Bannaji temple – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

15.Ashikaga Clan Hall Part3

The hall survived because it became a temple.

Features

Ashikaga School

The Ashikaga School is next to Bannaji Temple in the southeast. The school teaching Confucianism was said to be moved to the current place during the Muromachi Period and have as many as 3,000 students during the Sengoku Period. Its remaining buildings are few such as the Confucian Shrine and some gates, but other parts including the school buildings, earthen walls and water moats were recently restored. You may feel it is more likely to look like a warrior’s hall than the temple.

The map around the castle

The remaining Nyutoku-mon Gate of Ashikaga School

The restored school building of Ashikaga School

The restored earthen walls and water moats surround the school

Ruins of Kabasaki Temple

The ruins of Kabasaki Temple (the current Kabasaki Hachimangu Shrine) are about 5km away from Bannaji Temple in the northeast. Kabasaki Temple had been originally built by Yoshikane Ashikaga as his retreat, and considered the holy of the hollies for his clan. However, it declined after the Meiji Restoration for the same reason as Bannaji Temple with the only one building remaining. The site was recently excavated and has been developing as a historical site by officials. There, you can see the foundations of its buildings such as the Multi-Treasure Pagoda and the Mausoleum. That’s why there might have been similar scenery to Bannaji Temple in the past. In addition, restored stone steps go down from the ruins to the restored Pure Land style pond garden. The style refers to the builder who wanted to create a Pure Land in his garden so that they could go the real Pure Land after their death. The garden probably shows Yoshikane’s religious faith.

The restored Pure Land style pond garden

My Impression

I had little complex impression about Ashikaga Clan Hall when I visited the ruins. They don’t have outstanding items for a castle, instead, they remained as a temple. If the hall continued to be used as the hall, it wouldn’t have survived until now because of some battles or conversions. Hence, I understood that it is rare to see such many old remaining buildings in one place as the hall was turned into the temple.

How to get There

If you want to visit Ashikaga Clan Hall Ruins by car, it is about a 15-minute drive away from Ashikaga IC on the Kita-Kanto Expressway. There is a parking lot for visitors of the tourist information center in Ashikaga City, called Taiheikikan, near the ruins. It would be better to use a car if you also want to visit Kabasaki Temple Ruins.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes on foot from JR Ashikaga Station or Tobu Ashikagashi Station.
From Tokyo to JR Ashikaga Station: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen super express and transfer to the Ryomo line at Oyama Station.
From Tokyo to Tobu Ashikagashi Station: Take the JR Ueno-Tokyo Line from Tokyo Station and transfer to the Ryomo limited express on the Tobu Isesaki Line at Kitasenju Station.

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Ashikaga Clan Hall Part1”
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15.Ashikaga Clan Hall Part2

Ashikaga remains with an atmosphere of the medieval city.

Later History

Even after Ashikaga Clan Hall was turned into Bannaji temple, Ashikaga town continued to prosper more and more as the home town of the Ashikaga Shogunate family. The temple had as many as 12 branch temples outside the square area during its peak. In the Edo Period, the Tokugawa Shogunate helped the town and temples as they had declared the shoguns were a branch of the Nitta Clan, a relative of the Ashikaga Clan, which meant they were descendants of the Minamoto Clan.

The illustration of the main and twelve branch temples, owned by Bannnaji Temple, quoted from the Ashikaga City Website

However, after the Meiji Restoration, the temple declined and lost all the branch temples. This was because of a movement to abolish Buddhism called Haibutsu-Kishaku in the first Meiji Era. Only the main temple in the square area survived. As for castle ruins, it was designated as a National Historic Site of Ashikaga Clan Hall in 1922. Ashikaga City has been developing the area around including the Ashikaga School and Kabasaki Hachimangu Shrine (the former Kabasaki Temple) as a historical site as well as a tourist spot.

Only the main Bannaji Temple remains now

Features

Hall Ruins are surrounded by Earthen Walls and Moats

Today, Ashikaga continues to have an atmosphere of a medieval city. Bannaji Temple as the ruins of Ashikaga Clan Hall is its center. One side block of the hall, which is about 200m long, remains with earthen walls and water moats surrounding it. Ducks and carps swim on and in the moats. The walls might have been higher and the moats might have been wider and deeper when they were used for the hall, but the current state matches the temple now.

The aerial photo around the castle

The remaining earthen walls and water moats around the hall ruins

Main building as National Treasure

The inside of the block has buildings only for the temple, not for the hall. However, you should check out many remaining old buildings. The largest main building was built in 1299 during the Kamakura Period and has been designated as a National Treasure. You can see, on the ridge tiles of its roof, three family crests of the Imperial family in the center, Daigoji Temple which was the head temple of Bannaji on the left, and the Ashikaga Clan on the right. The two highest ridge-end tiles called Shachihoko or the Grampuses have lightning rods to prevent a fire from a stroke of lightning.

The main building as a National Treasure

The three family crests on the ridge tiles

One of the Grampuses with a lightning rod

Temple buildings show help from Goverments

The Bell-Tower of the temple was also built during the Kamakura Period and has been designated as an Important Cultural Property.

The Bell-Tower as an Important Cultural Property

The Sutra Library was built in 1407 during the Muromachi Period by Mitsukane Ashikaga, the head of the Kanto government.

The Sutra Library which is another Important Cultural Property in the temple

The Eastern and Western Gates were also rebuilt during the same period by the administration office, which look like simple gates for the hall.

The Multi-Treasure Pagoda and the Mausoleum were rebuilt by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Overall, you can see the temple had been helped by the successive governments for a long time.

To be continued in “Ashikaga Clan Hall Part3”
Back to “Ashikaga Clan Hall Part1”

15.Ashikaga Clan Hall Part1

The hometown of the Ashikaga Clan

Location and History

Seiwa-Genji family develops and settles in Ashikaga Manor

Ashikaga Clan Hall was located in modern day the center of Ashikaga City in Tochigi Prefecture. In fact, it has now become Bannaji Temple, a famous old one itself. It may not have looked like a typical castle that we usually imagine, but it was said that the ruins remain the first formation of a Japanese warrior’s hall with defense systems.

The Ashikaga Clan is more popular as the shoguns of the Ashikaga Shogunate during the Muromachi Period in the 14th and 15th Centuries than as a local lord. As a matter of fact, the history of the clan started in the 12th Century at Ashikaga Manor (similar to the current Ashikaga City) in Shimotsuke Province (presently Tochigi Prefecture) they developed. Yoshikuni Minamoto, who was the ancestor of the clan and a member of the Seiwa-Genji family line, one of the descendants of the Imperial Family, first settled there.

The range of Ashikaga City and the location of the castleKabasaki-Hachimangu Shrine[/leaflet-marker

Before the Kamakura Shogunate was established, warriors needed to formally donate their developed land to high-class nobles as a manor to keep their own territories, otherwise, they were not guaranteed by any public institutions. That’s why Yoshikuni settled and developed their territory which would be called Ashikaga Manor by making great effort. Since then, they have called themselves the name of the land “Ashikaga” as their family name. Yoshikuni’s son, Yoshiyasu Ashikaga was said to be the founder of the clan and first built Ashikaga Clan Hall followed by his son, Yoshikane, the second generation of the clan.

The portrait of Yoshikane Ashikaga, owned by Bannaji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Typical Residence of Early Samurai

The features of the hall include earthen walls and the outside water moats which surround the area. They form a square, so historians call such typical warriors’ halls “Hokan” or the Square Hall. One side of the square is around 200m long. This style of halls was used for a long time until the 17th Century during the Sengoku Period, such as Takeda Clan Hall and Ouchi Clan Hall. Lords and warriors usually lived in their halls which could provide relief in case of an emergency like a battle. Therefore, Ashikaga Clan Hall can be considered one of the earliest castles built by warriors in Japan.

The remaining earthen walls and water moats of Ashikaga Clan Hall

The miniature model of Takeda Clan Hall, exhibited by Kofu Fujimura Memorial Museum

The ruins of Ouchi Clan Hall (the current Ryufukuji Temple)

Yoshikane contributed the launch of the Kamakura Shogunate at the end of the 12th Century by Yoritomo Minamoto, the head of the Minamoto Clan and the first Shogun of the Samurai government in Japan, as a relative of Yoritomo. He was also a religious person who built a private building for worshiping Buddhist images, which would be the origin of Bannaji Temple. Furthermore, he established Kabasaki Temple for his retirement and was said to be one of the founders of the Ashikaga School which was one of the highest academies in the Middle Ages of Japan, which would have made Ashikaga a medieval cultural city.

The remaining Gakko-mon or the School Gate of Ashikaga School

Ashikaga Clan survives in Kamakura Period and becomes Shoguns in Muromachi Period

Yoshikane’s son, Yoshiuji became a senior vassal of the Kamakura Shogunate even though the shoguns of the Minamoto Clan died off and the Hojo Clan got the power as the regent. The Ashikaga Clan also got new territories such as in Mikawa Province (now part of modern day Aichi Prefecture). That’s why Yoshiuji usually lived in Kamakura, the capital of the shogunate, where his clan set the government office for controlling their territories. Even their original home base, Ashikaga Manor was governed by the administration office, not by the lord of the clan. Therefore, Yoshiuji turned his father’s hall in Ashikaga (Ashikaga Clan Hall) into Bannaji Temple in 1234 to pray for his father’s happiness in the next world and for his clan’s prosperity.

The portrait of Yoshiuji Ashikaga, owned by Bannaji Temple, drawn in the Edo Period (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Kannno Mountain (now called Iwai Mountain) where the administration office of Ashikaga Manor was built

The Ashikaga Clan survived all through the Kamakura Period while many other senior vassals of the shogunate were defeated by the Hojo Clan. Many of the Ashikaga’s lords came from the mothers that came from the Hojo Clan, that way, they could keep the second position in the shogunate. It was also said that many warriors wanted the Ashikaga Clan to change the country as a follower of the Minamoto Clan. Takauji Ashikaga, the lord of the 5th generations after Yoshiuji, was born from the mother who did not come from the Hojo Clan. These may be the reasons why he defeated the shogunate together with Emperor Godaigo and Yoshisada Nitta, another descendant of the Minamoto Clan.

The portrait of Takauji Ashikaga, owned by Jodo-ji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Emperor Godaigo, owned by Shojokoji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Yoshisada Nitta, owned by Fujishima Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Ashikaga Clan Hall Part2”