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11.Nihonmatsu Castle Part2

Castle ruins from many different periods

Features

The aerial photo around the castle

Foot of Mountain

The area around the castle was turned into a park called Kasumigajo Park (Kasumigajo is a nickname of the castle which means “Castle with a Mist”). The great stone walls which are said the Kato Clan built remain at the foot of the mountain. The buildings of the Minowa-mon Gate, the Two-story Turret and the Tamon Turret were rebuilt on the walls during the present time. Visitors usually enter the Minowa-mon Gate. The statues of the child soldiers, Nihonmatsu Shonentai stand in front of it.

The stone walls at the foot of the mountain

The statues of the child soldiers, Nihonmatsu Shonentai

After passing the zigzagged route surrounded by the stone walls, you will enter the Third Enclosure. It is now empty, but this is where the Main Hall used be for the lord which was also the center of the castle in the Edo Period.

Top of Mountain

After that, you can climb up to the Main Enclosure on the top of the mounttain through the trail the Hatakeyama Clan might have originally made. The mountain part was said to be first built for the castle. When you are alomost at the top, you will see large scale old stone walls on a gentle slope under the Main Enclosure. They are called Ohishigaki or the Large Stone Walls which were probably built by the Gamo Clan. They are also one of the oldest stone walls in the Tohoku Region. At this point, you will soon reach the top.

The Main Enclosure on the top is surrounded by the wonderful stone walls which still look new today. They were originally build by the Kato Clan or the Niwa Clan, and recently restored after the recent excavation. They also have three stone bases for the Main Tower, the Eastern Turret, and the Western Turret. The Eastern Turret and the Western Turret seemed to be actually built on these bases, but there has been no evidence on whether the Main Tower was built or not. If such relics were found or such drawings were discovered it would prove that these structures were indeed built the way we suspected.

The restored stone walls of the Main Enclosure

The inside of the Main Enclosure, the back is the stone wall base for the Eastern Turret

Great view from Main Enclosure

Anyway, you can see a great wide view of the area around the castle on the top of the stone walls. The Mountains in the Tohoku Region such as Adatara-yama Mountain can be seen across the great distance. You can feel you are standing on the region with a lot of mountains. In addition to this, you will see monuments with written description of senior vassals of the Boshin War who committed suicide beside the stone wall base for the Main Tower.

Adatara-yama Mountain that can be seen across the great distance

The monuments for the senior vassals of the Nihonmatsu Domain, who committed suicide

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

11.二本松城　その２

多くの異なる時代から成り立つ城跡

特徴、見どころ

城周辺の航空写真

山麓部分

城周辺の地域は、霞ヶ城公園（霞に包まれた城という意味）という公園となっています。加藤氏が築いたと言われる素晴らしい石垣が山麓に残っています。箕輪門、二階櫓、多聞櫓の建物が、現代になってから石垣の上に再建されています。通常、観光客は箕輪門から入っていきます。その手前には、二本松少年隊の像が立っています。

二本松少年隊像 *(licensed by baku13 via Wikimedia Commons)*

石垣に囲まれた曲がりくねった通路を過ぎると、三の丸に入っていきます。そこは今は空き地になっていますが、かつては城主のための御殿があり、江戸時代には城の中心でした。

山上部分

その後、畠山氏がもともと作ったであろう山道を通って、山の頂上にある本丸に登って行くことができます。山の部分は、城の中では最初にできた所と言われています。もう少しで頂上というところで、本丸下の緩斜面に大規模な古い石垣が目に入ってきます。これは大石垣と呼ばれ、恐らく蒲生氏が築いたものとされています。また、東北地方では最も古い石垣の一つでもあります。ここからはすぐに頂上に到達します。

頂上にある本丸は、まだ目新しく見える素晴らしい石垣に囲まれています。この石垣は最初は加藤氏か丹羽氏によって築かれたのですが、最近の発掘によって近年復元されました。この中には、天守、東櫓、西櫓のための３つの石垣台も含まれています。東櫓と西櫓はこれらの台の上に実際にあったようなのですが、天守があったかどうかを示す証拠は見つかっていません。もし何か建物があったことを証明する遺物か絵図が見つかれば、見解は覆ることになるでしょう。

本丸からの素晴らしい景色

いずれにせよ、石垣の頂上部からは、城周辺地域の素晴らしい眺めを見渡すことができます。遥かかなたには、安達太良山などの東北地方の山々が見えます。多くの山から成り立つ地方にいることを身をもって実感できます。他には、戊辰戦争で自刃した重臣のことを記した記念碑が天守台石垣の脇にあります。

「二本松城その３」に続きます。
「二本松城その１」に戻ります。

11.Nihonmatsu Castle Part1

An important castle that many lords wanted to rule

Location and History

After Nihonmatsu Clan built, Date and other Clans owned it.

Nihonmatsu Castle was a castle with a long history which was located in what is now Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture. The castle was built along the Oshu Road, an important route in Tohoku Region, and also connected to other important inland areas such as Aizu District. When the Ashikaga Shogunate was established in the first 14th Century, the shogunate sent their relative Hatakeyama Clan to the Tohoku Region to govern the region. The clan settled in the region and built Nihonmatsu Castle in the first 15th Century. It started as a simple mountain castle but later on transformed to another type of castle.

The location of the castle

The clan later called themselves the Nihonmatsu Clan which governed the castle and the area around for a long time. In the late 16th Century during the Sengoku Period, one of the greatest warlord, Masamune Date attacked Nihonmatsu Castle and the Nihonmatsu Clan finally surrendered in 1586. Since then, the castle became a branch castle of Wakamatsu Castle in Aizu District, which was the Date Clan’s home base. The lords of Wakamatsu Castle were changed to the Gamo, Uesugi, and Kato Clans, They also improved Nihonmatsu Castle by building stone walls.

伊達政宗像、仙台市博物館蔵（licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Niwa Clan mostly Governed Castle in Edo Period

In 1643 during the Edo Period, The Niwa Clan was transferred to the lord of the castle as the government building of the Nihonmatsu Domain by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The clan renovated the castle as well. They built the stone wall base for the Main Tower on the top of the mountain, but it is unknown if the tower was built at all. They also built the Main Hall for the lord with many other buildings for governing at the foot of the mountain. They also improved the defense system of the castle. The Oshu Road was moved beyond a hill from near the castle and visitors from the road had to pass through the Main Gate on the hill. The area around the castle called Kakunai or the Inner Compounds was protected by five gates including the Main Gate. The Niwa Clan peacefully governed the castle until the end of the Edo Period.

The portrait of Mitsushige Niwa, the founder of the Nihonmatsu Domain, owned by Dairinji Temple （licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons）

Part of the illustration of Nihonmatsu Castle in Mutsu Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

Castle falls in one day in Boshin war

However, the castle got involved in the Boshin war in 1868 during the Meiji Restoration. The New Government Army attacked the Nihonmatsu Domain which still supported the Tokugawa Shogunate. Many of the warriors of the domain were sent to Shirakawa-Komine Castle, located in the south of Nihonmatsu Castle, to reinforce the allies at the moment. They had to protect the castle with only a few defenders including the drafted child soldiers between the age of 12 and 17. They were confused by the sudden attack and the castle was captured in just one day. Some warriors such as senior vassals of the domain committed suicide while most of the castle building being burned down. Many of the child soldiers were also killed, and they have been called Nihonmatsu Shonentai, symbolizing the tragedy of the war.

*Nihonmatsu Castle* and the statues of the Nihonmatsu child soldiers

To be continued in “Nihonmatus Castle Part2”