特徴～Features – ページ 134 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

77.Takamatsu Castle Part2

A glimpse of Sea Castle remains.

Features

To Inside of Castle with seeing Ushitora Turret

Now, the ruins of Takamatsu Castle have become Tamamo Park (tamamo is an old Japanese word which means something like “beautiful algae”.) The range of the park is inside the inner moat and part of the middle moat of the castle. The park has several entrances, but if you drive to the ruins of the park, you can park in front of the main gate called Asahi-mon. From the parking lot, you will see a great view of the remaining three-story turret called Ushitora-Yagura with the background of some modern buildings. The turret was actually moved from the Eastern Enclosure to the present position in 1967.

Leaflet|国土地理院

The aerial photo around the castle

Ushitora-Yagura Turret that can be seen from the parking lot

You can enter the gate after walking on the Asahi-bashi Bridge over the middle moat. You will also go through a square space surrounded by large stone walls called Masugata, which was built for defense.

Entering the Main Gate after crossing the Asahi-bashi Bridge

Going Third, Second Enclosures, and Main Tower Base in Main Enclosure

The inside of the gate is the riding ground enclosure or Sakura-no-Baba which is now planted with lots of cherry trees. Then, you go across the earthen bridge to enter the ruins of the Sakura-mon Gate and the third enclosure. However, as of February 2022, the gate is under construction and scheduled to be restored by the spring of 2022, so you will have to use the temporary path.

The earthen bridge to the Third Enclosure

The Sakura-mon Gate under the restoration

The third enclosure still has a traditional hall, called Hiunkaku, which is not original to the castle, but was built as the house for the former lord, the Matsudaira Clan, in modern times. It is now owned by Takamatsu City and used for ceremonies and events. The enclosure also has a Japanese garden you can enjoy looking around.

The Japanese garden in the Third Enclosure

You can go further from the third enclosure to the second enclosure and the main enclosure with the stone wall base for the Main Tower. The only way to get to the main enclosure is by crossing the restored roofed wooden bridge called saya-bashi.

From the Second Enclosure to the Main Enclosure

You can also go on the top of the base and see a good city view, and inside of the base which was recently repaired. In fact, the city is considering restoring the main tower.

The inside of the base for the Main Tower

Tsukimi Turret beside Sea in old days

I recommend you also visit the northern side of the park, which was the sea in the past. You will see the other remaining three-story turret called Tsukimi-Yagura with the remaining Mizunote-mon Gate and the Watari-Yagura Turret. The Mizunote-mon Gate was open to the sea and is the only remaining such gate. The Tsukimi-Yagura Turret is also very beautiful with many decorations. You can imagine them standing out beside the sea in the past.

Tsukimi-Yagura Turret, Mizunote-mon Gate and Watari-Yagura Turret

This area in front of the turrets and gate was in the sea

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

177.Hiketa Castle Part3

The reason why the stone walls exist today

Features

Eastern Enclosure as Lookout

The other one is the Eastern Enclosure which was used as a lookout point. You can actually see a great view of Harima Sea from the enclosure. The primary function of this site was the lookout point. The warriors would have had to watch see transportation in the past. This enclosure was covered with something like rocks which might have been the leftover of the original stone wall.

Harima Sea seen from the Eastern Enclosure

Several meters down the enclosure is the Hiketa-hana light station. It was first built in 1954 which helped lead ships to safety.

Later History

After Hiketa Castle was abandoned, the Takamatsu Domain owned the ruins of the castle. They planted trees while the castle town was eventually turned into a port town and it prospered during the Edo Period. About 100 years ago during the Taisho Era, the ruins of the castle were developed as the Shiro-yama Park built with a hiking trail as well as observation platform. Higashi-Kagawa City which owns the castle ruins started to excavate them back in 2010 and found out the castle was very important in governing the area around. As a result, the ruins were designated as a National Historic Site back in 2020.

The ruins of the observation platform built in the Taisho Era

A view seen from the *ruins of the observation platform*

My Impression

I think that the ruins of Hiketa Castle are very good educational materials for visitors who want to learn what people at that time thought about castles with stone walls and other new structures. They would have felt things would change and a new era would come, otherwise, such stone walls would not have been built on such a mountain castle which basically did not need stone walls to protect it. That’s why the castle ruins which remain now is so valuable.

The remaining stone walls of the Main Enclosure

The remaining stone walls of the *Northern Second Enclosure*

On the other hand, I also think the ruins still have some other things to be improved on. For example, the latest official brochure doesn’t match what the signposts say at the site in several points. Visitors may get confused. I also hope that the original Main Route will be restored in the future, open to visitors.

“The Southern Enclosure” this signpost says isn’t written in the official brochure

In addition, the Hiketa Town still has old rows of merchants’ houses. They are another good place to visit. You can also buy souvenirs there such as local soy sauces and sweets made from refined sugar called Wasanbon.

The old rows of merchants’ houses at the Hiketa Town *(licensed by 663highland via Wikimedia Commons)*

Assorted sweets made from refined sugar called Wasanbon

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 10 minutes away from Hiketa IC on the Takamatsu Expressway.
You can park beside the Tanoura Campsite or Hiketa Port.
By train, it is about 30 minutes away from JR Hiketa Station on foot.
To get to Hiketa Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the Tokaido or Sanyo Shinkansen super express and transfer at Okayama Station to the Seto-Ohashi Line. Take a train called the Marine Liner bound for Takamatsu, then transfer again at Takamatsu Station to the Kotoku Line.

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

177.引田城　その３

この城の石垣が今日存在している意味は何でしょうか。

特徴、見どころ

見張り台としての東丸

もう一つは東丸で、見張りの場所として使われていました。この曲輪からは播磨灘の素晴らしい景色を眺めることができます。この地点の主な役割は、周りを監視することでした。かつては、武士たちはここから海上交通の様子を見張っていたことでしょう。この曲輪は岩のようなものに覆われていますが、もとからあった石垣の一部が残っているのかもしれません。

ここから少し下ったところには引田鼻灯台があります。この灯台は1954年に建てられ、船の安全な航行を助けています。

その後

引田城が廃城になった後、高松藩が城跡を所有していました。城跡は植林され、城下町はやがて港町となり、江戸時代の間繁栄を続けました。約１００年前の大正時代、城跡は城山公園として開発され、ハイキングコースや展望台が設置されました。現在城跡を所有している東かがわ市は、去る2010年に城跡の発掘を開始したところ、引田城がこの周辺の地域を治めるのに重要な役割を果たしたことが判明しました。その結果、城跡は2020年に国の史跡に指定されました。

私の感想

引田城は、その当時の人々が石垣や他の新しい構造をもった城に対してどう思っていたのか知るためのとても良い教材だと思うのです。人々は物事が変わり、新しい時代が来たことを感じたのではないでしょうか。そうでなければ、このような石垣が、このような山城には築かれなかったのではないでしょうか。基本的に山城には石垣がなくても城を守ることができたからです。この城跡が今に残っていることがとても貴重である理由は、そこにあるのです。

一方、この城跡で改善してほしい事もいくつかあります。例えば、最新の公式パンフレットに記載されている内容が、現地の標柱で表示している内容と一部合っていません。観光客は困惑してしまいます。あと、大手道を復旧し、観光客向けに開放していただきたいです。

余談ですが、引田の町には古い商家の街並みが残っています。ここも訪れてみてはいかがでしょうか。そこには、地元の醤油や、和三盆と呼ばれる上質な砂糖から作られる和菓子などのお土産物もあります。

引田の街並み *(licensed by 663highland via Wikimedia Commons)*

和三盆から作られた和菓子 *(taken by KOMI from photoAC)*

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：
高松自動車道の引田ICから約１０分かかります。
田の浦キャンプ場か引田港の近くに駐車できます。
電車の場合は、ＪＲ引田駅から歩いて約３０分かかります。
東京か大阪から引田駅まで：東海道新幹線か山陽新幹線に乗って、岡山駅で瀬戸大橋線に乗り換えてください。高松行きのマリンライナーに乗って、高松駅で高徳線に再度乗り換えてください。

リンク、参考情報

・「続日本100名城」スタンプラリーを実施中！～引田城～、東かがわ市
・萩原さちこの城さんぽ、第３５号引田城
・「日本の城改訂版第１５５号」デアゴスティーニジャパン
・「東かがわ市内遺跡発掘調査報告書、引田城址」東かがわ市教育委員会

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