179.Kagomori Castle Part1

A castle located around the border between provinces

Location and History

Area of Border Dispute

The ruins of Kagomori Castle are now located in Matsuno Town in Ehime Prefecture, near the Kochi border. Similarly, the castle was located in Iyo Province which was near the border of Iyo Province and Tosa Province in the past. This location was often tense because it was important to the lords of both provinces in order to maintain their territories.

The range of Iyo Province and the location of Kagomori Castle

It is often said The Watanabe Clan owned the castle since the 12th Century. The clan eventually followed the Saionji Clan which governed the southern Iyo Province, and became one of the fifteen commanders of Saionji. Kanesada Ichijo, the lord of Tosa Province in the first 16th Century, sent one of his relatives, to the Watanabe Clan to become their adopted heir. In fact, this was his preparation for the invasion of Iyo Province. The adopted Noritada Watanabe did nothing for his master, Kinhiro Saionji when Kanesada actually invaded the Iyo Province in 1567. Kinhiro got angry and decided to attack Noritada in Kagomori Castle before Noritada could surrender. This event happened at the castle near the border.

The portrait of Kanesada Ishijo, owned by Ryushu-ji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Castle is built on U shape Ridge

Kagomori Castle was built on a mountain where the ridge looked like the letter U. A lot of its enclosures were in a line on the long and narrow ridge. The Main Enclosure was on the center of the U shape, in the northernmost section. Nine enclosures were from the western edge of the U shape which was the next to the Main Enclosure. Another three enclosures were east of the Main Enclosure. In addition, the two Kojo Enclosures and the Sinjo Enclosure were in the eastern edge of the U shape. There were 16 enclosures in total, though each of them was small. They were basically made of soil, divided by artificial ditches, and the slope of the mountain which was intentionally cut vertically. Moreover, the mountain was surrounded by rivers in three directions except for the south. Overall, the castle can be seen as a stronghold using natural terrain.

The relief map around the castle

During the unification of Japan by Hideyoshi Toyotomi in the 1580s, his retainer, Katsutaka Toda became the lord of the southern Iyo Province which included Kagomori Castle. Katsutaka became the leader, and then, Takatora Todo became the next leader in 1595 after Katsutaka died. Kagomori Castle continued to be an important castle near the border of Tosa Province even during the unification of Japan. This is because the governance of Japan was still unstable. The lord of Iyo Province needed to keep monitoring the movements of the Chosogabe and Yamanouchi Clans.

The portrait of Takatora Todo, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Castle is improved during Unification of Japan

Kagomori Castle had basically been a simple mountain castle, but was eventually improved with the latest technology from Katsutaka or Takatora. For example, stone walls were built around the Main Enclosure. The enclosure originally had the Main Hall for the lord, and a building like the Main Tower was added. The excavation team managed to find large sized rooftiles including grampuses at the site, which could have been used for the Main Tower. According to Takatora’s biography, the Main Tower of Kagomori Castle was moved to his home base, Uwajima Castle and used as a turret. However, this is still not entirely proven, but Kagomori Castle might have looked like a modern castle.

The partially remaining stone walls at the Main Enclosure of Kagomori Castle
Uwajima Castle

In 1615, Ieyasu Tokugawa, who was the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, defeated the Toyotomi Clan in Osaka Castle. After that, the authority of the shogunate was established. The shogunate ordered all of the lords in Japan to follow one castle rule, the Law of One Castle per Province to make its government more stable. Because of the new law, Kagomori Castle, which was owned by the Date Clan after Takatora was moved to another province, was eventually abandoned.

The ruins of Kagomori Castle

To be continued in “Kagomori Castle Part2”

179.河後森城 その1

国と国との境目の城

立地と歴史

国境の紛争地帯

河後森(かごもり)城跡は現在愛媛県の松野町にあり、その場所は高知との県境の近くです。同じように、その城はかつては伊予国にあり、そこは過去においても伊予国と土佐国の境目の近くでした。両国の領主がそれぞれの領地を維持(または拡大)したいがために、このような場所ではしばしば緊張状態が生じました。

伊予国の範囲と河後森城の位置

12世紀以降、渡辺氏がこの城を所有していたと言われています。渡辺氏はやがて南予地方を治めていた西園寺氏の配下となり、西園寺十五将の一人となりました。16世紀前半の土佐国の領主であった一条兼定は、親族の一人を渡辺氏の跡継ぎ養子として送り込みました。実は、これは兼定が伊予国に侵入するための準備だったのです。養子となった渡辺教忠(のりただ)は、1567年に兼定が実際に伊予国に攻め込んだときに、彼の主人である西園寺公広(きんひろ)のために何もしませんでした(出兵要請に応じなかったようです)。公広は激怒し、教忠を河後森城に包囲し、教忠は降伏しました。国境近くのこの城では、このようなことが起こっていたのです。

一条兼定肖像画、龍集寺蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

馬蹄形の峰に築かれた城

河後森城は、U字形(馬蹄形)の峰を持つ山の上に築かれました。その長く細い峰には、多くの曲輪が一列に並んでいました。本郭は、U字形の中央部分にあり、そこが一番北側に当たりました。本郭のとなりには、U字形の西端から9つの曲輪が並んでいました。その他に3つの曲輪が本郭の東側にありました。更に、古城曲輪と呼ばれる2つと新城曲輪がU字形の東端に作られました。一つ一つは小さいのですが、全部で16もの曲輪があったのです。これらの曲輪は基本的には土造りで、人工的に作られた堀切により隔たれ、山の傾斜も意図的に垂直に加工されていました。その上に、城があった山は南側を除き三方を川に囲まれていました。総じて、この城は天然の要害であったと言えるのです。

城周辺の起伏地図

1580年代に豊臣秀吉による天下統一がなされている間、彼の部下である戸田勝隆(かつたか)が、河後森城を含む南予地方の領主となりました。勝隆は1595年に(朝鮮侵攻の最中に病気で)亡くなり、藤堂高虎がその後を継ぎました。河後森城は、天下統一が進む期間においても土佐国との国境に近い城として重要であり続けました。日本の政治状況がまだ不安定であったからです。伊予国の領主は、長宗我部氏や山内氏といった土佐国の領主の動向を注視し続ける必要があったのです。

藤堂高虎肖像画、個人蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

天下統一の時期に近代化

河後森城は、基本的にはシンプルな山城でしたが、やがて勝隆あるいは高虎によって最新の技術を使った城に進化していきます。例えば、本郭の周りには石垣が築かれました。本郭にはもともと領主の主殿舎がありましたが、天守のような建物が後から追加されました。その現場では発掘により、天守に使われた可能性がある、鯱を含む大型の瓦が見つかっています。高虎の伝記によると、河後森城の天守が、彼の本拠地である宇和島城に移され、櫓として使われたそうです。しかし、今のところ科学的に十分証明されてはいません。とは言いつつ、河後森城はその頃には近代的な城の姿をしていたのかもしれません。

部分的に残る河後森城本郭の石垣
宇和島城

1615年、徳川幕府を設立した徳川家康は、大坂城にいた豊臣氏を滅ぼしました。そのことで、徳川幕府の権威が確立したのです。幕府は日本の全ての大名に対して一国一城令を発令し、幕府の統治をより強化しようとしました。河後森城は、高虎が他の国に移った後伊達氏の所有となっていましたが、この法令により廃城となったとみられます。

河後森城跡

「河後森城その2」に続きます。

80.Yuzuki Castle Part3

The castle ruins were saved by the decision of Ehime Prefecture.

Features

Great View from Top of Hill

Of course, you can climb up to the top of the hill, which is called the Hondan (like the Main Enclosure) which is now used as the observation platform. You can find a few explanations of the castle there because the excavation team didn’t find any relics. However, you can enjoy a view of Matsuyama Castle and the Dogo Spring Spot Town from the same platform. In fact, in the first 17th Century, Takatora Todo, who shared Iyo Province with his rival, Yoshiaki Kato, once used the abandoned Yuzuki Castle to monitor Matsuyama Castle which Yoshiaki built. Takatora would have seen the same view as we see now from Yuzuki Castle.

The aerial photo around the castle

Going to the top
The top called Hondan with the observation platform
A view of the Dogo Spring Spot Town
A distant view of Matsuyama Castle
The portrait of Takatora Todo, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Later History

In 1888 during the Meiji Era, Ehime Prefecture opened the Dogo Park at the ruins of Yuzuki Castle. The park became popular when a zoo opened in the park in 1953. However, the zoo was moved to another site in 1987 because of two issues. One was because of the bad odor, and another was because of the noise in the city area. The research of the Yuzuki Castle Ruins was done in the former area of the zoo before being turned into a modern Japanese garden. Plenty of relics were discovered in a good condition. Therefore, the prefecture reversed its decision to turn the ruins into a historical park in 1990. The restoration of Yuzuki Castle started in 1998 based on the results of the excavation and the examples of other sites like Ichijodani Castle before its eventual completion in 2001. the ruins were finally designated as a National Historic Site in 2002.

The remaining Inner Moat surrounded by the earthen walls
The flags of Yuzuki Castle at the entrance

My Impression

I didn’t know if Yuzuki Castle would have survived because of its severe history. I’m grateful for the prefecture’s decision to preserve them because no one would have remembered the history of Iyo Provence before Matsuyama Castle. The Dogo Park including the ruins has a good atmosphere. I recommend walking around the park as well as the town of the Dogo Hot Spring nearby where you can see other traditional buildings such as the Isaniwa Shrine and the Dogo Onsen Honkan bathhouse.

The Dogo Onsen Honkan bathhouse
The Isaniwa Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

How to get There

If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is about 20 minutes away from Matsuyama IC on the Matsuyama Expressway. The Dogo Park offers parking lots.
By public transportation, take the tram in front of JR Matsuyama Station and get off at the Dogo-koen station.
If you go there from Tokyo or Osaka, I recommend traveling by plane or using an express bus.

That’s all. Thank you.
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