Features
The ruins of Azuchi Castle have become a National special historic site. There is a square in front of them, however, there were water moats and stone walls in the past. Azuchi Castle was located between Kyoto and Gifu Castle which was the previous home of Nobunaga Oda. Therefore, he could easily access both sites immediately. In addition, he created the network for water transportation on Biwa Lake, including Azuchi and several of his retainers’ castles. This article will introduce the path of the ruins while incorporating with the mysteries of the castle in the previous article.
Walking up on the Main Route
Before climbing the route, let us check out other historical items around the main gate ruins. They are the four gate ruins, including the main gate. Three of the four gates had a simple design which was not strong. The eastern gate and central gate (which was the main gate) had a simple design. Meanwhile, there were a simple gate, and the other had complex design, in line in the western place. You can see both ruins with the remaining stone walls. You can pass straight through the simple gate while you need to turn twice to pass the complex one. So, why did Nobunaga build the two different gates so closely together?
Let us go back to the main route and walk on it. You need to pay an admission fee to Sokenji Temple who owns the ruins. Then, you can walk up on the impressive stone steps towards the top. The route may still make the current visitors feel special because they can see the route. However, the past visitors must have seen the main tower of the castle above.
As you walk, you will see several ruins of Nobunaga’s retainers’ residences on both sides. For example, there were Hideyoshi Hashiba’s residence on the left, and Toshiie Maeda’s one on the right. However, the owners’ names are only speculative, and some believe it came from the Edo Period, not the same period as the castle. In addition, Hideyoshi’s residence ruins consist of two tiers. Some argue that the two tiers were from different residences from each other. They speculate the Oda family might have renovated them and used them as their government office after Nobunaga died and the main tower of the castle was eventually burned down.
You will eventually see the main hall of Sokenji Temple, which was said to have been the residence of Ieyasu Tokugawa who was Nobunaga’s ally. However, as mentioned above, it’s only a speculation. According to records, he stayed in another temple when he came to Azuchi.
The straight route eventually zigzags on the way which may have been designed for the defensive purposes. The current stone steps were restored in the present time, using original stones. Some of them are stones from Buddha statues, which are stated in Japanese letters “石仏” beside them. The builders of the castle were able to get enough stones from mountains nearby. So, why did they use the stone statues in these prominent areas?
The route will eventually reach a plain area which is called the ruins of Nobutada Oda’s residence. This place was used as the temple’s facility after the castle was abandoned. That’s why there are very few remaining items of the castle. However, historians speculate that this place must have been reinforced by stone walls. This is because this is the crossroad of the important routes of the castle, the main route, the side route, the route towards the lake, and the one towards the center.
Going to Center of the Castle
Next, let us go to the center of the castle. After climbing stone steps for a while, you will eventually see ruins of a great gate. This is the ruins of Kurogane-mon, which mean “iron gate”, to the center. The ruins still have a square space, called “Masugata”, built using huge stones, which look defensive. “Shincho-koki”, which is the most reliable Nobunaga’s biography says it is “Omote-no-gomon” which means “front gate”. Therefore, it was definitely the front gate of the castle.
After entering the gate ruins, you will eventually see a lot of stone walls around.
One of the breakthrough points of Azuchi Castle was to construct these stone walls for buildings on them. The builders of the castle collected huge number of stones around and used larger ones at the center. The stones, which are natural or roughly processed, were piled up to become the high stone walls in a method called “Nozura-zumi”. They look wild but are joined together. The stone craftsmen, who could operate the Nozura-zumi method, would later be called, “Ano-shu”.
Looking around these great stone walls, you will eventually pass the ruins of the second and third gates one by one. Then, you will arrive at Ninomaru-higashi-damari which means “eastern gathering place of the second enclosure”. The main enclosure is on the right (east) and the second enclosure is on the left (west).
There is the grave of Nobunaga Oda, which Hideyoshi built the following year of the Honnnoji Incident. The route to the grave in the enclosure was also built at that time. Historians speculate the place, where the grave was built, had been the residence of Nobunaga and his family. If you look at the top of the grave, there is a simple stone, which is not suitable for the great lord. This is because the top of the graves of such great warlords are usually like a tower. The stone may look like the Bonsan stone which would be the icon of Nobunaga. It is not sure if the stone is authentic or not, but at least, the builder would know about it.
Going back to the Ninomaru-higashi-damari gathering place, you can next go to the main enclosure. The place was originally called “Oshirasu” which means “waiting area”. The area to the enclosure is empty now. However, according to the Shincho-koki biography, there was another gate, and a hall called “Nanden”. The hall was thought to include waiting rooms, agent rooms, and meeting rooms. That may have been one of the roots for typical castle halls like the second enclosure hall of Nijo Castle.
The main enclosure only has stone foundations, some trees, and the chairs for visitors. There must have been the hall or room for the royal visit somewhere inside. There are also the stone walls of the third enclosure over there, where another hall for the guest was built. The enclosure must be a good view spot; however, the current visitors unfortunately cannot go there.
