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136.Torigoe Castle Part2

Well developed ruins of a mountain castle

Features

Enclosures built using Natural Terrain

Today, the ruins of Torigoe Castle are well restored for visitors. If you drive to the ruins, you can easily go up to the parking lot near the top of the mountain. After parking, you can walk on the path to the center of the ruins. This path goes through the Rear Third Enclosure and the Rear Second Enclosure. These enclosures protected the Main Enclosure in the north. Similarly, the Third Enclosure and the Second Enclosure also protected the Main Enclosure in the south. Moreover, the Belt Enclosures surrounded the enclosures mentioned above for connection or a defense perimeter.

The aerial photo around the castle

For example, if you look at the Rear Second Enclosure, you can see it has a deep dry moat and is highly heaped. You can imagine the builders dug the moat and made the enclosure by heaping the soil from the moat on natural terrain. Some wooden fences were probably built along the enclosure. Some buildings were also built in the enclosure, where you can see the remnants of them now.

The Rear Second Enclosure seen from the Main Enclosure

Restored Buildings and Stone Walls

You can go further to the Central Enclosure in front of the Main Enclosure. Due to the achievement of the excavation, some buildings were restored. One of them is the Central Enclosure Gate, which may have been the front gate of the castle. Another is a barrack which is also currently used as the rest house.

The restored barrack and rest house for visitors

You can finally enter the Main Enclosure through the Masugata-mon Gate which is surrounded by the only stone walls in the castle. They were also restored in recent times, and originally built by Nobunaga Oda’s troops. This was because the castle was changing hands between the Kaga Ikko uprising and Oda during the conflict. Masugata refers to a square space inside or outside of the entrance, which has made it more defensive. In the back of the Masugata, there is, likewise, the restored turret styled Main Enclosure Gate, which was originally built by the Kaga Ikko uprising.

You can enjoy View and see Good Location

Inside the Main Enclosure, there were a lot of buildings discovered during the excavation. However, the purpose of them is still uncertain, so only columns and stone foundations are shown for visitors. In addition, some wooden fences on the earthen walls, a well, and large jars for storage are restored in the enclosure. From the enclosure, you can see a good view of both sides of the mountain in the east and west, being at a good location for lookout and protection.

A view from the Main Enclosure (the eastern side)

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

136.鳥越城　その２

よく整備された山城跡

特徴、見どころ

自然の地形を生かして作られた曲輪群

現在、鳥越城跡は観光客向けによく整備されています。もし車で来られるのでしたら、山頂近くの駐車場まで容易に登っていくことができます。車を停めた後、城跡の中心地まで小径を歩いて行くことができます。この道は、後三の丸と後二の丸の間を通っています。これらの曲輪は、本丸の北側を守っていたのです。同じように、三の丸と二の丸が本丸の南側を守っていました。その上に、腰曲輪が前述した曲輪群を囲んでいて、曲輪間の連絡のため、あるいは周囲の防御のために機能していました。

城周辺の航空写真

例えば、後二の丸を見てみると、そこには深い空堀があり、曲輪自体は高く盛り上げられています。築城者は、この空堀を掘って、その土を堀から自然の地形の上に積み上げて曲輪を築いたということが想像されます。曲輪の周囲には恐らく木の柵が巡らされていたでしょう。そして曲輪の中にはいくつか建物もありました。今はその痕跡を見ることができます。

復元された建物や石垣

更に進んでいくと、本丸の前にある中の丸に至ります。発掘の成果により、建物が復元されています。一つは、城の正門として使われた可能性がある中の丸門です。もう一つは兵舎で、現在では休憩所としても使われています。

そして、この城では唯一石垣に囲まれた桝形門を通って、ついに本丸に入っていきます。この石垣は現代になって復元されたもので、もともと織田信長の軍勢により築かれました。なぜかと言うと、この城は加賀一向一揆と織田軍の戦いの間、双方がこの城を占領したり、攻めたりしていたのです。桝形とは、城の入り口の内側または外側にある四角い空間で、これがあることで城の防御力を増すことができました。桝形の奥には、同じように復元された櫓形式の本丸門があります。こちらの方は元は加賀一向一揆側によって築かれました。

眺めを見てわかる立地の良さ

本丸の中は、発掘によって多くの建物があったことがわかっています。しかし、それら建物の用途はいまだにわかっていません。よって、復元されるのでなく、柱と礎石のみが観光客向けに展示されています。更には、土塁上の木の柵、井戸、貯蔵用の大甕が曲輪の中で復元されています。この曲輪からは、城がある山の東西両側の景色をよく見渡すことができます。見張りをしたり、城の防衛のためには絶好の立地だったことでしょう。

「鳥越城その３」に続きます。
「鳥越城その１」に戻ります。

136.Torigoe Castle Part1

It’s history and role in the Kaga Ikko Uprising

Location and History

Emergence of Ikkoshu Sect

Torigoe Castle was located at the foot of the Hakusan Mountain in Kaga Province, which is now Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is known for the final place where the people of the lkkoshu Sect in the province, fought with the warlords to the last man in a conflict known as the Kaga Ikko uprising. After the Onin War in Kyoto in 1467, almost all the people in Japan had to protect themselves because the authority of the Ashikaga Shogunate had decreased in power. This is called the Sengoku Period, also known as the Warring States Period. Not only the lords and warriors, but also farmers and merchants along those at the temples had the power to maintain their territory and rights.

The location of the castle

A scene of the Onin War, from a picture scroll of the Origin of Shinnyo-do Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The lkkoshu was one of the sects of Buddhism, which spread across the country during that period. Many people believed it because the sect says if you only speak “Hail to Amitabha Buddha”, you would go to heaven. In addition to this simple doctrine, the 8th head of the sect in the 15th Century, Rennyo worked actively to build local organizations especially in what is now the Chubu Region, including Kaga Province. The organizations were primarily religious, but they eventually had political, economic, and military power with the situation of the period. Even a warlord asked the sect for help when fighting another warlord. When the sect fought for something, it was called Ikko-Ikki, or the Ikko uprising, having a big impact on the entire country. As a result, the sect acted like a warlord and his warriors, with its headquarters, called Ishiyama-Honganji Temple, at the former Osaka Castle.

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

The miniature model of the Ishiyama-Honganji Temple, owned by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed by ブレイズマン via Wikimedia Commons)

Castle in Province owned by Peasants

Kaga Province had one of the strongest organizations in the sect. The people in the organization, called the Kaga Ikko uprising, first supported the governor of the province, from the Togashi Clan, but soon fought against and defeated the clan. This was due to the high taxes the clan imposed, but the local lords in the sect also wanted to take lands away from the clan. The sect established Oyama-gobo Temple, the former Kanazawa Castle, to govern the province by themselves. Kaga Province was known as “a province owned by peasants”. The temple was the home base of the Kaga Ikko uprising and probably looked like a castle. The Kaga Ikko uprising also had many branch castles, including Torigoe Castle, in the province to protect themselves.

Gokuraku-bashi Bridge in Kanazawa Castle, which derived its name from the period of Oyama-Gobo Temple

The restored Torigoe Castle in the present time

Torigoe Castle was the site of an internal group, called Yamanouchi-shu, in the Kaga Ikko uprising. The castle was built on a mountain above the meeting point of the Tedori-gawa and Dainichi-gawa Rivers. The castle had the Main Enclosure on the top. The other enclosures were around the Main Enclosure and along the ridge of the mountain. All the enclosures were made of soil and divided by the dry moats, using natural terrain. Such a castle could have been seen across Japan at that time as a “mountain castle”. It is thought that the head of the group, Suzuki Dewa-no-kami built the castle to protect them from Nobunaga Oda’s attacks.

The map around the castle

The relief map around the castle

Torigoe Castle was built using natural terrain

End of Kaga Ikko uprising

Nobunaga Oda was a great warlord who processed the unification of Japan in the 1570s-80s. He asked the religious institutions to waive their political and military power. If a temple rejected his request, he would destroy the temple completely, such as the fire attack on Mt. Hiei in 1571. Previously, in 1570, Nobunaga asked the Ikkoshu Sect to withdraw from its home base, Ishiyama-Honganji Temple. The sect refused, and after that, they fought each other for the next 11 years, known as the Battle of Ishiyama. Nobunaga’s retainers also attacked the local organizations of the Ikkoshu Sect, including the Kaga Ikko uprising. The Yamanouchi-shu group battled Nobunaga’s troops at Torigoe Castle even after Ishiyama-Honganji Temple surrendered in 1580. However, they were finally defeated, and with the rest of the survivors being killed in 1582. This could be considered as the final resistance of the Kaga Ikko uprising.

The portrait of Nobunaga Oda, attributed to Soshu Kano, owned by Chokoji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The image of Battle of Ishiyama, owned by Wakayama City Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Torigoe Castle, the final place for the people of the Kaga Ikko uprising

To be continued in “Torigoe Castle Part2”