言語～Language – ページ 114 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

128.Yogaiyama Castle Part1

The final part of the Takeda Clan for a battle

Location and History

Nobutora Takeda builds set of this Castle and Takeda Clan Hall

Yogaiyama Castle was located in what is modern day Kofu City, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture which was called Kai Province. The city was also the provincial capital since Nobutora Takeda, the governor of the province, built his official residence there in 1518. During the Sengoku Period, Most local lords didn’t only serve their governor with authority. The situation in Kai Province was the same, Nobutora needed to force the local lords to serve him by power. Otherwise, some local lords or even his relatives tried to take him over. The construction of the residence was done after Nobutora unified the whole of Kai Province. The residence was called Takeda Clan Hall, which was also used as the home base of the clan.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Nobutora Takeda, attributed to Nobukado Takeda, owned by Daisen-ji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

He built the hall on a square enclosure which was nearly 200m on one side, surrounded by earthen walls and water moats. This was a typical style of the residences for governors in Japan at that time, emulating the style of Shogun’s palace in Kyoto. The completion of the hall meant that his authority was established in the province. He also became a strong warlord of the province. However, this was not enough for him because he was still uncertain the local lords would be loyal to him from then on. Moreover, other warlords in other provinces could have invaded Kai Province at anytime. For these reasons, Nobutora built another castle on a mountain about 2km away from the hall on the north, called Yogaiyama Castle, in 1520. The main purpose of the castle was for emergencies. In case there was a battle happening, he and his family could escape from the hall to the mountain castle.

The miniature model of Takeda Clan Hall, exhibited by Kofu Fujimura Memorial Museum

The aerial photo of the ruins of Takeda Clan Hall and Yogaiyama Castle, exhibited by Kofu Fujimura Memorial Museum, adding the red letters

Castle works very well in battle against Imagawa Clan

The chance to use Yogaiyama Castle came quickly in 1521. The Imagawa Clan, a great warlord in Suruga Province, located in the south of Kai, sent their troops who were led by Masashige Kushima, a retainer of the clan, to invade Kai. Nobutora actually told his wife to escape from the hall to Yogaiyama Castle while he fought with Imagawa’s troops. It was said that his son, Shingen Takeda was born at Yogaiyama Castle during the battle. As a result, Nobutora completely repelled his enemies, making his unification of the province stronger. The network of the hall and the mountain castle worked very well.

The statue of Shingen Takeda in front of Kofu Station

The relief map around the castle

Yogaiyama Castle was made to be the final part for a battle, so it was very practical. The structures of the castle were constructed using natural terrain and partly stonework. A lot of enclosures were built along the ridge of the mountain. They were basically surrounded by earthen walls and had a defensive entrance called Koguchi partly using stone walls. The route to the center of the castle through these enclosures was designed in a zigzagging pattern in order to slow down enemies and prevent them from attacking easily. Vertical moats were dug on slopes of the mountain to avoid enemies moving easily. Some enclosures were also divided by an artificial ditch. The Main Enclosure on the top was the residential area and a rock garden where the lord family used.

The layout of Yogaiyama Castle, from the signboard at the site

The stone walls used for the entrance of an enclosure of Yogaiyama Castle

Castle is abandoned after Kofu Castle is built

Shingen and his son, Katsuyori maintained this castle. However, Katsuyori was unfortunately defeated by Nobunaga Oda in 1582. The castle was owned by the Oda Clan, followed by the Tokugawa Clan and Mitsuyasu Kato under the Toyotomi Clan. It was said that Mitsuyasu improved the castle probably by building stone walls. On the other hand, the Tokugawa Clan and Mitsuyasu built Kofu Castle using high stone walls on a plain land, which was strong enough even in such a location. As a result, Yogaiyama Castle was eventually abandoned in the early Edo Period.

The Portrait of Katsuyori Takeda, ownd by Koyasan Jimyoin (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Mitsuyasu Kato, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Yogaiyama Castle Part2”

128.要害山城　その１

武田氏の詰めの城

立地と歴史

武田信虎が武田氏館とセットで築城

要害山城（ようがいやまじょう）は、かつては甲斐国と呼ばれていた山梨県の現在の県庁所在地、甲府市にありました。甲府市はまた、守護の武田信虎が1518年に守護所を定めて以来、甲斐国の国府でもありました。戦国時代の間、ほとんどの地方領主はただ権威があるというだけでは守護に従いませんでした。甲斐国における状況も同じでした。信虎は、武力をもって地方領主を彼に従わせる必要がありました。そうしなければ、有力な地方領主または彼の親族でさえも信虎に取って代わろうとしたのです。守護所は、信虎が甲斐国の統一を果たした後に完成し、武田氏館（または躑躅ヶ崎館（つつじがさきかん））と呼ばれ、武田氏の本拠地にもなりました。

城の位置

武田信虎肖像画、武田信廉筆、大泉寺蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

武田氏館は、一辺が２００ｍ近くある方形の曲輪の上に築かれ、土塁と水堀に囲まれていました。これは、当時の日本の守護所の典型的なスタイルであり、京都の将軍の御所に倣ったものです。武田氏館の完成は、甲斐国における信虎の権威が確立したことを意味しました。彼はまた、甲斐国の強力な戦国大名にもなったのです。しかし、信虎にとって、守護所を作っただけではまだ不十分でした。今後、地方領主が忠誠を尽くしてくれるかどうか不確かであり、その上に他国の戦国大名がいつでも甲斐国に攻めてくる可能性があったからです。そのため、信虎は1520年に館の北方約２ｋｍ離れた山の上に別の城を築きました。これが要害山城です。この城の主な目的は、緊急事態に対処するためでした。戦いが起こったときには、信虎とその家族が館からこの山城に避難できるようにしたのです。

今川氏との戦いで真価を発揮

要害山城を使う機会は、早くも1521年にやってきました。甲斐国の南、駿河国の有力戦国大名、今川氏が甲斐国侵攻のため、重臣の福島正成（くしままさしげ）率いる軍勢を送り込んできたのです。信虎は実際に、彼の妻を館から要害山城に避難させ、彼自身は今川の軍勢と戦いました。この戦いの最中に、息子の武田信玄が要害山城で生まれたと言われています（麓にある積翠寺（せきすいじ）で生まれたとする説もあります）。結果、信虎は敵を完全に撃退し、甲斐国の統一を確固たるものにしました。武田氏館と山城である要害山城の連携はうまくいったのです。

城周辺の起伏地図

要害山城は、戦いが起こったときの詰めの城とされたために、実用的に作られていました。城の構造は、自然の地形が利用されましたが、部分的に石造りの箇所もありました。山の峰に沿って、多くの曲輪が築かれました。これらの曲輪は基本的に土塁によって囲まれていました。また、虎口と呼ばれる防御を強化した入口が設けられ、ここには石垣による部分もありました。城の中心部分に向かう通路は、これらの曲輪を通り、ジグザグに曲げられて設定されました。敵の進撃を遅らせ、簡単に城を攻撃できないようにするためです。敵が容易に移動できないよう、山の斜面には竪堀も作られました。いくつかの曲輪は人工的な堀切により隔てられていました。頂上にある主郭は、居住地区であり、石庭も作られました。城主とその家族が住むためのものでした。

甲府城の築城により廃城

信玄とその息子の勝頼は、要害山城を維持しました。ところが、勝頼は不幸にも1582年に織田信長により倒されてしまいます。この城は、織田氏、徳川氏、そして豊臣氏配下の加藤光泰によって引き継がれました。光泰がこの城を恐らく石垣を築くなどして改修したと言われています。一方徳川氏と光泰は、平地に高石垣を使った甲府城を築きました。そのような立地でも守るに十分なものでした。その結果、要害山城は江戸時代の初期には廃城となりました。

武田勝頼肖像画、高野山持明院蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

加藤光泰肖像画、個人蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

「要害山城その２」に続きます。

152.Tsu Castle Part3

You can see part of the castle ruins even in the city area.

Features

Northern side

This side is the most likely to show what the castle looked like because the high stone walls and the Inner Moat remain well. However, the original moat was over twice as wide as the current one.

The aerial photo around the castle

This road seemed to be part of the Inner Moat

Two three-story turrets were built on both edges of the walls in the past, in addition, Tamon-yagura Turret, like a long row house, was also built between them. These structures must have looked great and been a threat to enemies.

The old photo of the two turrets on the stone walls in the past, from the signboard at the site

The stone walls which had the long row house on them in the past

The stone wall base for the Northeast Turret, one of the two turrets

The stone wall base for the Northwest Turret, the other of the two turrets

You can also go and walk on the top of the walls from the inside of the Main Enclosure. There is enough space to walk and rest as it was the ground for those buildings. You can look down the walls and moat and see how tall and large they are.

The Inner Moat seen from the Northwest Turret Ruins

Overlooking the stone walls and the Inner Moat

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Tsu Castle was abandoned. The moats were eventually filled and the castle buildings were demolished accordingly. Tsu City became the capital of Mie Prefecture in the first Meiji Era, so the former castle plain land was a likely place to meet the demand of office buildings. The city finally bought some castle ruins area and opened it as a park in 1958. The city is now checking the condition of the remaining stone walls to prevent them from collapsing as they are aging and being damaged by tree roots. They will consider how to preserve and develop them as a historic site.

My Impression

We usually can not see any trace of the castle in the current city area of Tsu. However, when an excavation was done in the former castle area, some castle items were found. Examples of them can be seen in the spot beside a bank head quarters building, over 100m away from the park entrance. There is an exhibition for stone walls at the edge of the Inner Moat, which were excavated nearby. You can really understand the moat was 80 to 100m wide in the past, seeing it. I think this is another way to enjoy visiting castles.

The excavated stone walls of the Inner Moat which are exhibited beside the bank

How to get There

If you want to visit the castle by car, it is about 10 minutes away from Tsu IC on the Ise Expressway. There is a parking lot in front of the main entrance of the park.
By public transportation, it takes about 10 minutes on foot from Tsu-Shinmachi Station.
To get to Tsu-Shinmachi Station from Tokyo: Take the Tokaido Shinkansen super express, transfer to a limited express on the Kintetsu-Nagoya Line at Nagoya Station and transfer to a local train at Tsu Station.

The parking lot in front of the main entrance of the park

That’s all. Thank you.
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