近畿地方～Kinki Region – ページ 18 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

57.Sasayama Castle Part3

This castle was built practically.

Features

Looking up to Stone Walls from Third Enclosure

The flat square Third Enclosure is outside of the Inner Moat and inside of the Outer Moat. If you walk around it, you will see the great stone walls of the main portion. In particular, the stone wall base for the Main Tower looks so nice, which is about 18m high, built using natural and rough processed stones, instructed by Ano-shu Group, a special stone guild at that time.

The map around the castle

The high stone walls of the main portion seen from the Third Enclosure

The outside view of the stone wall base for the Main Tower

Two individual Umadashi systems

You can also visit the two other entrance ruins of the Eastern and Southern Gates through the enclosure. It is unfortunate that both ruins have lost their Masugata systems, however, their Umadashi systems are still intact. The system for the Eastern Gate remains as a square park, over the narrow straight path among the Inner Moat. It is surrounded by stone walls and another moat in the front and the sides, so you can easily imagine how the system worked in the past.

The system became the Eastern Umadashi Park

The other one for the Southern Gate also has a square space and is surrounded by earthen walls, not by stone walls. This is actually the only remaining example of the Umadashi system build only using earthen walls.

Going to the southern Umadashi system through a narrow path

The earthen walls of the Umadashi system form the square space

If you have time, I recommend walking along the street of Okachimachi warriors’ residences with several remaining their houses which are open to the public, in the west of the castle ruins.

“The Anma Clan’s samurai residence historical museum” is one of the open warriors’ houses

My Impression

I think Sasayama Castle was quite practical for its purpose of construction. That’s why its Main Tower was actually not built. This castle was not so large as other major castles like Osaka, Nagoya and Himeji Castles, but was designed to be able to protect itself by few defenders. My first impression for the castle was that it could be a supply base. I imagine Sasayama Castle could have worked flexibly either when the Tokugawa Shogunate side would be offense or defense.

I think this Third Enclosure was able to accommodate some amount of soldiers and supplies

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about 10 minutes from Tannan-Sasayamaguchi IC on the Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway. There are several parking lots in and around the castle ruins.
By public transportation, you can take the Sinki Green bus bound for Sasayama-eigyosho from JR Sasayamaguchi Station and get off at the Nikaimachi bus stop. It takes about 5 minutes on foot to get there.
From Tokyo to Sasayamaguchi Station: Take the Tokaido Shinkansen super express, transfer to the Kyoto Line at Shin-Osaka Station and transfer to the Takarazuka Line at Osaka Station.

The parking lot in front of the Main Gate Ruins

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Sasayama Castle Part1”
Back to “Sasayama Castle Part2”

57.篠山城　その３

実用的に築かれた城

特徴、見どころ

三の丸から石垣を仰ぎ見る

平らで四角い形の三の丸は、内堀の外、かつ外堀の内側にあります。三の丸を歩いてみると、城の主要部を囲むすばらしい高石垣がよく見えます。特に、天守台石垣はとても良いです。自然石、あるいは粗く加工された石を使って、１８ｍもの高さに積み上げられています。当時の優れた石工集団である穴太衆（あのうしゅう）によって築かれたものです。

城周辺の地図

２つの個性的な現存馬出し

この三の丸には、大手門跡の他に二つの出入り口があります。東門跡と南門跡です。残念ながら両方とも桝形は残っていないのですが、馬出しの方は健在です。東門の方の馬出しは四角い形の公園として残っていて、内堀にかかる細くまっすぐな道を進んでいくと着きます。この馬出しは石垣に囲まれていて、前方と両側を内堀とは別の水堀にも囲まれています。よって、馬出しが過去にはどのように機能したのかよくわかると思います。

南門の方の馬出しにも四角い区画が残っていますが、こちらは石垣ではなく、土塁によって囲まれています。土塁だけを使って作られた馬出しの中では、唯一の現存事例となります。

お時間があるようでしたら、いくつかの現存建物がある御徒町（おかちまち）武家屋敷群を歩いて回ってはいかがでしょうか。城跡の西側にあって、これらの建物が一般公開されています。

私の感想

篠山城は、建設の目的からして、極めて実用的に築かれた城だと思います。そのために、天守が築かれなかったということにもなったのでしょう。この城は、大阪城、名古屋城、姫路城のようなメジャーな城に比べれば、それほど大きくはありません。しかし、その分少ない兵で守れるように設計されています。私がこの城を見たときの第一印象は、まるで兵站基地のようだと思いました。想像するに、篠山城は徳川幕府方が攻勢に出ても、守勢に回っても柔軟に機能を発揮できるようになっていたのではないでしょうか。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：舞鶴若狭自動車道の丹南篠山口ICから約１０分かかります。城跡の中や周辺にいくつか駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、ＪＲ篠山口駅から篠山営業所行きの神姫グリーンバスに乗って、二階町バス停で降りてください。徒歩約５分で城跡に到着します。
東京から篠山口駅まで：東海道新幹線に乗って、新大阪駅で京都線に乗り換え、大阪駅で宝塚線に乗り換えてください。

リンク、参考情報

・篠山城大書院の公式ページ、withsasayama
・「史跡　篠山城跡大書院／市教育委員会・篠山城大書院編」丹波篠山市
・「よみがえる日本の城１９」学研
・「日本の城改訂版第１０号」デアゴスティーニジャパン
・「築城の名手　藤堂高虎／福井健二著」戒光祥出版

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。
「篠山城その１」に戻ります。
「篠山城その２」に戻ります。

57.Sasayama Castle Part2

Visiting the main portion of the castle

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Sasayama Castle was abandoned and all the castle buildings, except for O-shoin or the Large Study Hall out of the Main Hall, were demolished. The hall was used as a school and a community center for a while, however, it was unfortunately burned down by an accidental fire in 1944. After World War II, the Inner Moat out of the double water moats was filled to became a normal park. However, since the castle ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 1956, the trend changed. Tanba-Sasayama City has been developing the ruins as a historical site such as the hall being restored in 2000 and the moat being dug up again.

The photo of the Large Study Hall, in 1943, private owned (*licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The Large Study Hall which was restored in 2000

Features

From Main Gate Ruins to Main Portion

Today, the ruins of Sasayama Castle have been developed by Tanba-Sasayama City with the remaining warriors’ houses and the castle town atmosphere. Visitors usually first visit the Main Gate Ruins in the north in front of the Outer Moat. Unfortunately, the gate and its Umadashi system were destroyed, so only their traces remain now.

The ruins of Umadashi system on the Main Route

The aerial photo around the castle

If you walk the path to the center of the ruins passing the Outer and Inner Moats, you will reach the ruins of the Front Gate and Kurogane-mon or the Iron Gate, the entrance of the main portion. These ruins are still surrounded by stone walls of double Masugata system, which you can imagine the main gate had a similar system to it.

The ruins of the Front Gate, which has the first Masugata system behind

Restored Large Study Hall in Second Enclosure

The main portion has the Second Enclosure in the front and the Main Enclosure in the back. You can enter the restored Large Study Hall with the historical museum. You will first get in the museum where you can learn the history of the castle

Then, go in the hall where you can experience what it looked like in the past. The Large Study Hall was used for public ceremonies which has an impressive large hip-and-gable roof above the front entrance. Visitors enter it not from the front but from the side and walk around the corridors surrounding the rooms. There are eight rooms inside such as Honored Guest Room, Dark Room for storing, and Tiger Room for waiting.

Visitors enter the hall form the right side

Here is the inside of the front entrance

There are also the flat exhibitions of the residential area for the lord and the ruins of Uzume-mon or the Small Back Gate behind the hall.

The flat exhibitions of the residential area in the Second Enclosure

Stone Wall Base for Main Tower with Viewing Spot

The Main Enclosure is the highest point of the castle. The inside of it looked to be a square during the Edo Period, but the Aoyama Shrine, which worships the Aoyama Clan, the last lord family of the castle, has been there since its launch in 1882.

The Second Enclosure in the front, the Main Enclosure in the back

The large stone wall base for the Main Tower is at a corner of the enclosure, which is a good viewing spot of the city area. You can also see a triangle-shaped Takashiroyama-Mountain in the distance, where the ruins of Yagami Castle, which was active in the Sengoku Period, is. The stone wall base had a very small single turret for its scale at the edge during the Edo Period.

The appearance of the Main Enclosure during the Edo Period, *exhibited by the historical museum in the Large Study Hall of Sasayama Castle*

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