特徴～Features – ページ 3 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

20.Sakura Castle Part2

If you are at JR Sakura Station, the place, where the castle ruins are located, it may looks simple at first. However, if you go there by walking up on the slopes, you will be surprised to see the spacious area on the top. Visitors coming from other places may feel the same way, too.

Features

Introduction

If you are at JR Sakura Station, the place, where the castle ruins are located, it may look simple at first. However, if you go there by walking up on the slopes, you will be surprised to see the spacious area on the top. Visitors coming from other places may feel the same way, too.

The hill area, seen from JR Sakura Station

One of the slopes from the station to the hill, called “Yakushizaka”

From Main Gate to Main Enclosure

Let us go from the ruins of the main gate to the center of the castle. Unfortunately, only a part of the earthen walls remains today.

The old photo of the gate, from the signboard at the site

There were some large enclosures inside the gate, such as Higashi-so-kuruwa. They were turned into schools, parking lots, and a square. There is also Sakura Castle Park control center in front of the square, which shows some exhibitions of the castle. The square had the main hall for the lord and another one for the retirement residence of Masayoshi Hotta at the end of the Edo Period.

You will eventually reach the center of the castle, which has been turned into Sakura Castle Park. You will first see the remaining large dry moat. It looks beautiful, covered in grass, however, it must have been deeper and more fortified in the past.

You will next reach the ruins of the third gate, which was the first gate towards the center. The third enclosure is inside of the gate, and it was the residential area for the senior vassals in the past. You will find a mini crater in the enclosure. This is the trace of another dry moat, which has been filled. If you go further, you will see the statues of Townsend Harris and Masayoshi Hotta who tried to open Japan to the rest of the world.

The ruins of the third gate, The sign board will show you how the original enclosure would have looked like the past

The old photo of the gate, from the sign board at the site, The gate on the left leads to the resident of one of the senior vassals

The statues of Townsend Harris on the left and Masayoshi Hotta on the right

Then, you will reach the ruins of the second gate, the entrance of the second enclosure. The enclosure had had the first main hall for the lord before the one outside the third enclosure was built. There were also the rice warehouses in the back of the enclosure. You can still see its stone foundations there, too.

You will eventually reach the main enclosure after going across the dry moat of the enclosure. there are the ruins of the first gate.

The ruins of the first gate behind the earthen bridge over the moat

The old photo of the gate, from the sign board at the site, Notice the people standing in front of the gate. They are the generals

Climbing down from Main Enclosure

The main enclosure is all surrounded by earthen walls, so you may feel like you are being wrapped up. This area is the western edge of the plateau. There was the other main hall inside, however, it was rarely used just for ceremonies. This was because it was considered exclusive for the shoguns.

The miniature model of the main enclosure, exhibited by the Sakura Castle Park control center

You can walk on the earthen walls around the enclosure. If you walk from the first gate ruins on the earthen walls, you will pass by the ruins of Do-yagura (the copper turret). The turret had a mysterious tradition. It says that the turret was originally built by Dokan Ota, the founder of Edo Castle, called “Shoyoken”, and moved from the castle. However, we cannot confirm whether or not the turret was moved from Edo Castle. However, if it had remained, it would have become a National Treasure of Japan.

The old photo of the turret, from the signboard at the site, as you can see, carpenters were removing the roof tiles partially

The miniature model of the turret, exhibited by the Sakura Castle Park control center

If you go further, you will eventually reach the earthen base of the main tower.
The tower was directly built on the base and its outside walls leaned on the earthen walls of the enclosure. That was why people saw the tower three-leveled from the outside but four-leveled from the inside. The tower was used as the warehouse for weapons. It was unfortunately burned down after a thief robbed it of guns and left his lantern there.

The miniature model of the tower, exhibited by the Sakura Castle Park control center

There are the other ruins of the corner turret in the enclosure. The turret also has the tradition which says it originally came from Motosakura Castle. That may have been the reason why it deteriorated sooner than the others and was renovated during the Edo Period.

Let us next get out of the enclosure through the ruins of the back gate and climb down the slopes of the plateau. The slopes are steep which made the castle fortified. You will eventually see some trails on the mid slopes, which are the belt enclosures of the castle. The enclosures were said to have originally been dry moats and were changed to the trails by being filled naturally. If you look up the main enclosure, you will realize it is protected by the natural terrain even though it doesn’t have stone walls.

The miniature model of the gate, exhibited by the Sakura Castle Park control center

Climbing down the slopes of the plateau, please be careful when climbing down because it’s very steep

You will eventually arrive at the foot of the plateau and see the southern barbican enclosure. If you go around the enclosure, you will see it is still surrounded by water moats. It looks very defensive and cool! If you enter the enclosure as well, you will see the outside which you walked around on.

*The exterior of the southern barbican enclosure*

The inside of the southern barbican enclosure

The view from the inside of the enclosure

I recommend you to go back to the belt enclosure and walk on it to the other western barbican enclosure. The enclosure still has its earthen walls and water moats in good conditions. There is the only remaining building at its entrance, called Yakui-mon gate. However, No one knows for certain its original name and position, because it was moved multiple times from the current position that it is in now.

Looking at Umadashi system and Dry Moats

If you don’t mind, it may be better to walk around the plateau to another entrance from the north to the castle. It was called Tamachi-mon which was the back gate of the castle, on Atago slope. It is now the front gate of the National Museum of Japanese History. A large enclosure of the castle, called Shinoki-kuruwa has become the museum. The enclosure was originally used as Samurai residences and was turned into barracks for the Japanese Imperial Army before the museum. It has been used effectively because it is massive.

The miniature model of Shinoki Enclosure when it was used as the barracks for the Japanese Imperial Aemy, exhibited by the National Museum of Japanese History

The floor space of the museum is about 35,000 square meters big. It exhibits the Japanese histories by classifying 5 different periods. If you want to look through all of them, you may have to spend all day long. It may be better to split up your visits to fully see everything.

The entrance of the National Museum of Japanese History

The miniature model of Taga Castle, an ancient castle in the Tohoku Region, exhibited by the National Museum of Japanese History

The miniature model of the hall of the Asakura Clan in Ichijodani Castle, exhibited by the National Museum of Japanese History

Going back to the attractions of the castle, the Umadashi system has been restored near the museum. The system was a fortified square position in front of Shinoki Gate, which was surrounded by dry moats. The long side of the square is 121m long and the short side is 40m long, same as the original. The dry moats were originally 5.6m in depth but is only 3m in depth probably for safety reasons. The system is only connected by a narrow path to the gate. It was once filled by the Japanese Imperial Army before its restoration.

The Umadashi system in front of the Shinoki Gate Ruins

The Shinoki Gate Ruins have no buildings now, and its inside is the third enclosure. So, you can visit the second and main enclosures again. However, let us go to another place by walking down from the plateau again. It is a pond, called Uba-ga-ike, which means “The Pond of a Nursing Mother”. The name comes from a sad and unfortunate story. It says that one day, a nursing mother took the daughter of a senior vassal to the pond. However, she didn’t keep her eyes on the daughter, which lead to the daughter drowning in the pond She felt very sad and guilty about it, so, she decided to throw herself into the pond as well. For the castle, this pond divided the main gate and the back gate sides to force the defenders protect the castle quickly. It also became famous for Japanese iris and croaking sounds of frogs during the peaceful Edo Period.

The Uba-ga-ike Pond, Since the pond is covered in lotus leaves, it’s hard to see how deep it truly is

You can go back from the pond to the main gate ruins by passing through a path which was another dry moat. The path has a fork which still looks like the dry moat. If you go straight, you will eventually reach the entrance of the park near the gate ruins.

The former dry moat, which is used as the path, the fork on the right, which is the dry moat today, the fork on the left which leads to the main entrance

The fork on the right remains as a dry moat

Visiting Samurai Residences and Sakura Juntendo Memorial Building

Atter visiting the castle ruins, let us go to Sakura Samurai Residences. The residence area is in Miyakoji of Sakura City, which originally had middle-class warriors’ residences. However, the current area exhibits three different residences: one of the remaining one for middle class warriors, another one form high-class warriors and finally, the other one form low-class warriors. The last two residential areas were moved from other areas, making it accessible to the public for viewing.

Sakura Samurai Residences Street, Notice the samurai residential homes on the right

These residences were owned and maintained by the Sakura Domain like official residences. They were made differently by each warrior’s class. That was because of the class system as well as the budgetary restrictions of the domain. For example, the entrance of the high-class residence looks high in quality, but the others are simpler. The walls of the high class’s one used white plasters, while the others only used brown mud walls. The high and middle class’s ones used fine Tatami mats in their rooms, however the low class can only use simple mats without the edge decorations.

The low-class residence (its roof has been replaced with a modern style)

You should also try to walk along Hiyodori-zaka Slope near the residences, which was the commuting route to the castle. The route goes down on a trail, surrounded by bamboo trees, which looks exactly same as it used to.

We will finally go to Sakura Juntendo Memorial Building. It was originally built by Taizen Sato as his Rangaku (Dutch studies) school and clinic. Part of it opens to the public as a museum. The museum is about 2km away from the main gate ruins of the castle and was at the edge of the castle town. This is probably because Taizen was not an official doctor of the domain. A guide of the museum suggested to me another speculation. Taizen’s father was an agent in lawsuits who was against the policies of Tadakuni Mizuno, the top of the government. Therefore, Taizen might have had difficulties in his work in Edo City. He might also have been accommodated by Masayoshi Hotta. If it’s true, Sakura Juntendo was also like a place of refuge.

One of the exhibitions of the museum is the miniature model of the original buildings. You can see the buildings were so large. It is said that over one thousand students were there in total.

Another interesting exhibition is the original medical board which is hung on the top of the wall. The clinic mainly offered surgeries. However, the doctors didn’t use anesthesia because it was still dangerous at that time. Therefore, patients endured the pain because they wanted to get well after that.

The original medical menu, Notice the price of each procedures on the bottom of the medical board

The clinic is the origin of Juntendo University in Tokyo, one of Taizen’s successors who founded it. However, there is still the current Sakura Juntendo Clinic next to the museum. The spirits of Sakura are alive.

The plaque of Juntendo, It’s written in Chinese Characters (Kanji)

My Impression

Honestly, at first, I thought the castle park looked like a natural park. However, the more I looked around, the more my impressions changed. Currently it’s trendy for cities to revive castles across Japan. I think Sakura City does not need to ride the boom. This is because the city has already preserved the land of the castle as the park. The city can take enough time and be patient when developing it further. The important thing is preserving it as accurate as possible. In addition, you can still enjoy the castle ruins even without its visible buildings. So I highly recmmend you visit Sakura Catle in the future!

That’s all. Thank you.

Back to “Sakura Castle Part1”

205.松尾山城　その２

今回は、関ヶ原合戦の陣地を西軍中心に回ってから、最終的には小早川秀秋が布陣していた松尾山城跡を目指す形で、見どころを紹介します。西軍陣地も、従来説のものに加えて、新説で言われている新たな候補地も回ってみます。

特徴、見どころ

イントロダクション

今回は、関ヶ原合戦の陣地を西軍中心に回ってから、最終的には小早川秀秋が布陣していた松尾山城跡を目指す形で、見どころを紹介します。西軍陣地も、従来説のものに加えて、新説で言われている新たな候補地も回ってみます。そこで、スタート地点として大垣城を選びました。関ヶ原合戦は、西軍を率いていた石田三成がここから移動したことをきっかけに起こったからです。大垣城天守内にも、やはり三成や関ヶ原合戦の展示があります。大垣から関ヶ原までは、電車ですぐです。

西軍陣地めぐり（従来説）

従来説の各陣地は、現地の案内表示が充実しているので、観光マップが手元にあれば、迷うことはないでしょう。まずは従来説の、石田三成・笹尾山陣地に向かっていきます。

笹尾山に行くには、一旦「関ヶ原古戦場決戦地」を目指すといいと思います。向こうの方に三成の陣の幟が見えてきます。

笹尾山の麓に着くと、そこは三成の重臣・島左近陣地となっています。そして笹尾山を登っていくのですが、ここに三成が陣を布いたという合戦当時の記録はありません。恐らくは江戸時代の地誌などに基づいて、明治時代に各部将の陣地を定めたものの一つなのです。

しかし場所的には、いかにも本陣がありそうなところで、南宮山から、松尾山まで、怪しい人たちの様子も見渡せたのではと思ってしまいます。

次の目標地点は大谷吉継墓ですが、その間に西軍諸将の陣地跡を通過します。「島津義弘」「小西行長」「宇喜多秀家」と続きます。その間は結構な距離（キロメートル単位）になりますが、島津隊の兵士からは、各部将は密集して布陣していた（百メートル単位の距離）との証言もあります。

そこから後は、文字通り「山中」に入っていきます。その辺りからは、陣地を構築した跡が多くみられるそうです。吉継が先に行って、陣地を構築していたのかもしれません。この墓の場所の由来としては、自害した吉継の首を、部下（湯淺五助）が埋葬し、後に敵方の藤堂家によりお墓が建てられたと言われています。今でもお供えが絶えることがありません。

西軍陣地めぐり（新説）

大谷吉継墓からは、近くにある吉継の陣跡に向かいます。これは「従来説」による呼称なのですが、新説の一つ（高橋陽介氏による）では、島津隊の陣となっているのです。

ところで、この近くに「松尾山眺望地」という場所があります。そこからは、松尾山の小早川秀秋陣地跡を望むことができます。従来説では、秀秋の裏切りを見抜いた吉継がこの辺に布陣したことになっているので、きっとこの眺望も根拠の一つになったのでしょう。しかし、前回記事でご紹介したどの説（従来説は現代の歴史家による修正布陣図による）でも、吉継は別の所に移動していることになっています。よって、先ほどの新説では、三成との位置関係から、島津が使ったとしたのではないでしょうか。

今度は山を下って、新説による三成陣地に行きましょう。旧中山道に入ると、前方に小山が見えてきます。新説で三成陣地とされた「自害が岡」です。不吉な名前だと思うかもしれませんが、古代にこの地から起こった壬申の乱の史跡（自害峯の三本杉）になっているのです。乱で敗れた大友皇子（弘文天皇）の御首（みしるし）を、皇子を慕ったこの地の人たちがもらい受け、ここに埋葬したという伝説があります。名前はその故事に由来していて、御陵候補地にもなっています。時代がクロスオーバーした場所なのです。

そのような場所がもう一つあります。藤古川を渡ったところに、不破関資料館があるのですが、そこは、古代の不破関跡で、新説では大谷吉継布陣地ではないかとされています。不破の関と関ヶ原、この地はずっと境目の場所だったのです。

いよいよ松尾山です。山への入口には、小早川の旗印が並んでいます。雰囲気満点です。

松尾山城へ

松尾山は標高２９３メートルありますが、麓からは約２００メートルの高さだそうです。麓に駐車場もあって、山道は「東海自然歩道」の一部として整備されています。秀秋の軍勢は８千人とも１万５千人とも言われていますので、山麓まで兵がいたかもしれません。そうであれば、「問鉄砲」が本当なら銃声も聞こえたことでしょう。

松尾山城は「小早川秀秋陣」と言われますが、実は本格的な山城だったのです。山頂がある「主郭（本丸）」を中心に、山の峰に曲輪群が配置されていました。曲輪を土塁で囲み、空堀・堀切・竪堀を掘って、敵の移動や攻撃を防ぐようになっていました。これらの城の改修のほとんどは、関ヶ原合戦の前に行われました。山の地形を加工して、このような城を作ったのです。

途中から右に曲がって、山道という感じになります。あと８５０メートルという案内があります。

だんだん山頂に近づいていきますが、道は「東の曲輪」の下を通っているので、敵だったら攻撃されてしまいます。

やがて、幟が何本も見えてきます。ついに山頂の主郭に着きました。山の向こうから見えていた「小早川秀秋陣地」の幟も立っています。

山頂からは関ヶ原が一望できます。従来説の小早川秀秋ではなくとも、本当に日和見してしまいそうです。

果たして陣なのか城なのか？

松尾山城が「お城」に値するものなのか、実地でチェックしてみましょう。実は、登ってきたのと反対側の方が、城の防御がより充実しているのです。そちら側に行ってから、改めて入城してみましょう。

松尾山城の縄張り図、「松尾山城パンフレット（関ヶ原観光協会）」より、来た道は上方から、これから進む道が下方から

最初の入口は、堀切を作ってわざと細くしています。

その次は、陣地のような曲輪を通ります。「馬出状の曲輪」と呼ばれています。

道はまた細くなって、曲がりながら主郭に入っていきます。

主郭の入口は土塁に囲まれた四角いスペースになっています。「枡形虎口」です。まるでこちらが正面のようです。小早川秀秋もここから入城したかもしれません。

桝形虎口の手前からは空堀に下っていくこともできます。斜面を人工的に削った「切岸」が見えます。

空堀の底は、草木で覆われてはいるものの、結構広々としています。通路や兵士の居場所にも使われたと想定されています。また、堀の底にも防衛用の土塁を築かれています（喰違い土塁）。

本郭から空堀を挟んだ曲輪（名無し？）にも登ってみましょう。ここも広々としていて、城全体が基地のようになっているのがわかります。

松尾山城はただの「陣」ではなく、本格的な「城」ということが実感できました。

私の感想

関ヶ原は、いろんな説が出てくるだけの謎とロマンに満ちていると、現地をめぐって改めてそう思いました。また、古代から関所や決戦の地だったこともわかりました。東西対決は今でも続いていて、麺の東西対決のお土産を買うことができます。それから、岐阜関ヶ原古戦場記念館では、陣地めぐりをしたビジター向けに御朱印を販売していますので、こちらもおすすめです（別館ショップ、訪問したときの写真等が必要）。古戦場記念館も２０２０年にオープンし、人気のスポットになっていますので、中の展示をご覧になってはいかがでしょう。

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。

「松尾山城その１」に戻ります。

今回の内容を趣向を変えて、Youtube にも投稿しました。よろしかったらご覧ください。

51.Azuchi Castle Part2

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 hurry to both sites immediately. In addition, he created the network of water transportation on Biwa Lake, including Azuchi and several his retainers’ castles. This article will introduce the tour course of the ruins while mixing with the mysteries of the castle in the previous article.

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.

The diorama of Azuchi Castle, exhibited by Azuchi Castle Archaeological Museum

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?

The ruins of the western gates (the complex one on the left and the simple one on the right)

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.

*The imaginary drawing of the main route of Azuchi Castle, exhibited by Gifu Castle*

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.

The ruins of Hideyoshi Hashiba’s residence

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 main hall of Sokenji Temple (the former residence of Ieyasu Tokugawae)

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?

One of the stone statues which are used in the route, Notice the donation cup with “Suntory” labeled on it next to the sign

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 the stone steps for a while, you will eventually see the 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 looks strong. “Shincho-koki”, which is the most reliable biography of Nobunaga 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 the construction of 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 high to become the stone walls in a method called “Nozura-zumi”. They look unstable but are joined together securely. The stone craftsmen, who could operate the Nozura-zumi method, would later be called, “Ano-shu”.

The stone walls of the second enclosure, Notice the large gaps between the stones

Looking around these great stone walls, you will eventually pass the ruins of the second and third gates one after the other. Then, you will arrive at Ninomaru-higashi-damari which means “eastern gathering place of the second enclosure”. The main enclosure is on the right (to east) and the second enclosure is on the left (to west).

The Ninomaru-higashi-damari gathering place

There is the grave of Nobunaga Oda at the second enclosure to the left, 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, you will notice a simple stone, which is not appropriate for the great lord. This is because the top of the graves of such great warlords are usually built like a tower. The stone may look like the Bonsan stone which would be the icon of Nobunaga. Noone knows if the stone is authentic, but at least, the builder would have known about it.

Going back to the Ninomaru-higashi-damari gathering place, you can now 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 also a hall called “Nanden”. The hall was thought to include waiting rooms, agent rooms, and meeting rooms. That may have been one of the origins for typical castle halls like the second enclosure hall of Nijo Castle.

Thin would have been the Nanden hall ahead, there would have been a gate in front

The aerial photo of the second enclosure main hall of Nijo Castle (Google Map)

The main enclosure only has few stone foundations, some trees, and the stools 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 just behind the trees, where another hall for the guest was built. The enclosure must have been a good viewing spot; however, the current visitors unfortunately cannot access this area.

The center of the diorama above, showing the second enclosure, the main tower ruins, the main enclosure, and the third enclosure (from the left to the right), exhibited by Azuchi Castle Archaeological Museum

Going to the Main Tower Base

If you want to go the main tower base from the main enclosure, you will need to pass through Honmaru-Toritsuke-dai (which means the mounting base of the main enclosure) by climbing some stone steps. The mounting base is now an open space but used to have a building on it, which was connected with other buildings of the main enclosure with roofed passages. If you go on the space, you will see an excavation site beside the tower base. Shiga Prefecture launched the excavation in 2023, which is called “the great research of Reiwa”. The purpose is to reveal what the main tower looked like and why it was burned down. So far, it found that the stone wall base was partially destroyed intentionally after the tower was lost. The excavation team speculates that it might have been done when the castle was abandoned.

The excavation site (close to the public)

The northern side of the tower base which is being researched currently

Let us walk up on the stone steps towards the tower base. You should check out the surface of the steps, which is covered with tiles. These tiles were made of Shakudani-ishi stones which came from Echizen Province (the current Fukui Prefecture). The stones are blue green in color and turns deep blue when it rains. They are still one of the specialties of the prefecture and is the prefectural stone. The stones of the tiles were said to have been given by Katsuie Shibata who was a senior vassal of Nobnaga and owned the province. They had just conquered the province, so the tiles may have been built as the symbol of their conquest.

The surface of the steps, which is made from the Shakudani-ishi stones

The stone steps will eventually lead to the basement of the tower, which was the storehouse. Now, there are only the stone foundations inside. It is still mysterious what the main tower and other buildings of the castle might have looked like. Shiga Prefecture states that Azuchi Castle was the first Japanese castle that contained the three important items at the same time: a high main tower, high stone walls, and buildings with rooftiles. In addition, some rooftiles with golden leaves were discovered in the center of the castle. Historians also say they are the first case amongst Japanese castles. For reference, the same kind of rooftiles were discovered in Gifu Castle which was the previous home of Nobunaga. However, they cannot be confirmed to have been made during the same period as Nobunaga. This is because Gifu Castle was used even after Azuchi Castle was abandoned.

Some of the discovered broken rooftiles at the site, exhibited by Azuchi Castle Archaeological Museum

The great research of Reiwa also involves seeking for the picture where Azuchi Castle was drawn. It is called Azuchi-san-zu-Byobu which means the screens of the illustration of Azuchi Mountain. It was given as a present by Nobunaga to the Roman Pope, who certainly displayed it in the Vatican Palace, but was unfortunately misplaced. The prefecture has been seeking it but was not successful. However, they have started again with the research as a starting point. If the picture can be found, it would be the most convincing evidence that the main tower existed.

The imaginary drawing of the Azuchi-san-zu-Byobu screens, exhibited by Azuchi Castle Museum

Sokenji Temple is still Mysterious

If you go back from the center to the ruins of Nobutada Oda’s residence, the route for visitors is eventually led to the ruins of Sokenji Temple. This is where the Bonsan stone was placed, according to Luis Frois. There are the ruins of the former main hall of the temple on a hill. The stone was placed on the second floor, which was the highest point of the temple. The place might have been considered the best spot for the icon of Nobunaga who reigned at the top of the main tower. After Nobunaga died, the main hall was renovated but was unfortunately burned down by an accidental fire during the Edo Period. If the hall survived the fire, one mystery about Nobunaga would have been solved.

Azuchi Mountain including the castle was partially surrounded by Nishinoko-Lake which is a branch of Biwa Lake. However, they were disconnected during the Showa Era because the lake was reclaimed to the farms. You can still see a good view of the lake from the hill.

The three-level tower and Nio-mon Gate (the front gate) of the temple managed to survive the fire. Both have been designated as National Important Cultural Properties. If fact, they were older than other castle buildings of Azuchi even when it was first established. This was because the temple buildings were collected from other temples by Nobunaga. The route through the buildings was the side route of the castle, which was popular. According to the Shincho-koki biography, the route was very crowded with people to celebrate the new-year event of 1582 (according to the luna calendar). The new-year event was the last for Nobunaga who was killed within the same year.

The remaining Nio-mon Gate (notice the two NIO satues on the side)

The tour route will lead to the side route of another going around the mountain.
The entrance of the side route cannot be used because the temple wants to control the crowd. Our route will eventually return to the ruins of Hideyoshi Hashiba’s residence near the toll gate.

The side route to the entrance is closed

The route around the mountain, watch your step because the terrain is very rugged

My Impression

The more you think about the mysteries of Azuchi Castle, the more they may become mysterious. That is my honest impression. However, I enjoy thinking and speculating about each mystery. Nobunaga had a very unorthodox way of thinking back then. Therefore, you might not find the answers by just using the conventional knowledge. In my opinion, the unsloved mystery of Azuchi Castle is what makes it unique. We just have to wait for more convincing proof in the future.

Azuchi Mountain (Appromixately 190 meters above sea level)

Furthermore, I recommend visiting other several historical museums around Azuchi Castle, to help you uncover the mystery.

Nobunaga no Yakata Museum, inside you will find the model of the 6th and 7th floor of the main tower, Photography is allowed, however, the museum doesn’t want pictures to be published online, therefore I cannot include them on this blog

That’s all. Thank you.

Back to “Azuchi Castle Part1”