中部地方～Chubu Region – ページ 50 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

25.Kofu Castle Part2

The great stone walls remain with restored castle buildings.

Features

The ruins of Kofu Castle is just close to Kofu Station. The ruins are the eastern part of the main portion, and the western part was turned into the city area such as the Yamanashi prefectural office. Moreover, the ruins are divided between north and south by the station and the railway. That’s why the station is so close.

The aerial photo around the castle

Restored Yamanote-mon Gate in North of Station

In the north, you can visit the Yamanote-mon Gate which was restored as the Kofu City Historic Park in 2007, using the original way. It is one of the three entrances of the castle, and the only one that we can see now. It has a typically gate style usually found in castles of the Edo Period called “Masugata”. The style has a square space inside sandwiched by two gate buildings facing different directions, which serves as defensive wall.

*The miniature model of the main portion of Kofu Castle, the front of the photo is the Yamanote-mon Gate (an exhibition in the Inari Turret)*

Center of Castle “Maizuru Castle Park” in South of Station

Crossing the railway through the station to the south, you will stand in front of the Inari Enclosure with the restored Inari Turret. This is where the entrance of Maizuru Castle Park is. Maizuru is a nickname of Kofu Castle, which comes from the castle looking like a flying crane in the past. You might think it’s the castle’s entrance, but you are already in the castle area for the reasons mentioned above. The turret is on the Inari Enclosure located on the northeast corner of the mid slope of the hill.

The map around the castle

You can see the center of the castle (Maizuru Castle Park) over the train line from around the Yamanote-mon Gate

The entrance of Maizuru Castle Park from the station

The restored Inari Turret (from the outside of the park)

The Inari Enclosure (inside the Inari Turret)

You can walk around the eastern side of hill to the south through the Sukiya Enclosure. You will eventually arrive at the Kaji Kuruwa at the southern foot of the hill. You can see the stone walls still cover the whole hill by the walk.

Going to Main Enclosure

Part of the Inner Moat remains only at the southern foot of the hill. There is a wooden bridge over the moat as the entrance of the park which was built in the present.

The only remaining part of the Inner Moat

You can walk up to the top of the hill through the zigzagged route surrounded by stone walls. The restored Kurogane-mon Gate is in front of the Main Enclosure where the main enclosure turret used to be located. There was also the Bishamon-do Hall built in Yanagisawa’s period which remains at another place in Kofu City called the Keko-in Temple.

The map around the castle

Mysterious Base for Main Tower and Great View

The stone wall base for the Main Tower remains next to the Main Enclosure. In fact, it is still uncertain if the base had a Main Tower or not. There has been no evidences for the tower such as drawings and other records, while ridge-end tiles with golden leaf and roof tiles with a clan’s family crest which might have been used for a Main Tower were found by excavations. Anyway, you should check out a great 360-degree view of Kofu City from the top of the base. The city in on the Kofu Basin which is all surrounded by the mountains. For example, You can see Mt. Fuji on the south and the South Alps on the west if the weather is fine.

The stone wall base for a Main Tower that can be seen from the inside Main Enclosure

A view in the south of the base (Mt. Fuji can slightly be seen )

*A view in the west of the base (the South Alps)*

*The stone wall base for a Main Tower that can be seen from the outside Inari Enclosure*

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

25.甲府城　その２

素晴らしい石垣が復元された建物とともに残っています。

特徴

甲府城跡は甲府駅のすぐ近くです。この城跡は、城の主要部の東側に当たり、西側の部分は山梨県庁舎などがある市街地になっています。その上に、この城跡は駅と線路によって北と南に分断されています。そのため、駅がこんなにも近いのです。

城周辺の航空写真

駅の北側にある復元された山手門

北側には、山手門があります。2007年に甲府市歴史公園としてオリジナルの工法により復元されました。この門は城にあった３つの門のうちの一つであり、現在ではこの門しか見ることしかできません。「桝形」と呼ばれる江戸時代の城で見られる典型的な門の形式です。この形式の門には、内側に四角いスペースがあり、別々の方向を向いた２つの門の建物により挟まれていて、防御のための障壁として機能していました。

駅の南側にある城の中心部（舞鶴城公園）

駅を通って線路を渡り、南の方に行くと、舞鶴城公園の入口である復元された稲荷櫓がある稲荷曲輪の前に着きます。舞鶴は甲府城の別名であり、甲府城がかつては飛んでいる鶴のように見えたことに由来しています。ここが城の入口のように思われるかもしれませんが、これまで述べた理由により、既に城の中にいることになるのです。稲荷櫓は丘の中腹の北東角に位置しています。

城周辺の地図

そこから丘の東側を回り込み、数寄屋曲輪を通って、南側に行くことができます。やがて丘の麓にある鍛冶曲輪にたどり着きます。歩いてみると、丘全体が今だに石垣に覆われていることがわかります。

本丸に向かう

内堀の一部が丘の南麓にのみ残っています。この堀を渡る木橋が公園の入口としてありますが、現代になって作られたものです。

石垣に囲まれた曲がりくねった通路を登って、丘の頂上に向かいます。本丸櫓があった本丸の手前に、復元された鉄門（くろがねもん）があります。本丸には柳沢の時代に毘沙門堂があって、現在は甲府市華光院に移築されています。

城周辺の地図

謎の天守台と素晴らしい景色

本丸のとなりには天守台石垣が残っています。実はこの天守台の上に天守があったかどうかは今もわかっていないのです。図面や他の記録のような証拠がない一方、発掘によって天守に使われたかもしれないような金箔付きの軒瓦や家紋入りの屋根瓦が見つかっています。いずれにしろ、天守台の上からは甲府市の全方位の景色が必見です。この市は甲府盆地にあるので、周りを全て山に囲まれているのです。例えば、天気が良ければ、南の方には富士山が見え、西の方には南アルプスが見えます。

「甲府城その３」に続きます。
「甲府城その１」に戻ります。

25.Kofu Castle Part1

A very important strongpoint for the Tokugawa Shogunate

Location and History

Mitsuyasu Kato might have developed it greatly

Kofu Castle was located in Kai Province (what is now Yamanashi Prefecture). Kai Province was owned by the Takeda Clan for a long time until 1582 when the clan was defeated by Nobunaga Oda. Since then the Oda clan governed the province but immediately followed by the Tokugawa, Toyotomi, and the Tokugawa clan again. Kofu City, which is the prefectural capital of the prefecture, had already been the castle town for the Takeda Clan Hall. It is said that the Tokugawa Clan first built Kofu Castle at the south of the town in 1583 of their first governance, but it is uncertain. In 1590, Toyotomi’s servant, Mitsuyasu Kato was given Kai Province. He improved Kofu Castle greatly, probably with building the large scale stone walls. This is because Toyotomi had the craftsmen who were able to build stone walls called Ano-shu, which Tokugawa didn’t have. It is thought that the basic structure of the castle was completed at the same time.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Mitsuyasu Kato, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Protected by High Stone Walls and Tripled Moats

The castle consisted of three parts. The main portion is called Uchi-shiro, it includes the Main Enclosure, the base for the Main Tower and other enclosures. It was surrounded by stone walls and the Inner Moat. It was also on a hill called Ichijo-koyama, and had three entrances – the Main Gate on the south, the Yamanote-mon Gate on the north, and the Yanagi-mon Gate on the west. The eastern part of the main portion is protected strictly by the high stone walls. Secondly, the ground for the warriors’ houses called Naikaku was around the main portion, surrounded by the Second Moat. Lastly, the ground for the castle town was around Naikaku, also surrounded by the Third Moat.

The old map of Kofu Castle, from a book “Rakushido-nenroku” by Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, owned by The Yanagisawa Library *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The miniature model of the main portion of Kofu Castle, the front of the photo is the high stone walls on the east (an exhibition in the Inari Turret)

Important Strongpoint for protecting Edo

In the Edo Period from the 17th Century, Kofu Castle became a very important spot. The Tokugawa Shogunate set the Five Major Roads including the Kofu Road passing through Kofu town. Kofu was regarded as the western strongpoint to protect Edo (what is now Tokyo), the Shogun’s home base. For this reason, the Shogunate basically governed the castle directly. For example, the Shogun’s relative Tsunatoyo Tokugawa lived in the castle, who became the sixth Shogun Ienobu later. Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa was the first lord of the castle out of non-Shogun’s relatives in 1705, who was a senior vassal of the Shogunate. His son, Yoshiyasu was transferred to Yamato-Koriyama Castle in 1724, then Kofu Castle was Shogunate-owned again.

The positional relation between Kofu and Edo

*The portrait of Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, owned by Ichiren-ji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

In 1868 during the Meiji Restoration, the battle between the New Government and the Shogunate happened. Taisuke Itagaki, one of the leaders of the New Government Army thought they needed to capture Kofu Castle faster than the Shogunate. The Shogunate also sent the famous warrior party called the Shinsen-gumi led by Isami Kondo to Kofu Castle. Itagaki rushed and succeeded to enter the castle by a narrow margin, so that he could defeat the Shinsen-gumi.

The picture of Taisuke Itagaki, published by the Eastern Culture Association *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

*The picture of Isami Kondo, owned by the National Diet Library (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Kofu Castle Part2”