163.Kuroi Castle Part3

Kuroi Castle is a local hero, Naomasa Ogino’s castle. On the other hand, it is known for the activity of the nationwide hero, Mitsuhide Akechi as well.

Features

Arriving at Top

You will reach the top of the mountain with a little more climbing. After you pass the second wire gate, you will see a different appearance of the castle ruins from what you have seen so far. The enclosures on the top are all surrounded by stone walls which you can see from the foot as well. The difference came from the period each part was finally built. The part above the gate was completed by Mitsuhide Akechi or the later lords, while the part below the gate was left as it was after Naomasa Ogino built it. The gate was installed probably in order to protect the stone walls from being destroyed by animal invasion.

Arriving at the top soon
The second wire gate
The Eastern Enclosure in the front and the Third Enclosure in the back

Three Enclosures on Top with Great Views

The layout of the top area is connected by three enclosures, the front Third, the central Second, and back Main Enclosures. They are surrounded by plain other enclosures, such as the Eastern Enclosure, and each has its own altered gate on their side. The stone walls use natural stones which were collected from neighboring places. Historians point out these features can be seen in other castles Nobunaga or his retainers built. They also say the stone walls of Kuroi Castle were built to show authority to the people.

The map arond the main portion of the castle

The Third Enclosure in the front and the Second Enclosure in the back
The entrance of the Second Enclosure
Looking at the Third Enclosure from the Second Enclosure
Looking at the Main Enclosure from the Second Enclosure
The entrance of the Main Enclosure
The inside of the Main Enclosure

Finally, please enjoy a great panoramic view of the area around from the top. It’s worthwhile to climb over 200m from the foot of the mountain.

A view from the Third Enclosure
A view from the Main Enclosure

Later History

The ruins of Kuroi Castle were designated as a National Historic Site in 1989 while they have long been part of hiking courses on Inokuchi Mountain. Therefore, it needs to be established both how to preserve the ruins and how to use the courses. Tanba City made the basic plan for the development of the Kuroi Castle Ruins in 2018. It installed an aluminum stairways into the stone wall gates on the top to preserve it based on the plan. However, some hikers argued that the stairways spoiled the scenery. As a result, the city painted the stairways brown in response. The controversial discussion will continue.

The brown-painted stairway at the Second Enclosure

My Impression

I met a person who said he climbs the mountain to the castle ruins on the top every day, wearing a T-shirt of Naomasa Akai (Ogino). I thought that Kuroi Castle is his local hero, Naomasa’s castle. On the other hand, officials also feature Mitsuhide Akechi who took the castle away from Nomasa’s successor and probably built its stone walls. The castle is known for the activity of the nationwide hero as well. The appearance of the castle ruins actually indicate the two periods, which is a great legacy of the Japanese history. I would like to visit other forts Naomasa built next time, which I didn’t visit on my first visit.

The illustration of Naomasa Ogino on the left and Mitsuhide Akechi on the right, exhibited by the rest house at the foot of the mountain

How to get There

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Kuroi Castle Part1”
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163.黒井城 その3

黒井城は地元の英雄である荻野(赤井)直正の城であるとともに、全国的に知名度がある明智光秀の事績でも知られています。

特徴、見どころ

山頂部分に到着

そこからもう少し登ると頂上です。2つ目のフェンス扉を過ぎると、これまで見てきた城跡とは別の姿が見えてきます。頂上にある曲輪群は全て石垣に囲まれています。これも山麓から見えていたものです。この城の姿の違いは、城のそれぞれの部分の完成時期によります。フェンス扉から上の部分は、明智光秀かその後の領主が完成させたもので、一方下の部分は荻野直正が築いてそのままになっているのでしょう。フェンス扉は恐らく、石垣に動物が侵入して破壊しないように設置されたのでしょう。

もうすぐ頂上です
2つ目のフェンス扉
手前の平坦地が東曲輪、奥は三の丸の石垣と左側面の入口

三つの曲輪と素晴らしい景色

山頂部分の縄張りは、三つの曲輪(手前の三の丸、真ん中の二の丸、後方の本丸)がつながった形になっていて、他の平坦な曲輪群(東曲輪など)に囲まれています。三つの曲輪にはそれぞれの側面に食い違いの虎口があります。石垣には自然石が使われていて、周辺の地域から集められたものです。歴史家は、これらの特徴は信長や家臣たちが築いた他の城でも見られると指摘しています。黒井城の石垣は、人々に権威を見せつけるために築かれたものとしています。

城主要部の地図

手前が三の丸、奥が二の丸
二の丸の入口
二の丸から三の丸の方を見ています
二の丸から本丸を見ています
本丸入口
本丸内部、「保月城(ほげつじょう)」は黒井城の別名

せっかく登ってきたので、最後は頂上からのすばらしいパノラマビューを楽しんでください。山麓から約200m登ってきた甲斐があると思います。

三の丸からの眺め
こちらは本丸からの眺め

その後

黒井城跡は1989年に国の史跡に指定されましたが、その場所は猪ノ口山にあるハイキングコースの一部にもなっていました。したがって、城跡を保存することと、ハイキングコースとして活用することの両立が必要です。丹波市は2018年に、黒井城跡整備基本計画を策定しました。そしてその計画に従って、山頂にある石垣によって作られた入口に保存のためのアルミニウム製の階段を設置しました。ところがハイカーからはその階段は景観を害するとの抗議が出たのです。その結果、階段は元のアルミニウムの地金の色から茶色に塗装されました。このような悩ましい議論が今後も続くと思われます。

茶色に塗られたアルミニウム製の階段(二の丸入口)

私の感想

私は現地で、赤井直正のTシャツを着て毎日登頂しているという方にお会いしました。その方にとって、黒井城は地元の英雄である直正の城なのだと思いました。一方丹波市などは、直正の跡継ぎから城を奪い、恐らくは石垣も築いた明智光秀との関わりも宣伝しています。この城は、全国的に知名度があるヒーローの業績でも知られているわけです。城跡の外観は、まさにその2つの時代を示していて、この城跡は日本の歴史における大いなる遺産と言えるのではないでしょうか。次回は、前回行けなかった直正が築いた他の砦群にも行ってみたいと思います。

山麓の休憩所にある直正(左)と光秀(右)のディスプレイ

ここに行くには

車で行く場合:舞鶴若狭自動車道の春日ICから約10分かかります。登山口手前にいくつか駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、JR黒井駅から登山口まで歩いて約10分かかります。
東京から黒井駅まで:東海道新幹線に乗って、京都駅で山陰本線に乗り換え、福知山駅で福知山線に乗り換えてください。

リンク、参考情報

黒井城跡、丹波市ホームページ
・「明智光秀を破った「丹波の赤鬼」~荻野直正と城郭~/高橋成計著」神戸新聞総合出版センター
・「明智光秀の城郭と合戦/高橋成計著」戒光祥出版
・「日本の城改訂版第96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。
「黒井城その1」に戻ります。
「黒井城その2」に戻ります。

96.Obi Castle Part3

The completed castle on the Shirasu plateau

Features

Samurai Residence street and Domain school

If you walk around the eastern part of the main portion, there is the Samurai Residence street which still has its original atmosphere with stone walls, white mud walls, hedges and traditional gates. Though many of the residential buildings inside were turned into modern facilities, restaurants or residences, some of them remain as they were, for example, a former senior vassal, Ito’s residence being used as a hotel.

The map around the castlle

The Samurai Residence street
The former residence of Ito Denzaemon, used as a hotel

There is also the restored domain school building, called Shintoku Hall, one block north from the street, which provided talented people, including Jutaro Komura who was the plenary power of the Japanese side to sign the Treaty of Portsmouth to end the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The stone walls around it are original, so when they needed to be re-piled for repairing, all stones should be numbered and re-piled to the original positions exactly as historical items.

The restored building of the domain school
The interior of the building
The picture of Jutaro Komura (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The stone walls of the domain school, being repaired

Walking on former Castle Town

Visiting the former castle town below the castle ruins is also recommended, which is surrounded by the winding Sakatanigawa River. The town also has a similar atmosphere to the Samurai Residence street and looks more casual. For example, Ushiromahi or the Back Town street has waterways with varicolored carps swimming. Honmachi-Shonin (or the Main Town Merchant street) has old merchant houses where you can enjoy eating and shopping.

The Back Town street
varicolored carps in a waterway

Finally, if you look at the castle ruins from the western side of the town along the river, you can see the castle was built on the edge of high and vertical cliffs which originate from the Shirasu plateau. Part of the cliffs are covered with concrete to avoid them from collapsing. Modern-day people are still struggling to maintain the castle ruins on the cliff, so the Obi Domain by the Ito Clan must have made much greater efforts to do it.

The Sakatanigawa RIver
The cliffs along the river, where the castle ruins are
Part of the cliffs are covered with concrete

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, most of the castle buildings were demolished. However, the layout of the castle and town including their street plans continued being used to the present time. Nichinan City launched the restoration project in 1974. After that, the area of castle ruins and town were designated as the first Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings in the Kyushu Region in 1977, followed by the restoration of the Main Gate in 1978 and the hall in Matsu-no-maru Enclosure in 1979. That’s why we can enjoy the well-balanced remaining and restored items in this site.

The restored Main Gate
The castle town also has great stone walls

My Impression

I think Obi Castle is the completed castle on the Shirasu plateau. Building castles on the plateau was easy thanks to its nature, while maintaining them could be very difficult. Natural hazards, such as harsh weathers and earthquakes, often caused collapsing of cliffs in these castles. Because of that, other castles of the same type like Sadowara, Shibushi, Chiran were abandoned in the peaceful Edo Period. However, the Ito Clan, the lord of the castle, didn’t have any substitute land. That’s why the clan’s Obi Domain continued to build their castle and town all through the period which we can enjoy to visit right now.

The stone walls of the former Main Enclosure
The earthen walls of the former Main Enclosure

How to get There

If you want to visit the castle ruins by car, it is about a 45 minute drive (through Miyazaki Prefectural Road 28) away from Tano IC on the Miyazaki Expressway. There is a parking lot for visitors in front of the castle ruins.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot to get there form JR Obi Station.
For visitors from Tokyo or Osaka: It may be a good idea to rent a car at Kagoshima or Miyazaki Airports after using a plane.

The parking lot in front of the castle ruins

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