The castle ruins integrate stone walls and natural rocks.
Features
Going to Center from Entrance
Today, no castle buildings remain in the ruins of Naegi Castle, but you can still see the spectacular foundation mixing stone walls and natural rocks. Just after you enter the entrance of the ruins, you can see a great expansive view of the top of the mountain with the observation platform from the ruins of the soldiers’ barracks.
The map around the castle
The diorama of Naegi Castle Ruins, from the signboard at the siteThe entrance of the ruinsThe ruins of the soldiers’ barracksAn expansive view of the ruinsThe imaginary drawing of the castle in the past at the site
Then, if you walk to the center of the ruins along the mixed walls of natural rocks and stones, you will reach the Third Enclosure. This enclosure had originally been a deep dry moat for defense but was eventually filled to make more land for buildings later.
The mixed walls of natural rocks and stonesGoing to the center of the ruinsA view of the Third Enclosure from the top of the Large Turret
Large Turret Ruins, and going to Top of Mountain
There are the ruins of the Large Turret in the front, which is the remaining base of huge rocks and stone walls. You can climb up to the top of the base to see the top of the mountain closer.
The ruins of the Large TurretA view of the center of the ruins from the Large Turret RuinsA view of the Large Turret Ruins from the center of the ruins
To climb up to the top of the mountain, you will need to walk on a narrow and zigzagging route alongside the rocky terrain. You will also see a lot of ruins of gates and buildings as you go. That means those buildings were crowded in such a small space in the past.
The ruins of the Sakashita-mon GateThe ruins of the ArmouryThe ruins of the Entrance Floor GateThe imaginary drawing of around the route to the top in the past, from the signboard at the site
You will finally arrive at the Main Enclosure on the top. It is now empty, but you may feel it’s not large. There were also some buildings such as the living quarters for the lord.
The Main Enclosure on the top
Observation Platform, no less than real Main Tower
The base for the Main Tower is a huge rock itself on the top and the observation platform is on it instead of the historical tower. The platform was built using the method of Kake-zukuri like the original tower. The columns of it use the same post holes on the rock as the tower, so you can easily imagine how great it was.
The former Main TowerThe observation platform in on the huge rock as the baseThe platform was built using the Kake-zukuri methodThe column uses the same post hole on the rock as the Main Tower
Moreover, the deck of the platform has the same size and level as the top floor of the original tower. You can enjoy the same great view of the area around, including the Kiso River, Nakatsugawa city and the mountains behind, just as the lord did back then.
