中部地方～Chubu Region – ページ 48 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

127.Shinpu Castle Part2

You can see the completed version of Takeda’s method for building castles.

Features

The ruins of Shinpu Castle is open to the public. Visitors usually enter the ruins from the eastern side using two trails which were either built in the present time. One of them is the very steep approach with stone steps to the shrine on the top of the mountain. The other is the gentle steep footwalk going around the mid slope of the mountain to the south. I recommend using the latter if you want to look around the ruins.

Powerful ruins of Main Gate and Umadashi system

The footwalk goes under the Third Enclosure above the Main Gate. You can walk down from the inside to the outside of the ruins of the gate. The gate ruins are still surrounded by the earthen walls.

The map around the castle

The ruins of the Umadashi system remain outside the gate. Umadashi was Takeda’s unique defense system which is a round shaped stronghold sticking out of a gate. It usually had a convex moon shaped moat in front of it to make it more protective. The defenders could also counter the attackers from the sides. The ruins of Umadashi in Shinpu Castle are very large and you can clearly see the shapes of the stronghold and the moat.

The imaginary drawing of the Umadashi part (from the signboard at the site)

Main Enclosure which worships Takeda

Going back to the footwalk, you can walk up to the Main Enclosure through the Second Enclosure. The Main Enclosure is largest one and on the top of the mountain, which had Katsuyori Takeda’s Main Hall. The excavation team recently found the foundation of the hall gate and the traces of the leveling probably done by Tokugawa.

The only things that remained was the Shinpu-Fujitake Shrine which worships Katsuyori and the shrine which worships the war deaths in the battle of Nagashino on the spacious area.

The steep approach that can be seen from the shrine

The shrine which worships the war deaths in the battle of Nagashino

You can see a good view from there including the Kamanashi-gawa River below and the mountains above.

Also pay attention to Back Gate

You can also walk down to the northern part of the castle from the Main Enclosure. Passing the ruins of the well and the wooden bridge, you will reach the ruins of the back gate called Inui-Mon.

The map of the northern part of the castle

The imaginary drawing of the wooden bridge (from the signboard at the site)

The gate was built in the Masugata style which had a square space sandwiched by two gate buildings, which could prevent enemies from attacking easily. The earthen walls surrounding the space still remain intact and the foundations of the gate were also found.

The Masugata space which is surrounded by the earthen walls

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

127.新府城　その２

武田流築城術の集大成を見学できます。

特徴

新府城跡は一般に公開されています。観光客は通常、東側から２つの山道を通って城跡に入っていきますが、両方とも現代に作られたものです。一つは山の頂上にある神社に向かう参道の石段で、とても急です。もう一つは、山の中腹を南側に回り込む緩やかな坂の歩道です。城跡を見て回るのであれば、後者の方をお勧めします。

迫力ある大手門と馬出し跡

歩道は三の丸の下、大手門の上のところを進んでいきます。門跡の内側から外側に歩いて行けます。門跡はまだ土塁に囲まれています。

城周辺の地図

門の外側には馬出しの跡が残っています。馬出しは武田独特の防御の仕組みで、門の外側に丸い形の陣地が突き出しているものです。通常は三日月形の堀が前面にあり、より防御力を増していました。また、防御側は側面から反撃に出られるようになっていました。新府城の馬出し跡はとても大きく、陣地や堀の形をはっきりと見ることができます。

武田を祀っている本丸

歩道の方に戻ると、二の丸を経由して本丸に登っていきます。本丸は一番大きな曲輪で山の頂上にあり、武田勝頼の御殿がありました。発掘により、館の門の基礎と、恐らく徳川によりそれが埋められた痕跡が見つかりました。

現在この広いスペースにあるのは、勝頼を祀る新府藤武神社と長篠の戦いの戦死者を祀る霊社だけです。

本丸からは、上方には山々の、下方には釜無川の素晴らしい景色が見えます。

搦手門跡にも注目

本丸からは、城の北側部分に下って行くことができます。井戸跡と木橋跡を過ぎると、乾門と呼ばれた搦手門跡に着きます。

城北側の地図

この門は桝形形式で作られ、二つの門の建物が、四角い空間を挟んでいて、敵の攻撃を防げるようになっていました。土塁が今もその空間を囲んで残っていて、門の基礎部分も見つかっています。

「新府城その３」に続きます。
「新府城その１」に戻ります。

127.Shinpu Castle Part1

The mysterious Takeda’s last castle

Location and History

Katsuyori Takeda moved from Kofu to Simpu

Shinpu Castle was located in what is now Nirasaki City, the northwest part of Yamanashi Prefecture which was called Kai Province. The province was owned by the Takeda Clan for a long time until the late 16th Century and their home base had been located in the Takeda Clan Hall in Kofu, the center of the province. Katsuyori Takeda, the last lord of the clan decided to move his home base to Shinpu Castle in 1581. He moved to the castle within the year.

The location of the castle

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

The move was done for several reasons. First, Takeda’s territory expanded to the west such as Shinano Province (now Nagano Pref.), in order to make Shinpu Castle the center of their territory. Secondly, the large territory made Takeda’s vassals so many that the Takeda Clan Hall and Kofu were too narrow and small for them. Lastly, Katsuyori was threatened by Nobunaga Oda and Ieyasu Tokugawa from the west, after several defeated battles with them such as those of Nagashino Castle and Takatenjin Castle. Katsuyori needed to prepare a stronger castle for a possible invasion from them.

The location of Shinpu Castle and the range of Shinano Provence (on the left) and Kai Province (on the right)

Final version of Takeda Clan’s Method for building Castles

Shinpu Castle was built on a mountain on a long cliff wall called Shichiri-Iwa, which means about 28km long rock, along the Kamanashigawa River on the westerly direction. The eastern side of the castle was also a steep cliff of the mountain. The southern part of the castle had the Main Gate with the large Umadashi which was Takeda’s characteristic defense system. The northern part had this castle’s unique defense system called Degamae with water moats. The back entrance had doubled gates with a square space inside called Masugata. The Main Enclosure, the Second Enclosure, and the Third Enclosure were placed on several tiers to protect the castle. Katsuyori’s Main Hall was built in the Main Enclosure on the top. Overall, the castle could be very defensive even though it was all made of soil.

The relief map around the castle

The imaginary drawing of Shinpu Castle (from the signboard at the site)

However, Katsuyori burned the castle by himself and escaped from it in Mar 1582 after only his three-month stay, when he had heard of Takato Castle, located in the west of Shinpu Castle, being captured by Nobunaga’s invasion. Moreover, Katsuyori was defeated by his retainer’s betrayal just after eight days from the escape. So, why did Katsuyori withdraw from the castle?

The positional relation between Shinpu Castle and Takato Castle

Why did Katsuyori throw Castle away?

The reason which had been often said was that the castle was still unfinished. For example, the Main Gate was found to have no buildings through excavation. Others point out that Katsyori had only hundreds of his troops including women and children when they escaped because most of his vassals left him. Some remaining senior vassals recommended that he should be accommodated to another castle. For example, Masayuki Sanada offered Sanada’s Iwabitsu Castle in Kozuke Province (now Gunma Pref.). Katsuyori finally took another suggestion from the retainer who would deceive him. Another historian even says Sinpu Castle maybe did not deserve a castle, but a large hall would have been more suitable. This is because it needed more moats for a castle. Only Katsuyori knew the answer.

The portlait of Masayuki Sanada, privately owned licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

After Nobunaga was also killed in the Honnoji Incident in June 1582, Ieyasu used Sinpu Castle again for his stronghold to get Kai Province. He succeeded in getting it, used Takeda Clan Hall to govern it, and built Kofu Castle as its new home base before Shinpu Castle was eventually abandoned.

The Portrait of Ieyasu Tokugawa, attributed to Tanyu Kano, ownd by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Shinpu Castle Part2”