近畿地方～Kinki Region – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

162.Izushi Castle/Arikoyama Castle Part3

Next comes Izushi Castle Ruins. Visitors usually first go across Tojo-bashi Bridge over Taniyama-gawa River in front of the ruins and enter Tojo-mon Gate. You will climb gentle stone steps while seeing great stone walls of the Second Enclosure on the left.

Features

Easy Route to Izushi Castle Ruins

Next comes Izushi Castle Ruins which casual visitors can easily get to. The ruins consist of several tiered enclosures at the foot of the mountain. Visitors usually first go across Tojo-bashi (meaning the bridge for going to the castle) over Taniyama-gawa River in front of the ruins and enter Tojo-mon (meaning the gate for going to the castle). You will climb gentle stone steps while seeing great stone walls of the Second Enclosure on the left. The stones used for the walls look more processed and newer than those of Arikoyama Castle on the mountain, because of the difference of their periods. The enclosure is empty now, which was used as the domain’s offices.

The map around the castle

The stone walls of the second enclosure on the left

The main enclosure is above the second enclosure, which has two rebuilt turrets on both front corners (called the Eastern and Western Corner Turrets). Their designs are different from the original ones, but are made out of wood in a traditional way and look good matching the remaining stone walls.

The interior of the Western Corner Turrret, it is sometimes open to the public

There was the Main Hall in the enclosure, and is now Kannoden Shrine instead, which worships Hisahide Sengoku, the founder of the clan.

Inari Enclosure at Highest of Castle

The Inari Enclosure is at the highest of the castle. It also has the highest stone walls in the castle at 13.5m. This is very rare among Japanese castles as other castles’ main enclosures are usually at the highest and have the greatest stone walls in the castle. The Arikoyama Shrine building has been constructed in the Inari Enclosure since the early stage of the castle. The current building was rebuilt during the late Edo Period and looks very old.

The high stone walls of the Inari Enclosure on the right

Attractions of Castle Town

Part of the old castle town is the former third enclosure which had the Main, Eastern and Western Gates. You can still see the partially remaining stone walls of the Main and Western Gates there. You can also visit Karo Yashiki (meaning the Senior Vassal’s Residence) which is the only remaining Samurai residence in this area. It is interesting that it looks like a single-storied house, but in fact, it has a secret chamber as the second floor.

The map around the castle town

The hidden second floor of the residence, the host on the right can see who is coming from the steps on the left through the hole in the central wall

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Izushi Castle was abandoned and all the castle buildings were demolished in 1871. Instead, locals built a new drum tower called Shinkoro at the Main Gate in the same year. The tower was turned into a clock tower in 1881 and has become a symbol of the area. The area once declined because it deviated from a railway line. However, locals made great efforts to boost tourism by rebuilding castle buildings, promoting Izushi Soba noodles, Izushi Pottery which originated from the castle’s period, and so on. The area was also designated as a Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings in 2007. As a result, the area has become an attractive traditional town as we can see now.

Izushi Soba Noodles, they are usually served on a plate

My Impression

As a fact, visiting the Izushi area takes a lot of time no matter which transportation you take. However, lots of people often visit the area. That’s because there are many attractions including the two castle ruins of Izushi and Akikoyama. Other attractions also came from the long history of this area. In my case, I would like to visit that place again to get to the ruins of Konosumi-yama Castle which the Yamana Clan first lived and I didn’t know about during my last visit. Other than castles and ruins, I would also like to buy another Izushi Pottery which has white skin and engraved patterns.

How to get There

If you want to visit the castle ruins by car, it is about a 30-minute drive away from Wadayama IC on the Bantan Renkaku Road.
There are several parking lots around Izushi Castle Ruins.
By public transportation, you can take the Zentan bus bound for Izushi from JR Toyooka Station and get off at the final bus stop.
From Tokyo to Toyooka Station: take the Tokaido Shinkansen super express and transfer to the Sanin Line at Kyoto Station.

The Toyooka Station, the bus terminal is around the center

That’s all. Thank you.
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162.Izushi Castle/Arikoyama Castle Part2

There is only the rest station and the signboard on the main enclosure of Arikoyama Castle. However, the view from the top, about 300m above from the foot, is really breath taking view! The stone walls of the enclosure are what you saw from the foot.

Features

Going to Arikoyama Castle Ruins through Shrine Approach

There are two castle ruins in the Izushi area as mentioned in the previous section, which are Izushi and Arikoyama Castles. The latter is older than the former, so I will first describe how to visit Arikoyama Castle Ruins in this article. The entrance to the ruins is now also that to Arikoyama Inari Shrine which is located at the highest of Izushi Castle Ruins. Therefore, you will climb the stone steps of the approach from the foot of the mountain to the shrine though many of its red shrine gates.

The map around the castle

You will also see several tiered enclosures of Izushi Castle with great stone walls and some restored buildings. The trail to the top starts from the point above the shrine building, so you need to prepare for hiking and something to keep you safe from wild animals (a bear bell or radio).

You can cee the Main Enclosure in the back and the Second Enclosure of Izushi Castle on the right

Steep Slopes as Natural Hazzard

The trail is very steep and goes straight on a ridge of the mountain, which was a natural hazard of the castle. It gets a little flatter on the way, but zigzags and then becomes narrow over an earthen ditch instead. They are perhaps ruins of an artificial defensive gateway.

The narrow earthen bridge crossing the ditch

After that, you will go on the steep trail again, which may be too tough for some castle visitors. However, you will eventually reach around the top area and the route turns right to go around. The castle ruins are made of soil so far, but you will see some remaining stone walls around. This is probably because there is the Well Enclosure below the trail, so the walls were built to protect the well from collapsing or being buried.

There is the Well Enclosure below the trail

The remaining stone walls above the well

Six tiered Enclosures on Top

The trail turns left and go up again to the main portion of the castle on the top. The portion has six tiered enclosures which are all surrounded by stone walls using natural or roughly processed stones. That means, these stone walls are an early example of those for castles, which were probably built by Takatora Todo.

The map of the main portion

Climbing to the main portion of the castle

You can see the stone walls of the main portion

In addition, if you go straight on the branched trail, you will get to the quarry for the stones.

You can get to the quarry of you go straight at division point

The enclosures are in line from the sixth enclosure on the bottom to the main enclosure on the top. Many of their stone walls were covered by wire nets to avoid from collapsing.

The fifth enclosure on the left and the sixth enclosure on the right

There is only the rest station and the signboard on the main enclosure. However, the view of the Izushi area from the top, about 300m above from the foot, is really breath-taking view! The stone walls of the enclosure are what you saw from the foot.

Going from the second enclosure to the main enclosure

Very spacious Senjousiki Enclosure for top area

The Senjoshiki Enclosure is next to the main portion, which is separated by a huge artificial ditch. You can go there by passing the top of the forth enclosure. The enclosure is mostly made of soil, but very spacious for the top area of the mountain which was used as the lord’s residence or a station for large troops.

The path to the Senjoshiki Enclosure goes from the top of the fourth enclosure, the stone walls beide the path are the third enclosure’s

The huge ditch dividing the main and the Senjoshiki Enclosures

The main enclosure seen from the Senjoshiki Enclosure

To be continued in “Izushi Castle/Arikoyama Castle Part3”
Back to “Izushi Castle/Arikoyama Castle Part1”

162.出石城・有子山城　その２

有子山城跡本丸の上には休憩所と説明板しかありません。しかし、麓から約３００ｍの高さがある頂上からの眺めは最高です。本丸の石垣は、麓から見えていたあの石垣です。

特徴、見どころ

神社の参道を通って有子山城跡へ

前節でご説明しました通り、出石地区には出石と有子山という２つの城跡があります。後者（有子山）の方が前者（出石）より古い城跡となりますので、この記事では最初に有子山城跡を訪れるという形にしたいと思います。有子山城跡への入口は、有子山稲荷神社の入口にもなっていて、その神社は出石城跡の最も高い位置にあります。したがって山の麓からは神社参道の石段を、数多くの赤い鳥居をくぐりながら登って行くことになります。

城周辺の地図

その間、出石城跡の何段もの曲輪群や、すばらしい石垣、復元された建物も目にします。神社の建物より上の方に、山頂への登山口があります。登山にはハイキングの装備と、野生動物を避けるためのアイテム（熊鈴かラジオ）が必要です。

自然の障壁としての急坂

道はとても急で、山の峰の上をまっすぐに登っていきます。これは城にとっては自然の障壁となったでしょう。その途中でやや緩やかになりますが、代わりに道筋が曲がりくねり、それから細くなって人工の堀切を越えていきます。これは恐らく、防衛のため意図的に作った関門でしょう。

その後、山道はまた急になり、城巡りのビジターにとってはきつすぎるかもしれません。しかし、やがて頂上付近のエリアにたどり着き、道は右に曲がって回り道となります。それまで見てきた城跡は土造りでしたが、周辺に石垣が残っているのがわかります。それは恐らく、道の下方に井戸曲輪があって、石垣は井戸を崩壊や埋没から防ぐために築かれたのでしょう。