the hall. The Kakizaki Clan under the command of Nobuhiro, managed to repel the Ainu attacks, mainly because of the robust construction of the hall, and by the use of traps. The Kakizaki Clan were very cunning, as they managed to convince the Ainu people to join them in a peace treaty. After filling up on liquor, the Ainu people were too intoxicated to fight back, and were ultimately murdered during the party. Ainu people never doubted the Kakizaki’s intentions. On the other hand, both Japanese and Ainu people somehow managed to live in harmony together, in the medieval city. You can even find burial sites where both Japanese people and Ainu people were buried in. This led to a long and complex relationship between the Japanese people and the Ainu people.

The defense system of the front of Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date, from the miniature model above

burial mounds of Ainu people around the hall

The Kakizaki Clan eventually moved their home base to Matsumae, the southern edge of the peninsula because it was more convenient location for trading. That lead to the launch of both the Matsumae Domain, as well as Matsumae Castle during the Edo Period. Soon after that, the clan renamed themselves The Matsumae Clan. Eventually, Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date would be abandoned during early stages of the Edo Period.

To be continued in “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date Part2”