Noshima Castle was located on Noshima Island, which is in a narrow strait called Miyakubo-Seto, and part of the Geiyo Islands in the Seto Inland Sea. It was also built and operated by the Noshima-Murakami Clan, one of the three Murakami Navies which were very active around these islands.
能島城は、瀬戸内海の芸予諸島のうち、宮窪瀬戸と呼ばれる狭い海峡の真ん中に位置する能島にあった城です。この城は、芸予諸島で活躍した３つの村上水軍の一つ、能島村上氏によって築かれ使われていました。
After Nitakayama Castle was abandoned, its ruins were used as a place for the practices of the mountain priests. That’s why there are stone buddha statues and monuments they built on the top of the mountain.
Today, the ruins of Nitakayama Castle have been well developed for visitors as a hiking course. The course is the same or similar to the original main route of the castle. If you go on a path from the entrance of the route, you will find the path going beside a ridge on the right.
現在、新高山城跡はビジター向けにハイキングコースとしてよく整備されています。城のオリジナルの大手道と同じか似たルートのようです。大手道入口から小道に入っていくと、右側にある峰に沿って進んでいきます。
Ni-takayama Mountain, where Nitakayama Castle was built, is located on the western riverside of Nuta River while there is another mountain called Takayama across the river. The Kobayakawa Clan fist built their castle on Takayama, not on Ni-takayama. Takakage Kobayakawa who was its lord during the Sengoku Period moved his clan’s home to Ni-takayama.
新高山城が築かれた新高山は沼田川の西岸にありますが、その対岸にはもう一つの山、高山があります。この地方の領主、小早川氏は最初は新高山ではなく、高山に城を築きました。戦国時代に跡を継いだ小早川隆景が、一族の本拠地を新高山に移したのです。
Go along the former Oshu Road to the north until you get near Abukuma River, and look back to the left, you will see another great scenery. It is 180m long stone walls on a hill along the river, called Komine Castle Eastern Stone Walls.
旧奥州街道に沿って北の方に行き、阿武隈川が近くなってきたら、左の方に振り向いてみて下さい。素晴らしい光景を見ることができます。それは、小峰城東側石垣という、川に沿った丘の上に広がる１８０ｍもの長さの石垣です。
the ruins of the castle were turned into a park. Officials changed their policy for developing the ruins because the detailed drawings of the castle buildings were left by Sadanobu Matsudaira. They were wondering if the castle would be restored to its original condition. That would be the first attempt in the way large castle buildings are rebuilt in the present time of Japan.
城跡は公園となりましたがその後、城跡整備の方針は変更されることになりました。松平定信により城建物の詳細図面が残されていたからです。城を元通りの姿に戻せないか検討が始まったのです。これは現代の日本において、城の大型の建物を元通りに再建する最初の試みでした。
An epochal event happened to the castle in 1627 when Nagashige Niwa came there as the founder of the Shirakawa Domain. Nagashige was a son of Nagahide Niwa who was in charge of building Azuchi Castle, the fist modernized castle in Japan, under Nobunaga Oda. He was a master of castle constructions by following the know-how and connection from his father.