言語～Language – ページ 62 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

163.Kuroi Castle Part2

A distant view of the ruins is so good that you can see great stone walls on the top and a red gate building on the middle slope, which indicate where you should go.

Features

Castle Ruins seen from Town area

Today, the ruins of Kuroi Castle now belong to Kasuga Town in Tanba City, Hyogo Prefecture. The area around was called Kasukabe Manor in the past, so it is said the name of Lady Kasuga originated from the land’s name. The town recommends visiting both of the ruins and places related to the lady. A distant view of the ruins is so good that you can see great stone walls on the top and a red gate building on the middle slope, which indicate where you should go.

The distant view of the castle ruins seen from the town area

As you get close to the ruins, there will be the rest house with a parking lot for visitors and Kozenji Temple behind. You can get some information and pamphlets about Kuroi Castle there. The temple has stone walls and water moats in front of its entrance gate, which looks different from other common temples. In fact, it is said that it is the former residence for the lord of the castle at the foot area. It is also said that Lady Kasuga grew up there when she lived with his father, Toshimitsu Saito. This spot should be the starting point of visiting the castle ruins.

The stone walls and water moats in front of the entrance gate of the temple

Two Routes to Top of Mountain

One of the pamphlets says there are two routes to the castle ruins on the top of the mountain; the Gentle Course and the Steep Slope Course. The former one goes around the western ridge which seems to be not one of the original routes to the top. While the latter is certainly the original one on the eastern ridge because the Three-tiered Enclosure is still on the route. Both routes eventually meet at the Sekito Tiers on the middle slope of the mountain, so it may be better to choose either one when you climb up and the other when you return. However, both routes cover very few forts of Kuroi Castle, therefore, it may also be better to try visiting other forts as you experience more.

The yellow broken line shows the Gentle Course and the green broken line shows the Steep Slope Course, from the pamphlet

The warning board says “Beware of bears” and whichever you choose from the routes, you have to open and close two wire gates to contain animals between the gates. Therefore, it is recommended to have a bear-avoiding bell to prevent from provoking wild animals.

If you choose the Steep Slope Course, you will first climb the very steep stone steps of the Toyooka-Inari Shrine. Then, you will also climb a steep slope on the eastern ridge of the mountain, which may have been the Main Route to the castle. The Three-tiered Enclosure is still on the ridge, where you can see its foundations made of soil.

The map arond the castle

The stone steps of the Steep Slope Course

After you continue to climb, you can visit the Drum Tier off the route. It is an empty space but a good viewing point. It is said there was a drum turret and a lookout tower when the castle was active. The drum might have been used to inform time and instruct soldiers.

Sekito Tiers with Red Gate

You will eventually arrive at the Sekito Tiers below the top. Though it is uncertain what the name “Sekito” or “Stepping on Stones” in English came from, the rocky terrain around it might have been its origin. It is also a good viewing spot, but the view from it seems to be in a different direction from that of the Drum Tier. It is also spaceous for a mountain area and has a red-colored gate building which you can see from the foot as well. The building was not originally part of the castle, but was moved from the foot of the mountain by local people when a temple which had had the gate was abandoned. Several other buildings of the castle might have been built when the castle was being used.

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

163.黒井城　その２

麓の市街地から見る城跡は見栄えがして、頂上には素晴らしい石垣が、中腹には赤色の門の建物が見えます。これから行こうとするところを示してくれています。

特徴、見どころ

市街地から見える城跡

現在、黒井城跡は兵庫県丹波市春日町に属しています。この周辺地域は、かつて春日部荘と呼ばれていて、そのために春日局の名前がこの土地の名前に由来していると言われています。春日町は、城跡と春日局のゆかりの地両方を観光地として推奨しています。遠くから見る城跡は見栄えがして、頂上には素晴らしい石垣が、中腹には赤色の門の建物が見えて、これから行こうとするところを示してくれています。

城跡に近づいていくと、ビジター向けの休憩所と駐車場があって、その向こうには興禅寺があります。休憩所では、黒井城に関する情報やパンフレットを手に入れることができます。興禅寺の山門の前には、石垣と水堀があって、普通の寺の佇まいとは異なって見えます。実は、この寺は以前は山麓における城主の屋敷だったと言われています。また、春日局が少女時代を父親の斎藤利光とともに過ごした場所であるとも言われています。ここから城跡への道のりが始まります。

山頂への２つのルート

パンフレットには、山上の城跡へは「なだらかコース」と「急坂コース」という２つのルートがあると書かれています。前者の方は、西側の峰を回り込んでいて、頂上に向かうための城時代のルートではないようです。一方、後者は東側の峰上を進む、明らかに城時代からのルートです。このルート上には今でも三段曲輪があるからです。両方のルートは結局は中腹にある石踏（せきとう）の段で合流するので、登るときはどちらかを選んで、下るときにもう一方を使うというのがいいかもしれません。しかし、この両方のルートをもってしても黒井城の砦群のごく一部しかカバーしていません。したがって、次に来るときに他の砦跡に行ってみるというのがよいのかもしれません。

どちらのルートを選んでも「クマ出没注意」という警告板があって、獣除けのための２ケ所のフェンス扉を開け閉めして、その間に動物を閉じ込めるようになっています。したがって、急に野生動物に出会うことがないよう熊除けの鈴を持って行かれることをお勧めします。

急坂コース途上の曲輪群

「急坂コース」を選んだ場合は、まず豊岡稲荷神社のとても急な石階段を登って行きます。そして、山の東側の峰のこれも急坂を登ります。これが城への大手道のようです。峰上には三段曲輪が残っていて、土造りの基礎部分を見て取れます。

城周辺の地図

そのまま登っていって、ルートを少し外れたところに太鼓の段があります。現在は何もありませんが、見晴らしはいいです。城があったときには、ここには太鼓櫓と物見台があったと言われています。太鼓は時刻を知らせたり、兵士を指揮するために使われてたのかもしれません。

赤門がある石踏の段

そうするうちに頂上下の石踏の段に着きます。この「石（を）踏（む）」という名前がどこから来ているのかわかりませんが、周りの岩でごつごつした地形が由来しているのかもしれません。ここも眺めがよいところですが、太鼓の段から見る景色とは方向が違うようです。この場所は山の上にしては広々としていて、麓から見えていた赤い色の門があります。この建物は城にあったものではありません。この門がもともとあった寺が廃寺になったときに、地元の人たちが今の場所に移したのだそうです。城があったときには、別の建物が建てられていたものと思われます。

「黒井城その３」に続きます。
「黒井城その１」に戻ります。

163.Kuroi Castle Part1

Kuroi Castle was the home base of Naomasa Ogino who was a strong warlord, called “the Red Devil in Tanba”. When Mitsuhide Akechi attacked the castle, its fall was at hand but…

Location and History

Tanba, Important Province to protect Kyoto

Kuroi Castle was located in the western part of Tanba Province which is now part of Hyogo Prefecture. Tanba Province is not popular for the present generation because the province was small and finally merged with Kyoto and Hyogo Prefectures. However, it was very important in the past because of its location just northwest of Kyoto, the capital of Japan. Especially, in unquiet times like the Sengoku Period, it was critical area for protecting or attacking Kyoto. In 1467 when the Onin War occurred in Kyoto, Sozen Yamana, the head of the West Squad went to Kyoto through the province. Since then, local lords in the province were involved in politics and battles over the central government.

The range of Tanba Province and the location of the castle

*A scene of the Onin War, from a picture scroll of the Origin of Shinnyo-do Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Home Base of Naomasa Ogino, called “Red Devil in Tanba”

The Akai Clan was one of them, which served great warlords in Kyoto, like the Hosokawa Clan, and improved its power and territory in Tanba Province. Naomasa Akai was born in 1529 and was adopted to the Ogino Clan during his childhood because the Akai wanted to take in the Ogino’s power to get their lager presence. Since then, Naomasa was renamed his family name to Akai, however, he united with his parents’ home during all his life. Kuroi Castle was originally the home base of the Ogino Clan and eventually belonged to Naomasa. In 1554, Naomasa killed his foster father, Akikiyo. It is said this was because Akikiyo tried to follow the rule of Nagayoshi Miyoshi, the ruler at that time, which Naomasa never allowed. After that, Naomasa called himself Aku-emon as his nickname (Aku means evil but strong). However, he built a temple for worshiping Akikiyo, which may have meant his action didn’t come from his desire for revenge.

The illustration of Naomasa, from the signboard at the site

Naomasa was not a political person, but an excellent general, who just wanted to maintain his clan’s independence by the alliance with other local lords, even though they sometimes needed to serve greater warlords outside their province. For example, he defeated Munekatsu Naito in 1565, who was the deputy military governor of Tanba Province and supported the Miyoshi Clan. In 1571, Suketoyo Yamana in Tajima Province, next to Tanba in the northwest, invaded Tanba. Naomasa repelled the invasion, counterattacked Tajima, and even captured Takeda Castle in the province instead in 1575. People often called him the Red Devil in Tanba, for his strength.

Group of small Forts

Kuroi Castle was built on Inokuchi Mountain (357m above the sea level). It was very large (around 8km perimeter) as the home base of the Ogino Clan, but was also one of mountain castles made of soil using natural terrain, which were usually seen throughout the whole country for warriors to live and protect themselves under the severe Sengoku Period. To cover its large range, Kuroi Castle worked as a group of small forts. The main portion of the castle including the Main Enclosure was on the top of the mountain to monitor the area around and all the branch forts so that the lord of the castle was able to instruct the defenders. Each fort had a distinct role, for example, the Sekito Tier and the Three-tiered Enclosure were built on the Main Route to protect the main portion, the Eastern Barbican Enclosure for defense of the eastern ridge, and the Western Enclosure for living on the mountain. That way, the defenders could prevent enemies from attacking the castle efficiently. The only weak point of the castle was that it didn’t have a good well because of the rocky terrain of the mountain.

The 3-D miniature model of Kuroi Castle Ruins, exhibited by the Kasuga Community Center

The relief map around the castle

Mitsuhide Akechi captures Castle after Naomasa’s Death

Naomasa’s strength may have actually also caused his crisis. Suketoyo Yamana, who was invaded by Naomasa, asked Nobunaga Oda who was the ruler then for help. Naomasa had once served but was against Nobunaga at that time. Nobunaga thought he would like to govern the important Tanba Province directly as well. Nobunaga sent his senior vassal, Mitsuhide Akechi to invade Tanba Province in 1575. At first, everything was going well for Mitsuhide, when Hideharu Hatano, another dominant local lord turned into Mitsuhide’s supporter. Mitsuhide next besieged Naomasa’s Kuroi Castle, waiting for the supplies and water to run out. However, after two months of the siege when the castle’s fall was at hand, Hideharu betrayed him. Mitsuhide was defeated instead and had to withdraw. This result was called the tactics of Akai’s attracting, which built Naomasa’s reputation much higher.

*The Portrait of Mitsuhide Akechi, owned by Hontokuji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons*)

*The portrait of Hideharu Hatano, from the database of Historiographical Institute, the University of Tokyo (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The castle was finally captured by Mitsuhide in 1579, just after Naomasa’s death by illness. Mitsuhide improved the castle by building great stone walls on the top. That fortified the castle and showed the authority of the new ruler to the people, which was one of the ways Nobunaga and his retainers often did that. Mitsuhide made his senior vassal, Toshimitsu Saito govern the castle. That’s why his daughter, who would later be Kasuga-no-tsubone or Lady Kasuga, the leader of the shogun’s inner palace, came from there. Mitsuhide and Toshimitsu rebelled and killed Nobunaga in the Honnoji Incident in 1582, but were soon defeated by Hideyoshi Hashiba, the next ruler. Kuroi Castle was followed by several of Hideyoshi’s retainers. However, the castle was eventually abandoned in the process of unification of Japan by Hideyoshi. Lords and warriors did not always need mountain castles to deal with the new periods.

The stone walls, built on the top of Kuroi Castle

The portrait of Lady Kasuga, owned by Rinshoin Temple *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Kuroi Castle Part2”