言語～Language – ページ 195 – 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.杉山城　その２

この城への攻撃シミュレーション

特徴、見どころ

大手口から本郭への仮想攻撃

今日、杉山城跡は観光客向けに史跡としてよく整備され、維持されています。城跡は、一時木々や藪に覆われていましが、今ではほとんどが除去されています。そのため、城の土造りの縄張りをはっきりと確認することができます。それでは、敵になったつもりでこの城への攻撃をシミュレートしてみましょう。

例えば、南側からこの城に迫ってみたとします。最初、出発点として大手口に立ってみましょう。実は、ここから本郭に至るためには５つもの曲輪を通り過ぎなければなりません。

外郭から馬出郭、南三の郭へ

外郭と呼ばれる最初の曲輪に入るためには、その入口の前で左に曲がる必要があります。守備側は、攻撃側が左に曲がる前に、左側面に反撃することができます。

外郭に入った後、２つ目の曲輪は馬出郭です。馬出郭に着くには、空堀を越えていかなければなりません。そこには、木橋がかけられていたかもしれませんが、戦いが起きた時には落とされたでしょう。この空堀を渡るときには、南三の郭の屈曲した土塁から右側に反撃されます。

馬出郭は、南三の郭の入口から突き出た小さな空間です。南三の郭土塁の他の屈曲部分から、同じように、この場所にいる敵を撃退できるようになっています。

本郭の堅い防御

その後、南三の郭を通り過ぎて、何とか南二の郭にたどり着いたとします。そこでは、本郭の高い土塁が立ち塞がります。しかも、本郭への直通通路は見当たりません。そこで、左側の井戸郭の方に移動せざるを得ません（この曲輪の入口も他の曲輪と同じように防御されています）。

井戸郭は本郭に通じています。空堀にかかる木橋によって本郭に接続されていたのです。しかし、ここでも前方の本郭の上から、正面と左側面に反撃を受けることになります。本郭の土塁は、攻撃側を包囲するように形作られているのです。結局、攻撃側は、通り過ぎる曲輪と同じ数だけ側面攻撃（横矢）を受け、損害を被ることになります。

「杉山城その３」に続きます。
「杉山城その１」に戻ります。

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”