English – ページ 96 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

119.Sugiyama Castle Part2

Let us simulate attacking the castle.

Features

Simulation of Attack from Main Entrance to Main Enclosure

Today, the ruins of Sugiyama Castle are well-developed and maintained for visitors as a historic site. The ruins were once covered with a lot of trees and bushes, but most of them were removed. That means you can see the soil-made layout of the castle clearly. Let us simulate attacking the castle as an enemy.

For example, if you approach the castle ruins from the south, you will first stand at the Main Entrance or Oteguchi as the starting point. In fact, you will need to pass through five enclosures to reach the Main Enclosure.

The enclosures between the Main Entrance and the Main Enclosure with numbering, from the location map adding the red colored letters

From Outer Entrance to Umadashi and Southern Third Enclosures

To enter the first enclosure called the Outer Enclosure, you will have to turn left in front of its entrance. Defenders could make a flanking attack on your left side before you turn.

The route to entrance seen from the Outer Enclosure

The route to the Outer Enclosure (the red arrow) and the counterattack from the enclosure (the blue arrow)

After entering the Outer Enclosure, the second one is the Umadashi Enclosure. You will need to go over the dry moat to get to the Umadashi Enclosure. A wooden bridge might have been built on it, but it would have been fallen if a battle occurred. When you cross the dry moat, you would be attacked on your right side from the L-shaped earthen walls of the Southern Third Enclosure.

The dry moat in front of the Umadashi Enclosure

The L-shaped earthen walls of the Southern Third Enclosure

The Southern Third Enclosure seen from the dry moat

The dry moat seen from the Southern Third Enclosure

The route to the Umadashi Enclosure (the red arrow) and the counterattack from the Southern Third Enclosure (the blue arrow)

The Umadashi Enclosure is a small sticking out space from the entrance of the Southern Third Enclosure. The other L-shaped earthen walls of the Southern Third Enclosure also make it possible to defeat the enemy in this area of the castle.

The Umadashi Enclosure and the L-shaped earthen walls seen from the Southern Third Enclosure

The L-shaped earthen walls are nearby on the left if you stand at the entrance of the Southern Third Enclosure

The route to the Southern Third Enclosure (the red arrow) and the counterattack from the Enclosure (the blue arrow)

Strong Defense of Main Enclosure

After that, if you somehow reach the Southern Second Enclosure after the Southern Third Enclosure, you will see the high earthen walls of the Main Enclosure. However, there is no direct route to the Main Enclosure, so you will have to move to the Well Enclosure on the left. (Its enclosure is guarded in a similar way to other enclosures.)

The high earthen walls of the Mani Enclosure seen from the Southern Second Enclosure

The dry moat between the Main Enclosure and the Southern Second Enclosure seen from the Well Enclosure

The routes to the Southern Second and Well Enclosures (the red arrow) and the counterattack from the Enclosures (the blue arrow)

The Well Enclosure leads to the Main Enclosure, which was connected by the wooden bridge over the dry moat. However, you could be counterattacked from the front and from your left side from the Main Enclosure above. The earthen walls of the Main Enclosure are shaped to surround the attacker. Overall, you could suffer damages from the frank attacks as many as the number of the enclosures.

The wooden bridge was built over the dry moat

he L-shaped earthen walls of the Main Enclosure to make a flanking attack enemies in the Well Enclosure

The Well Enclosure seen from the Main Enclosure

The route to the Main Enclosure (the red arrow) and the counterattack from the Enclosure (the blue arrow)

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

119.Sugiyama Castle Part1

A castle which has both an advanced defense system and a mysterious history

Location and History

Simple but Popular Castle

Sugiyama Castle was located in Hiki District, what is now in the western part of Saitama Prefecture. The ruins of the castle recently became popular among history fans in Japan. The ruins are not so large and have no buildings and no stone walls. The ruins are all made of soil. In addition, it is also uncertain when and who built and used the castle. There are no clear records about the castle at all. So, what did the castle become famous for? The answer is that the castle had a surprisingly artful defense system for such a small local castle.

The location of the castle

“Sugiyama Castle Problem”

Historians have tried for a long time to find out when and who built Sugiyama Castle. However, their conclusions became more complicated. When the excavation team researched the castle ruins, they thought the castle was built and used around early 16th Century based on the unearthed relics. The Uesugi Clan, which governed the Kanto Region, had internal conflicts in the area around the castle at that time. The team speculates the clan built the castle. On the other hand, the researchers who study the layout of castles argue that the complex defense systems like Sugiyama Castle should have appeared later, such as in the late 16th Century. They think the Hojo Clan, which governed the Kanto Region after the Uesugi Clan, must have built such an advanced defense system. People call this discussion “Sugiyama Castle Problem”. The problem might even make the castle more popular.

The family crest of the Uesugi Clan called the Uesugi Bamboo Grass (licensed by Mukai via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Ujityasu Hojo, the lord of the clan in the 16th Century, owned by Odawara Castle (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

“Textbook for Building Castles”

Sugiyama Castle was built on a hill. The hill measured 42m high from the base. The castle had 10 enclosures, including one in the center of the castle. The enclosures spread into three directions in the south, north and east. These enclosures were built to protect the center of the castle called the Main Enclosure. The west of the castle was a steep cliff with a river flowing below, which was a natural hazard. All the enclosures were surrounded by earthen walls and dry moats and connected by earthen or wooden bridges. The most important feature of its defense system was that all the entrances of the enclosures were protected by the frank attacks or Yokoya. Protection was provided by the clever layout of the L-shaped earthen walls and the route to the enclosures. The design of the castle was highly sophisticated, so it is now often called “a textbook for building castles”.

The miniature model of the castle ruins, exhibited in the Ranzan Town Office

Castle may be Temporary

The excavation found that Sugiyama Castle didn’t have permanent buildings such as halls, turrets, and gates. It probably only had temporary buildings like huts and fences. It was also found that the castle was used for a short time because it was not modified before it was destroyed by fire. This means that the castle could have been built for a single purpose or battle. There were many other castles around Sugiyama Castle, which were also built probably for a single purpose. Many of these castles, such as Ogura Castle, had distinct features. Many battles happened around this area in the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. It is thought that the warlords in this area built residential castles as well as single-use castles to survive. Even though Sugiyama Castle may have been one of the latter, it had a surprisingly technical defense system.

The whole view of Sugiyama Castle Ruins, from the signboard at the Ranzan Town Office

The ruins of Ogura Castle, this castle has stone walls which were rare in the Kanto Region when it was built

To be continued in “Sugiyama Castle Part2”

125.Kozukue Castle Part3

The ruins have become popular since the construction of the road.

Features

Parted Barbican

In fact, the ruins were partly destroyed and divided by the Daisan-Keihin Road. You can look at one of the barbicans over the road from the entrance of the Western Enclosure. You will have to go through the tunnel under the road to get there. The top of it is one of Fujizuka Mounds, called Fuji-sengen, made for worshiping Mt. Fuji since the Edo Period. It might had been a turret base before that. When you walk out of the ruins, you will get back to the city area right away.

The map around the castle

The Daisan-Keihin Road parting the ruins

Later History

After Kozukue Castle was abandoned, the local people have called the ruins Shiroyama or the Castle Mountain. The studies about the castle started as early as in the Edo Period. However, the ruins ironically became popular as a historic site since they were partly destroyed by the construction of the Daisan-keihin Road in 1963. Through that, Yokohama City launched the Kozukue Castle Ruins Forest to preserve them in 1977. People are now interested in what the castle was like in the past.

The ruins of Kozukue Castle and Daisan-Keihin Road

My Impression

I think Kozukue Castle is a good example of how to protect a castle with few defenders. I guess if a battle happened at Kozukue Castle when Hideyoshi invaded, this castle could survive at least over one night unlike Yamanaka Castle and Hachioji Castle.

The large dry moat in front of the Western Enclosure

How to get There

I recommend using a train when you visit the ruins because the park has no parking lot.
It takes about 15 minutes on foot from JR Kozukue Station on the Yokohama Line.

The castle ruins seen from the platform of Kozukue Station

The Yokohama-Kamiasao Road (Kanagawa Prefectural Road 12) goes near the station, so turn right at the Kozukue Station Intersection and go along the street. Then, turn right at the Kozukuetsuji Intersection.

Turn right at the Kozukuetsuji Intersection

Go along the street again, cross the railway and turn left at the first intersection.

Go along the street in the residential area, and when you find the signpost for the ruins on the utility pole on the right, turn right. You will eventually arrive at the entrance of the ruins.

Turn right when you find the signpost on the utility pole (inside the red circle)

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