中部地方～Chubu Region – ページ 4 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

129.Tatsuoka Castle Part3

The renovated landmark will come.

Later History

Tatsuoka Castle was eventually abandoned in 1871. All the buildings of the castle excluding the Kitchen House were sold and demolished. Its stone walls and water moats were buried to be used as the school and fields. Norikata Matsudaira, the founder of the castle, changed his name to Yuzuru Ogyu, throwing the outdated family name “Matsudaira” away. He helped the establishment of the former Japanese Red Cross Society, called Hakuaisha, in the Meiji Era.

This photo was taken after he changed his name to Yuzuru Ogyu (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The drawing that Prince Arisugawa Taruhito grants Sano Tsunetami the permission to create Hakuaisha, attributed to Takeo Terasaki (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The drawing that Prince Arisugawa Taruhito grants Sano Tsunetami the permission to create Hakuaisha, attributed to Takeo Terasaki

People in Tatsuoka started to restore the castle ruins in 1932 by digging the moats up and repairing the stone walls. As a result, the ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 1934 while the bridge in front of the Main Gate Ruins was restored at the same time. In addition, the Taguchi Primary School in the ruins has just closed in March, 2023 due to the school integration. Saku City, which owns the ruins, is thinking about restoring the castle as much as in the Edo Period after the closing. It plans to restore the Main Gate in the near future as well. It is also considering to restore the Main Hall by moving the Kitchen House to its original position, re-building some missing structures, and asking the owners of some removed buildings to return them to their original positions.

My Impression

I guess if a battle happened, Norikata would not use Tatsuoka Castle for the battle. Instead, he would use the former Taguchi Castle which could easily target Tatsuoka Castle. When the enemy reached the castle, he would counterattack it. Tatsuoka Castle was an outstanding landmark which could easily pull the enemy in. That is my speculation. I am looking forward to how the new Tatsuoka Castle will appear in the future.

Tatsuoka Castle Ruins seen from Taguchi Castle Ruins (the observation platform)

How to get There

If you want to visit the castle by car, it is about a 20-minute drive away from Saku-minami IC on the Chubu-odan Expressway. There are several parking lots around the castle ruins.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 20 minutes on foot from JR Usuda or Tatsuokajo Station.
To get to Usuda of Tatsuokajo Station from Tokyo: Take the Hokuriku Shinkansen super express and transfer to the Koume Line at Sakudaira Station.

The parking lot beside the information center

In addition, if you want to visit the Goryokaku observation platform, go on Nagano Prefectural Road 120 from the castle ruins to the north for about 500m. Once you see the signpost of the platform, turn right. The platform is 2.1km away from it along the forest road. You can reach it by following other signposts. If you drive there, you will need a small off-road vehicle to be able to reach the top. If not, you can park around the first signpost.

The parking lot near the entrance is on the right

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Tatsuoka Castle Part1”
Back to “Tatsuoka Castle Part2”

129.龍岡城　その３

城跡は新たなランドマークとして生まれ変わります。

その後

龍岡城は、明治維新に伴って1871年に廃城となりました。御台所を除く城の全ての建物は、売却され撤去されました。石垣や水堀も埋められてしまい、学校用地や畑として使われました。築城者である松平乗謨は、時代遅れとなった「松平」姓を捨て、大給恒（おぎゅうゆずる）と改名しました。彼は、明治時代に後の日本赤十字社の前身である博愛社の設立に参加しました。

この写真は大給恒時代のもの (*licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

博愛社創設許可の図、寺崎武男作、許可を受けているのは佐野常民 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

龍岡の人たちは、1932年に城跡の再興をスタートさせ、堀を掘り起こし、石垣の修繕を行いました。その結果、1934年には城跡は国の史跡に指定されました。それと同時に大手門跡前の橋が復元されました。最新の情報として、城跡にある田口小学校は学校統合のため、2023年３月に閉校となりました。城跡を所有する佐久市は、閉校の後は、城跡を江戸時代の城の姿にできるだけ近づけるよう復元することを検討しています。近い将来、大手門を復元する計画です。また、御殿を復元することも考えています。それを御台所を元の位置に戻したり、その他失われた建物を再建したり、移設された建物を城跡の元の位置に返してもらうよう持ち主に交渉することで実現しようとしています。

私の感想

乗謨はもし戦いが起こったならば、龍岡城を使うことはなかったのではないでしょうか。その代わりに、もと田口城だった所に行って龍岡城に狙いを定めたのではないかと想像します。敵が龍岡城に至ったとき、山の上から反撃したことでしょう。龍岡城はその地域周辺では際立ったランドマークであり、敵を容易に引き付けることができるからです。これは全く私の個人的妄想です。新しい龍岡城が将来どのような姿になるのか今から楽しみです。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：中部横断自動車道の佐久南ICから約２０分のところです。城跡周辺にいくつか駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、ＪＲ臼田駅か龍岡城駅から歩いて約２０分かかります。
東京から臼田駅あるいは龍岡城駅まで：北陸新幹線に乗って佐久平駅で小梅線に乗り換えてください。

更に、五稜郭展望台に行くには、城跡から長野県道１２０号線を北に約５００ｍ進み、展望台の案内板がある所で右に曲がってください。展望台はそこから２．１ｋｍ林道に沿って進んだところにあります。案内板が随所にあります。車で行かれる場合は、小型のオフロード車であれば最終地点まで行けますが、そうでないときは、最初の案内板の辺りにある駐車場に停めた方がよいでしょう。

リンク、参考情報

・龍岡城五稜郭、佐久市観光協会
・「よみがえる日本の城１４」学研
・「松平家の謎　江戸時代と徳川家のルーツ／歴史読本編集部編」新人物文庫
・「幕末維新の城／一坂太郎著」中公新書
・「史跡龍岡城跡整備基本計画」佐久市教育委員会

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。
「龍岡城その１」に戻ります。
「龍岡城その２」に戻ります。

129.Tatsuoka Castle Part2

The five star pointed shape is still remaining.

Features

Castle Ruins are used as School

Today, the ruins of Tatsuoka Castle are used as the Taguchi Primary School, which are still surrounded by the five pointed star shaped perimeter. Local people often called them “Tatsuoka Goryokaku (which means Pentagonal Style Fort)”. They are also famous for cherry blossoms. Because of the current usage, the facilities for visitors, such as the information center called “Goryokaku deai-no-yakata”, are located outside of the ruins.

The aerial photo around the castle

Visitors usually go to the Main Gate Ruins first which have the most precise stone walls in the castle, such as the Tortoise Shell and Hanedashi styles. The restored wooden bridge is over the water moat, where you can feel a traditional atmosphere. There are also two other gate ruins you can pass, one is Kuro-mon and the other is the side gate.

The water moats and stone walls around the Main Gate

Walking around Castle Ruins

You can easily walk around the perimeter of the ruins because they are not so large. You will see the moats expire and the stone walls look rough as you go to the back. This is because the construction of the castle, in fact, ended halfway through due to the lack of budget or because of another priority. Please make sure that you don’t walk across the route around the ruins because it is private property.

Only one remaining building

You can also enter the inside of the ruins except for the facilities and playground of the school. If you look around the inside, you will see the five pointed star shape is basically made out of soil. There is the only one remaining building in the castle, called the Kitchen House. It was originally used as part of the Main Hall, then turned int o a school house, a warehouse, and finally moved to the current position as a historical item. Only group tours which has a previous booking can enter this building. Therefore if you want to see it you have to be part of a group.

The ruins are surrounded by the earthen walls inside

View of Castle Ruins from Observation Platform

Tatsuoka Castle was designed flat, so today’s visitors might not be able to grasp its shape. Therefore, I recommend you consider visiting the Goryokaku observation platform, located on a mountain in the northside, about 500m away from the ruins. In fact, that spot is the ruins of another castle called Taguchi Castle in the Sengoku Period, where you can see several enclosures made of soil.

The relief map around the castle

Of course, you can also see a nice view of the five pointed star shape clearly. This has probably been the best spot to overlook the area around. You could easily target Tatsuoka Castle if you were an artillery man attacking the castle during the end of the Edo Period.

A view of Tatsuoka Castle Ruins from the observation platform

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