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127.Shinpu Castle Part3

Was it the mixture of a castle and a hall?

Features

Another mysterious Degamae system

You should finally check out the Degamae system on the northern side of the castle. It consists of two banks sticking out of the mountain, which are very unique to the castle. Historians often wondered if they were used as the strongholds for guns or for adjustment of the water in the moats. It is still uncertain because no other example like that were found in other castles.

The map of the northern part of the castle

There was a water moat around the Degamae system

Later History

The ruins of Shinpu Castle was developed after they were designated as a National Historic Site in 1973. Nirasaki City has been changing them to public land since 1988 and 98% of them are now publicly owned. The city also started the excavation of the site in 1998 and the development as a historical site in 2005. That’s why we can visit and see the castle ruins at anytime.

My Impression

I think that Shinpu Castle was the mixture of a castle and a hall like the combination of Takeda Clan Hall and Yogaisan Castle before. Yogaisan was a mountain castle used for emergencies when a battle happened around Takeda Clan Hall. Shimpu Castle was a hybrid of the two previous castles. That’s why someone can easily see it as a hall. However, Shimpu Castle was too large to be protected by a few soldiers. When Nobunaga Oda’s troops were heading for the castle, most of Katsuyori Takeda’s retainers surrendered or escaped from him. He must have realized that it would be impossible to protect the castle all by themselves. Shimpu Castle couldn’t show full potential.

The imaginary drawing of Takeda Clan Hall (from the signboard at the site)

Yogaisan Mountain (licensed by さかおり (talk via Wikimedia Commons)

The miniature model of the ruins of Shinpu Castle (Nirasaki Folk Museum)

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 10 minutes away from Nirasaki IC on the Chuo Expressway.
There is a parking lot alongside Yamanashi Prefectural Road 17 on the east of the ruins.
By train, it takes about 10 minutes on foot from Shinpu Station on the JR Chuo Line.
To get to Shinpu Station from Tokyo: Take the limited express Azusa or Kaiji at Shinjuku Station, and transfer at Kofu Station to the Chuo Line.

The ruins of Shinpu Castle that can be seen from the parking lot

Links and References

・Shimpu Castle Ruins, Nirasaki City Official Site
・Shinpu Castle Ruins, Nirasaki City Tourism Association

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

127.新府城　その３

城と館の複合体だったのでしょうか。

特徴

これもまた謎の出構

最後に、城の北側部分でに残る出構をご覧になってはいかがでしょう。山側から２つの土手が突き出す構造になっていて、この城独特のものです。歴史家は、これが鉄砲の陣地として使われたのか、堀の中の水量を調整するために使われたのか思案しています。このようなものは他の城には見られないので、答えは見つかっていません。

城北側の地図

その後

新府城跡は、1973年に国の史跡に指定された後に整備されました。韮崎市は、城跡の公有地化を進め、現在では９８％が公有地となっています。また、韮崎市は1988年に城跡の発掘を、2005年には史跡としての整備を始めました。そのため、現在いつでもこの城跡を訪れ、見学できるようになっているわけです。

私の感想

私は、新府城は、その以前に武田氏館と要害山城が組み合わされたように、城と館の複合体であったと思うのです。要害山は、武田氏館の周辺で戦いが起こったとき、緊急のために使われる山城でした。新府城は、先の２つの城が混合されたものだったのです。そのため、ある人にとっては、館として映ってしまうのではないでしょうか。しかし、新府城は少ない兵士によって守るには大きすぎました。織田信長の軍勢がこの城に向かっていったとき、武田勝頼のほとんどの家臣は降伏するか、勝頼の下から去っていきました。勝頼は、彼らだけでこの城を守るのは不可能だと認識したのでしょう。新府城はその潜在能力を発揮することはなかったのです。

要害山 *(licensed by さかおり (talk* *via Wikimedia Commons)*

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：
中央自動車道の韮崎ICから約１０分のところにあります。
城跡の東側を通る山梨県道１７号線沿いに駐車場があります。
電車で行く場合は、ＪＲ中央線の新府駅から歩いて１０分程のところにあります。
東京から新府駅まで：新宿駅から特急あずさ号かかいじ号に乗り、甲府駅で中央線に乗り換えてください。

リンク、参考情報

・新府城跡、韮崎市
・新府城跡、韮崎市観光協会
・「歴史群像１３５号、戦国の城　甲斐新府城」学研
・「列島縦断「幻の名城」を訪ねて／山名美和子著」集英社新書
・「新府城と武田勝頼」新人物往来社

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

127.Shinpu Castle Part2

You can see the completed version of Takeda’s method for building castles.

Features

The ruins of Shinpu Castle is open to the public. Visitors usually enter the ruins from the eastern side using two trails which were either built in the present time. One of them is the very steep approach with stone steps to the shrine on the top of the mountain. The other is the gentle steep footwalk going around the mid slope of the mountain to the south. I recommend using the latter if you want to look around the ruins.

Powerful ruins of Main Gate and Umadashi system

The footwalk goes under the Third Enclosure above the Main Gate. You can walk down from the inside to the outside of the ruins of the gate. The gate ruins are still surrounded by the earthen walls.

The map around the castle

The ruins of the Umadashi system remain outside the gate. Umadashi was Takeda’s unique defense system which is a round shaped stronghold sticking out of a gate. It usually had a convex moon shaped moat in front of it to make it more protective. The defenders could also counter the attackers from the sides. The ruins of Umadashi in Shinpu Castle are very large and you can clearly see the shapes of the stronghold and the moat.

The imaginary drawing of the Umadashi part (from the signboard at the site)

Main Enclosure which worships Takeda

Going back to the footwalk, you can walk up to the Main Enclosure through the Second Enclosure. The Main Enclosure is largest one and on the top of the mountain, which had Katsuyori Takeda’s Main Hall. The excavation team recently found the foundation of the hall gate and the traces of the leveling probably done by Tokugawa.

The only things that remained was the Shinpu-Fujitake Shrine which worships Katsuyori and the shrine which worships the war deaths in the battle of Nagashino on the spacious area.

The steep approach that can be seen from the shrine

The shrine which worships the war deaths in the battle of Nagashino

You can see a good view from there including the Kamanashi-gawa River below and the mountains above.

Also pay attention to Back Gate

You can also walk down to the northern part of the castle from the Main Enclosure. Passing the ruins of the well and the wooden bridge, you will reach the ruins of the back gate called Inui-Mon.

The map of the northern part of the castle

The imaginary drawing of the wooden bridge (from the signboard at the site)

The gate was built in the Masugata style which had a square space sandwiched by two gate buildings, which could prevent enemies from attacking easily. The earthen walls surrounding the space still remain intact and the foundations of the gate were also found.

The Masugata space which is surrounded by the earthen walls

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