中部地方～Chubu Region – ページ 66 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

40.Yamanaka Castle Part2

A beautiful historical park, now with a view of Mt. Fuji

Features

Third Enclosure as Entrance

Now, the ruins of Yamanaka Castle have been well developed and maintained as the Yamanaka-jo Castle Park by Mishima City, though the ruins have only earthen foundation. The entrance of the ruins is alongside the old Tokaido Road, and you can park at the parking lot inside when you visit the ruins by car. The entrance was also once that of the Third Enclosure which is now the town area. So, you will walk to the center of the castle by passing through the ruins of the moats for the enclosure. Most of the moats are dried, but part of them remains as a pond called “Tajiri-no-Ike”.

The map around the castle

Second Enclosure as Pivot of Defense

From the pond, you have to walk up the stairs and winding slope to reach the Second Enclosure. The Second Enclosure was large and the connecting point with the center of the castle and the other parts. You can see good views of the area around, including Mt. Fuji from the enclosure. It is surrounded by high, thick earthen walls. It was the important point to protect the castle. Two more enclosures, including the North Enclosure, have been built to protect the Main Enclosure.

Main Enclosure as Center of Castle

You have to walk up more and across the bridge to the center of the castle, the Main Enclosure. The bridge, which is made of half wood and half earth, looks very interesting. The part of woods could be destroyed when a battle happened. The Main Enclosure is the highest place in the castle and has two tiers. It is thought that a high turret called “Tenshu Turret” stood on the upper tier. The enclosure is surrounded by deep valleys.

The bridge made of half wood and half earth

The ruins of Tenshu Turret at the Main Enclosure

The dry mort surrounding the Main Enclosure

Group of Western Enclosures

On the west of the Second Enclosure, there are the West Enclosure and the West Turret over another small enclosure called the former West Turret. Though they were all connected by wooden bridges in the past, we can now go to these enclosures through wooden or earthen bridges. The West Turret is also a kind of enclosures, but once had buildings for defense as the frontline of the castle. Actually, the severe battle between Hojo and Toyotomi occurred there. Many of the latticed dry moats called Une-bori and Shoji-bori remain around the West Turret and the West Enclosure. They were originally deeper and the soil was exposed. The original surfaces have been buried and planted to protect them, as a result, the moats look very beautiful like a waffle with a great view of Mt. Fuji.

The latticed dry moat called Shoji-bori between the West Enclosure and the West Turret

the latticed *dry moat called Une-bori around the West Turret*

Taizaki-demaru defense strongpoint, others

Going back to the entrance of the ruins, you can also visit Taizaki-Damaru defense strongpoint to the south. This is a long and gently sloped enclosure which is also surrounded by earthen walls and Une-bori dry moats. The severe battle also occurred there, but it has a good atmosphere to walk around now. It may be a good idea to have lunch with a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji. You can also walk on the stone pavement of the old Tokaido Road below Taizaki-Dmaru. If you have time, I recommend that you visit the Sokan-ji Temple in the former Third Enclosure town area. There is the tomb of Naosue Hitotsuyanagi, a Hideyoshi’s commander, together with other tombs of Hojo’s soldiers.

A view from Taizaki-Damaru defense strongpoint

*the latticed dry moat called Une-bori* at *Taizaki-Damaru defense strongpoint*

The stone pavement of the old Tokaido Road

The old Tokaido Road through the Third Enclosure

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

40.山中城　その２

今は富士山の景色も見える美しい歴史公園です。

特徴

入口は三の丸

現在、山中城跡は土造りによる土台が残るだけですが、三島市により山中城跡公園としてよく整備、維持されています。城跡の入口は旧東海道に沿っていて、車でここを訪れる場合には入口の中にある駐車場を使うことができます。ここは今は住宅街となっている三の丸の入口でもありました。そして、城の中心地には三の丸の堀跡地を通って、歩いて向かいます。ほとんどの堀は空堀になっていますが、一部は「田尻の池」という池として残っています。

城周辺の地図

要の二の丸

池から二の丸に至るには、階段と曲がりくねった坂道を登った行かねばなりません。二の丸は大きくて、城の中心地と他の部分をつないでいる箇所です。ここからは富士山を含む周りの景色をよく見渡すことができます。二の丸は高く、厚い土塁に囲まれています。ここは、城の防衛のためには重要な地点だったのでしょう。

城の中心部、本丸

城の中心部、本丸へは更に登り、橋を越えていきます。この橋は半分が木、もう半分が土でできていて面白い作りです。木の部分は、戦が起きたときには壊せるようになっていました。本丸は城の最高地点にあり、二段になっています。上段には、「天守櫓」という櫓が立っていたと考えられています。本丸はまた、深い空堀によって囲まれています。北の丸などもう２つの曲輪が本丸を守るために作られていました。

西側の曲輪群

二の丸の西側には、元西櫓という小さな曲輪を挟んで、西の丸と西櫓があります。これらの曲輪は過去には全て木橋でつながっていましたが、現在の私たちは木橋と土橋を渡っていきます。西櫓もまた曲輪の一種でしたが、かつては城の最前線に当たり、防御のための建物がありました。実際にここで北条と豊臣の熾烈な戦いがありました。畝堀、障子堀と呼ばれる格子状の空堀が、西櫓と西の丸の周りにたくさん残っています。これらの堀はもとはもっと深く、土がむき出しになっていました。もとの表面は保護のため埋められて植栽されています。その結果、堀はワッフルのように見え、富士山の姿と共にとても見栄えがします。

岱崎出丸、他

城跡の入口の方に戻ると、南側の岱崎出丸も見学することができます。この曲輪は細長く、緩い傾斜地になっていて、ここもまた土塁や畝堀に囲まれています。ここでも苛酷な戦いがあったのですが、今は歩いて回るのによい所です。美しい富士山の景色を見ながらここでランチを食べるのもよいでしょう。岱崎出丸の下には、古東海道の石畳があるので、そこを歩いてみることもできます。時間があれば、以前三の丸だった住宅街にある宗閑寺に行かれてはいかがでしょう。秀吉の指揮官だった一柳直末の墓が、北条の兵士たちの墓と並んで立っています。

「山中城その３」に続きます。
「山中城その１」に戻ります。

40.Yamanaka Castle Part1

The castle for the western defense of the Hojo Clan

Location and History

Western Defense for Hojo Clan

Yamanaka Castle was located on the west of Hakone Barrier, the western gateway of Kanto Region, now in the eastern part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The castle was first built in the middle 16th Century during the Sengoku Period by the Hojo Clan, who owned Kanto Region. The clan aimed to protect their home base, Odawara Castle on the eastern side of Hakone Barrier, by building Yamanaka Castle. This castle was also improved before the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, attacked the Hojo Clan in 1590.

The location of the castle

Yamanaka Castle was built surrounding the Tokaido Road, one of the major roads in Japan. During that time, if someone walked up the slope on the road from the west, it would require passing through the castle. The road was actually on the Third Enclosures of the castle, and beside the Main Enclosure. The Third Enclosure also had water moats on the west to prevent enemies’ attacks and was for the water reservoir.
On the south of the Third Enclosure, a long defense strongpoint called “Taizaki-demaru” spread with the road parallelly. On the west of the Third Enclosure, the Second Enclosure, the West Enclosure, and the West Turret were added towards that direction. These enclosures were able to work closely to prevent attacks from enemy forces.

The location map of the ruins of Yamanaka Castle (from the signboard at the site)

Hojo’s Unique Methods for building Castle

The techniques used in the castle were unique to the Hojo Clan. All the enclosures were made of earthworks, using natural terrain such as ridges and valleys. They were mainly connected by wooden bridges which could fall down when a battle happened. They were also divided by deep dry moats whose bottoms were left parallel or as latticed ridges. The method for building the moats is called “Une-bori” for the parallel ridges and “Shoji-bori” for the latticed ridges. These dry moat building methods are considered features of the Hojo’s castles. Once soldiers fell into the moat, they couldn’t move from there at all. The area of the castle reached about 200,000 square meters. Hojo thought the castle could make Hideyoshi stuck for a while.

Fall in Battle of Yamanaka Castle

However, the castle was captured by Hideyoshi in just half a day. In the early morning, March 29, 1590, nearly 70,000 soldiers of Hideyoshi’s troop started to attack the castle, while the number of the defenders was only about 4,000. The attackers first charged both the West Turret and the Taizaki-Demaru defense strongpoint, but they suffered a significant number of casualties by the counterattack of Hojo’s guns. If it was a local battle, the attacker might have paused the charge to prevent more damages. However, the commanders forcibly continued to charge, otherwise, they might have been fired by the ruler. That resulted in the success of capturing the castle for Hideyoshi in exchange for a lot of dead soldiers including one of the Hideyoshi’s commander, Naosue Hitotsuyanagi.

The Portrait of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, attributed to Mitsunobu Kano, ownd by Kodaiji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

This battle lasted for a few hours. It is said that another reason for the short battle was that Hojo’s soldiers were confused because their head, Ujikatsu Hojo, escaped from the castle. Others point out that the Taizaki-Demaru defense strongpoint was unfinished in construction before Hideyoshi’s attack. Anyway, even such a strong castle couldn’t survive without enough soldiers and the right instructions.

To be continued in “Yamanaka Castle Part2”