English – ページ 47 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

75.Hagi Castle Part2

There are so many historical attractions in the castle and town.

Features

Going to Main Enclosure through Second Enclosure

Today, Hagi City has a lot of historical attractions. It is said you can even use its old map of the Edo Period when you visit the city. If you want to visit the center of the castle ruins at first by car, you can use the parking lot for visitors in front of the Second Enclosure. The area around it was the Middle Moat in the past, which was buried by the dug up soil when the Hagi Canal was built nearby in 1924. That’s why the Southern Gate Ruins of the Second Enclosure is the north of it and the remaining Asa Mori Clan Residence in the Third Enclosure is the south of it.

The map around the castle

The Southern Gate Ruins of the Second Enclosure

The Hagi Canal near the center of the castle

The Sothern Gate had doubled defensive square spaces surrounded by turrets and stone walls. You can now see their shapes by the remaining stone walls. There are Hagi ware shops and tea rooms inside the gate ruins because the Second Enclosure is divided by private sections.

The statue of Terumoto Mori in the gate ruins

A Hagi ware shop in the Second Enclosure

Beautiful Main Tower Stone Wall Base

You will soon reach the Main Enclosure which has no remaining buildings, but its stone walls and the Inner Moat are still intact. In particular, the stone wall base for the Main Tower, which has corner lines like the Slope of a Folding Fan, looks very beautiful with the background of Shizuki Mountain. The base is about 10m high, and the Main Tower was said be nearly 20m, so the total was about 30m.

The base with the background of Shizuki Mountain

Another old photo of the Main Tower, in the Meiji Period (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

You can see Large Scale of Each Item in Main Enclosure

The Main Enclosure has become part of Shizuki Park. You can enter it by going across the Gokurakubashi Bridge over the Inner Moat and passing the Main Enclosure Inner Gate Ruins. The shape of its interior is square but there is the Shizukiyama Shrine established in the Meiji Era and some buildings, such as tea rooms, which were moved from another area to the park. You can walk up to the top of the Main Tower base. You will see a lot of stone foundations on it and you can imagine how large the tower was.

Going to the top of the Main Tower stone wall base

A view of around the gate from the Main Tower base

You should also check out Gangi, the wide stone steps which are not very conspicuous but have a significant role in history. They are between the gate and the base. This is said to be one of the widest Gangi among Japanese castles. Mud walls were built on these stone walls so that defenders could counterattack through the walls using the steps if enemies would attack the castle.

The top of the stone walls above the steps, the mud walls were built on it

Castle even protests Seashore

I also recommend seeing the castle from the eastern side, for example, the Kikugahama Beach, by going out from the Eastern Gate Ruins of the Second Enclosure. The scenery of the beach with Shizukiyama Mountain is beautiful. Also, if you look at the foot of the mountain, you will find long stone walls still lie along the foot. There were as many as five turrets between mud walls on them in the past.

The Eastern Gate Ruins of the Second Enclosure.

A view of Shizukiyama Mountain from the Kikugahama Beach

The long stone walls built along the seashore

There are now partly restored mud walls. You can also get close to the stone walls and go out to the seashore from the Shioiri-mon Gate Ruins.

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

75.Hagi Castle Part1

The home base of the Choshu Domain for 270 years

Location and History

Terumoto Mori builds Castle after Lost of Sekigahara

Hagi City is well known for its old town atmosphere. Tourists often plan to visit the set of both Hagi and Tsuwano Town nearby. The city is also popular among history fans as an area which provided many meritorious retainers during the Meiji Restoration, such as Shoin Yoshida, Shinsaku Takasugi, Takayoshi Kido, and Hirobumi Ito who became the first Prime Minister of Japan. That’s because Hagi had been the homebase of the Choshu Domain for 270 years since Hagi Castle was built in 1604.

The range of Hagi City and the location of the castle

Terumoto Mori, who built the castle, originally lived in Hiroshima Castle, governing most of the Chugoku Rerion with an earning of 1.2 million koku of rice. However, he got defeated by Ieyasu Tokugawa who would be the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. As a result, Ieyasu ordered Terumoto to reduce his territory to only two provinces of Nagato and Suo with 370 thousand koku, which are the current Yamaguchi Prefecture. Terumoto needed to look for his new homebase, which was chosen from the three options.

The portrait of Terumoto Mori, owned by the Mori Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

One was Kuwayama beside Seto Inland Sea, another was Hagi beside the Japan Sea, and the rest was Yamaguchi, the current prefectural capital, between the former ones. The result was Hagi. The reason for it was said that the shogunate designated it because they wanted to contain the Mori Clan in the innermost place so that the clan would not rebel against the shogunate. However, some historians recently speculate that Terumoto actively chose Hagi after the discussion with the shogunate as the place was the most defensive. It was also on a delta like his former homebase, Hiroshima Castle.

The range of the Choshu Domain and the location of the castle

The illustration of Hiroshima Castle in Aki Province, in the Edo Period, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

Castle is located on Delta

The delta was sandwiched by Matsumoto and Hashimoto Rivers, facing the sea in the north. The northern part of it was a sand dune, moreover, its northernmost beside the sea was Shizuki Mountain with its height at 143m. The Main Enclosure of the castle was built in front of the mountain, surrounded by stone walls and the Inner Moat. It had the five level Main Tower and the Main Hall for the lord as the center. The Second Enclosure was the south of the Main Enclosure, surrounded by the Middle Moat. It had two defensive gates and its stone walls covered even the seashore. The Third Enclosure was the south of the former ones, used as the senior vassals’ houses. It was separated by the Outer Moat from the castle town. Shizuki Mountain was also used as a final castle. Terumoto built its own Main and Second Enclosures on the top. There were no buildings inside of them, however, it was surrounded by some turrets and stone walls. It was basically for emergency like a battle while usually used as a lookout as well.

Hagi Castle[/leaflet-marker]

The illustration of Hagi Castle and Town in 1652, from the signboard at the site

An old photo of Hagi Castle, from the signboard at the site

Heros come from Castle Town

As for the castle town, its area was first waterlogged because it was lower than the sand dune in the northern part of the delta. People in Hagi built canals to drain water, which make them possible to build the town. In fact, the heroes of the domain towards the Meiji Restoration came from this town. An interesting thing about them is that the higher class of them like Takasugi and Kido lived near the castle while the lower class like Shoin and Ito lived far from it. That was a common rule for warriors to live at that time.

The relief map around Hagi City, the former castle town is still lower

The birthplaces or ole houses of the four heros

The photo of Shinsaku Takasugi, published in 1933 or 1934 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The photo of Takayoshi Kido when he was named Kogoro Katsura in 1869 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The illustration of Shoin Yoshida, owned by Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

A photo of Hirobumi Ito, by 1909 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Choshu Domain moves its homebase to Yamaguchi

It is said that another interesting ceremony was held in the Main Hall of the castle every new year. In the event, a senior vassal asked the lord “Should we fight the Shogunate this year?”, then he answered “It’s too early”. However, the situation changed and made it possible to defeat the Shogun. The domain was really against the shogunate at the end of the Edo Period. The situation surrounding the castle also changed. Being beside the sea had been defensive when the castle was built but became dangerous because it could be shot by guns from battle ships. In addition, they wanted to communicate with other domains very much, so they thought Yamaguchi would be the best for their homebase. As a result, they eventually left Hagi to Yamaguchi Castle without the shogunate’s permission. The castle was officially abandoned in 1874.

The remaining front gate of the Yamaguchi government office in the Yamaguchi Castle period

To be continued in “Hagi Castle Part2”

174.Ouchi Clan Hall/Konomine Castle Part3

Yamaguchi was focused on rebuilding again during the Meiji Restoration.

Later History

Yamaguchi was focused on rebuilding again at the end of the Edo Period. Until then, the Choshu Domain by the Mori Clan was based on Hagi Castle beside the Japan Sea. They wanted to move their homebase to Yamaguchi. This was because its location would be the best for communication with other domains to respond to the potential threats from Western countries, in fact, to be against the Tokugawa Shogunate. They eventually built Yamaguchi Castle beside Konomine Mountain, partly using the Western style with cannons, without the shogunate’s permission. They thought they could reuse Konomine Castle for the final battle. Eventually, they became one of the winners of the Meiji Restoration. As a result, Yamaguchi Castle was turned into the Yamaguchi prefectural office. In addition, Yamaguchi Prefecture produced 8 prime ministers of Japan, the largest number among all the prefectures, including the 1st prime minister, Hirobumi Ito and the late Shinzo Abe recently.

Konomine Castle Ruins seen from the gate

Hirobumi Ito, the 1st prime minister (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

My Impression

I think the combination of Ouchi Clan Hall and Konomine Castle was a very good for both the government and defense like that of the Takeda Clan with Takeda Clan Hall and Yogaiyama Castle. It was also proven by the Choshu Domain that they wanted to use Konomine Castle again at the end of the Edo Period. However, in the case of the Ouchi Clan, it was too late to prepare for it. Maybe that’s because they thought Yamaguchi could never have been attacked by enemies because their government was very stable. Nobunaga Oda, who was the ruler in the 1570’s to the 1580’s, might have thought the same way before he was killed in the Honnoji Incident in 1582.

The restored earthen walls of Ouchi Clan Hall

The remaining stone walls of Konomine Castle

How to get There

If you want to visit Ouchi Clan Hall Ruins by car, it is about a 15-minute drive away from Yamaguchi IC on the Chugoku Expressway. There are parking lots in the northern and southern sides of the ruins. To get to Konomine Castle Ruins from there, you will need about another 20 minutes. There is a small parking lot on the mid slope of the mountain.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot from JR Kami-yamaguchi Station to get Ouchi Clan Hall Ruins. To get Konomine Castle Ruins from there, you will need about another 1 hour.
To get to Kami-yamaguchi Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the Sanyo Shinkansen super express and transfer to the Yamaguchi Line at Shin-Yamaguchi Station.

The small parking lot on the mid slope of the mountain

That’s all. Thank you.
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