北海道地方～Hokkaido Region – ページ 5 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

102.Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part3

These ruins deserve a long journey to visit.

Features

Main Gate as Pivot of Defense

You will finally reach the front of the main portion, the Main Gate Ruins. If you go out of the ruins, you can see how well the gate was protected. There is another enclosure in front it, divided by a long and deep dry moat. The moat has double ditches and you need to go across them on a small bridge and a large one. These bridges are zigzagged so that enemies would sometimes be stuck when they attacked the hall. There are thick and high earthen walls with restored wooden fences around the gate ruins, where you can imagine defenders could counterattack with arrows.

The two bridges were built being zigzagged

The restored wooden fences on the earthen walls around the gate

Around the Main Gate of the Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date miniature model, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

Later History

Kaminoyama-Katsuyama Date Ruins were the place of ancestor worship for the Matsumae Domain during the Edo Period. As castle ruins, they were designated as a National Historic Site in 1977, considered one of the “Kaminokuni Hall Ruins” including Hanazawa Tate, one of the Dounan 12 Halls. After that, they have been excavated and researched since 1979. That’s why the new discoveries about the mainland and Ainu people were found.

the *miniature model* of Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

My Impression

I think Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date deserves not only a hall, but definitely a castle or a medieval city, too. That was the destination of the halls which the mainland people going to Ezo built. That also created a unique way of life where the mainland and Ainu people lived together. I recommend visiting the ruins even though it may take a long time for you to get there.

The Iouzan Tombs seen from the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

How to get There

I recommend using a car when you visit the castle ruins because there are only a few buses available.
It is about 70km drive away from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station. From Hakodate Airport or the center of Hakodate City, it takes about 90km to get there. You can use the parking lot beside the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility. It may be a good idea to rent a car at the station or the airport.
To get to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station from Tokyo: Take the Hokkaido Shinkansen super express at Tokyo Station.

The parking lot beside the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

Links and References

・Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility, Kaminoyama Town

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part1”
Back to “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part2”

102.上ノ国勝山館　その３

この城跡は長い旅をするだけの価値があります。

特徴、見どころ

防御の要、大手門

そして、館の主要部分の端にあたるのが大手門跡です。一旦その門跡の外側に出てみると、大手門の辺りがいかに守られていたのかがわかると思います。もう一つの曲輪が門の前にあり、長く深い空堀によって隔てられています。その空堀は二重に掘られていて、そこを渡るには小きい橋と大さい橋２つを渡る必要があります。それらの端はクランク状に渡されていて、敵が館を攻めてきた場合には、ここで滞ってしまうでしょう。門跡の周りには厚く高い土塁と、その上の木柵が復元されています。ここから守備兵が敵に対して矢を放ったりして反撃していただろうと想像できます。

上ノ国勝山館の大手門周辺の様子、勝山館跡ガイダンス施設にて展示されている模型より

その後

上ノ国勝山館跡は、江戸時代の間も松前藩の先祖崇拝の場であり続けました。城跡としては1977年に、道南十二館の一つである花沢館を含む「上ノ国館跡」として国の史跡に指定されました。その後、1979年以来発掘調査が続けられています。そのため、本州の和人とアイヌの人たちとの関係が明らかになったのです。

私の感想

上ノ国勝山館は、単なる館というのではなく、まさに城あるいは中世都市といってもよいでしょう。これは、本州から蝦夷に来た人たちが築いた館の到達点と言うべきものです。この場所はまた、和人とアイヌの人たちが共に暮らした独特の生活様式を生み出しました。ここに行くのには随分と時間がかかりますが、それだけの価値がある城跡としてお勧めできます。

ここに行くには

この城跡を訪れる際は車を使われることをお勧めします。バスの便数がとても少ないからです。
新函館北斗駅からは約７０ｋｍの道のりとなります。函館空港や函館市の中心部からであれば、約９０ｋｍくらいでしょう。勝山館跡ガイダンス施設に駐車場があります。駅か空港で、レンタカーを借りるのもよいでしょう。
東京から新函館北斗駅まで：東京駅から北海道新幹線に乗ってください。

リンク、参考情報

・史跡上之国館跡　勝山館跡（国指定史跡）、上ノ国町
・「かみのくに文化財ガイドブック」上ノ国町教育委員会
・「日本の城改訂版第６３号」デアゴスティーニジャパン
・「逆説の日本史１７江戸成熟編アイヌ民族と幕府崩壊の謎／井沢元彦著」小学館
・「海峡をつなぐ日本史」北海道・東北史研究会
・デジタル八雲町史、デジタル熊石町史

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。
「上ノ国勝山館その１」に戻ります。
「上ノ国勝山館その２」に戻ります。

102.Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part2

A mountain castle with a medieval atmosphere

Features

Ruins can be accessible either from Seaside or Mountain side

Today, the ruins of Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date have been well developed by Kaminokuni Town. The ruins spread from 70 to 110m high on the hill. You can access the ruins either on the Main Route near the seaside or on the Back Route near Iouzan Mountain which is 159m high.

The aerial photo around the castle

If you drive to the ruins, it may be better to park and visit the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility below the top of the mountain before going to the ruins. You can learn about the history and the findings of the hall. The mountain top has a good view of the sea and has the Iouzan Shrine as well which worships Nobuhiro Takeda, the founder of the hall. The top was thought to be used as the final part in case of an emergency.

The top of Iouzan Mountain seen from the parking lot

Going to Back Route and Back Gate from Mountain

From the facility, you can walk to the Back Gate of the hall ruins passing the Iouzan Tombs which have over 600 burial mounds. Many of them are for Buddhists which are related to the mainland Japanese, but some of them are for the Ainu people. This is one of the reasons that both people lived together in the hall. Nobuhiro Takeda is thought to be buried somewhere around there.

The replica of an excavated Ainnu tomb, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The trail will bring you to the Back Gate Ruins with a dry moat in front of them. You can go across the moat over the restored bridge and you will see some restored wooden fences around the ruins. Inside the gate is the highest point of the ruins, which had the Tategami-Hachimangu Shrine as the guardian god of the hall. The shine remained even after the hall was abandoned. The lords of the Matsumae Domain visited it to worship for their ancestors during the Edo Period. The shrine was finally moved to another location in 1876 of the Meiji Era.

The dry moat and the restored Back Bridge

Center of Hall Ruins

The 3.6m wide central passage goes through the ruins. Next comes the main portion of the hall, a long and wide area gently going down to the Main Gate Ruins.

The imaginary drawing of the central passage with a turret gate on it, from the signboard at the site

There are no buildings, but lots of flat exhibits of what buildings were built, according to the excavation achievements. The exhibits show the Main Hall, the chief retainer’s house, a public well, a blacksmith‘s workshop, a stable, warehouses, residential houses, and so on.

The imaginary drawing of buildings of the hall, from the signboard at the site, adding the English letters

The interior model of the Main Hall, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

*The interior model of the workshop, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility*

The miniature model of the public well, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The excavation team also found about 100 thousand relics such as weapons, religious equipment, trading goods, tools, hunting and fishing items as well as household items including accessories. That means people lived their daily life there. In particular, some of the relics came from the Ainu people, such as their own penknives and poisoned arrows for hunting. This could be another evidence that the mainland and Ainu people lived together. You can also enjoy a good view of the Japan Sea and the seaside area.

The excavated lacquerware bowls, which were probably brought to the site by trading, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The excavated fishing items of Ainu (below) and a replica of an Ainu harpoon, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

The hall ruins with a view of the area below

To be continued in “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part3”
Back to “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part1”