タグ: climbing stone walls

81.Matsuyama Castle Part3

You can enjoy both of real buildings and stone walls.

Features

Main Compound and Main Tower on it

The highlight of the castle is the Main Compound including the Main Tower in the back of the Main Enclosure. It looks so great as it was by mixing the remaining and restored buildings.

The front side of the Min Compound

The map around the Main Compound

To reach the tower, you need to pass the zigzagging inner route again through the remaining First, Second and Third Gates. There are also remaining mud walls with loop holes on the way. You can see other visitors though the holes.

The First Gate
The Second Gate
The Third Gate
The remaining East Wall of Sujigane Gate
You can see other visitors though a loop hole

Then, you will eventually arrive at the inner court of the Main Tower. Its style is called the Tower Grouping, so the court is surrounded by the Large and Small Towers and other turrets. Enemies would be destroyed if they could pass through that complex route earlier on.

Sujigane Gate, the entrance to the buildings of the tower grouping
The inner court

Visitors today first enter the Cellar, basement of the Large Tower, and walk around the other buildings like a corridor, seeing the exhibitions about the castle. In fact, the buildings there except for the Large Tower were all restored after the arson in 1933. They were built the same as the original one, so you may think they were not restored.

The Cellar of the Large Main Tower
Visitors first walk around the other buildings of the tower grouping
The stairs to the top of the restored Small Main Tower
The second floor of the Small Main Tower
The attic of the Small Main Tower
A view of the inner court from the Small Main Tower

After walking around, you will eventually enter the remaining Large Tower again. You can climb up the steep wooden steps to the top third floor. The floor is open and you can enjoy an even more great view there.

The first floor of the Large Main Tower
The second floor of the Large Main Tower
The stairs to the top
The interior of the top floor
A view from the western side of the Large Main Tower (the buildings of the tower grouping in front, the city area and the Seto Inland Sea in back)
A view from the southern side of the Large Main Tower (the Main Enclosure in front, the city area in back)

Great Stone Walls

If you have time. I recommend seeing the back side of the Main Enclosure, as there are also several remaining or restored buildings. For example, Nohara Turret is said to be one of the oldest buildings in the castle, which is the only remaining example of a two-tier Lookout Tower style turret.

The map around the Main Enclosure

The back side of the Main Compound (the Northern Corner Turret on the left and the Southern Corner Turret on the right)
Nohara Turret

If you also get out of the restored Inui-mon or Northwest Gate, which is the back gate, and go back to the Main Gate Ruins, you can see the long, great, high stone walls of the Main Enclosure along the way. They look very beautiful having vertical curves like a folding fan and horizontal lines like a folding screen. However, they were originally built to attack enemies efficiently.

The Northwest Gate
The stone walls of the northwestern side of the Main Enclosure, Nohara Turret is over there
The stone walls of the northeastern side of the Main Enclosure, one of the oldest in the castle
The stone walls the Main Enclosure near the Main Compound, you can see the building of the Second Gate
Continuous stone walls
The great stone walls of the Southeast Turret

Finally, I recommend you using the Kencho-ura Route when you return to the foot, because the route is well developed and you can see the remaining Southern Climbing Stone Walls close by. Though the Northern Climbing Stone Walls were unfortunately mostly destroyed, the southern stone walls were still intact, which is over 230m long covering the slope. It is said to have the best condition among the other remaining climbing stone walls such as in Sumoto, Hikone and Yonago Castles.

Kencho-ura Route
The Sothern Climbing Stone Walls along the route
The continuous Climbing Stone Walls
The Climbing Stone Walls of Hikone Castle

My Impression

Matsuyama Castle has become one of the most famous symbols of Matsuyama City. If you walk around the city area, you can see the castle buildings on the mountain from almost anywhere. In addition, if you visit and see them, you can still find and re-experience how to build and use the castle like people in the past used to do. This is because the city made great efforts not only for maintaining the original items but also for restoring many buildings like the original ones. I learned a lot from the castle and recommend you visiting and seeing it.

The Main Tower with the Main Compound of Matsuyama Castle

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about 30 minutes from Matsuyama IC on the Matsuyama Expressway. There is a parking lot in the park.
By public transportation, you can take the city tram bound for Dogo-Onsen from JR Matsuyama Station or Matsuyama-shi Station on the Iyo Railway and get off at the Okaido stop. It takes about 5 minutes on foot from the stop to get to the park.
From Tokyo or Osaka to Matsuyama City: I recommend traveling by plane and you can take the bus or rent a car to get there.

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Matsuyama Castle Part1”
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164.Sumoto Castle Part3

What is the essential value of this castle?

Features

Attractions of Eastern Enclosure

If you have time, I recommend you seeing the Eastern Enclosure more, which also have many other attractions. For example, there is Jitsugetsu-no-ike Pond, or the Pond of the Sun and the Moon, which was used as a well for the castle. The enclosure also has the ruins of the Second Eastern Gate on the eastern side, which use the oldest stone walls in the castle. Outside the gate ruins, you can look down the eastern Climbing Stone Walls which line from the foot to the top. They look great, but you had better not get too close to them, because part of them collapsed and could be dangerous to explore.

The map around the castle

The Pond of the Sun and the Moon of the Eastern Enclosure
The ruins of the Second Eastern Gate of the Eastern Enclosure
The eastern Climbing Stone Walls

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Sumoto Castle was abandoned and its ruins on the mountain became part of a natural park called Mikuma Park. The imitation Main Tower was built as an attraction for the park. Its area at the foot of the mountain was turned into the city area including a court, a museum, and residences. The stone walls on the mountain have been researched and restored. As a result, the mountain part of the castle was finally designated as a National Historic Site in 1999. On the other hand, the imitation tower will soon cease to exist. However, under the current regulations for National Historic Sites, the tower may not be allowed to be replaced without certain evidence for its original building. Local people want to maintain something for a symbol of the castle, despite the fact that it is still unknown what the castle buildings on the mountain looked like. This is because they were demolished about 400 years ago. How will the local governments such as Sumoto City decide the future of these castles?

The Imitation Main Tower of Sumoto Castle

My Impression

I was really surprised to see such great original stone walls remain in good condition on the mountain. There are few similar cases in Japan. This is because people in Sumoto have been putting great efforts in maintaining them. However, I think these stone walls are not popular despite being the most important element of the castle, so they and their history should be known to more people in other areas. I also hope that all the stone walls of the castle including the Climbing Stone Walls could be made intact. It may be difficult to do it in a short time, but if it is done, Sumoto Castle could become more popular and people in Somoto could have more pride in Sumoto Castle no matter the imitation tower is kept or not.

The stone walls of the Belt Enclosure in front of the Main Gate Ruins
The stone walls of the southwest corner of the Main Enclosure
The Imitation Main Tower on the original stone wall base

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 20 minutes away from Sumoto IC on Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway.
The ruins offer a parking lot near the top of the mountain.
By public transportation, it takes about 40 minutes walking from the Sumoto Bus Center.
You can take an express bus from Osaka or Kobe to the bus center.

The parking lot near the top of the mountain

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

164.Sumoto Castle Part1

A great castle on Awaji Island

Location and History

Castle built in Independent Awaji Province

Sumoto Caste was located on Awaji Island which is between the main island of Japan and Shikoku Island with two narrow straits. Awaji Island is also surrounded by the Harima Sea, Osaka Bay and Kii Channel. The island was also near Kyoto, which was considered the center of Japan. Awaji was regarded as an important location before the Modern Times, especially for controlling and monitoring water transportation.

The location of the castle

As a result, it became an independent province and was called Awaji Province (what is now part of Hyogo Prefecture). In the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period, the Atagi Clan under the Miyoshi Clan first built Sumoto Castle for commanding navy forces. However, the Atagi Clan surrendered to the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1581. Hideyoshi finally sent his retainer, Yasuharu Wakizaka, to Sumoto Castle in 1585. Yasuharu governed the castle as the lord of the Sumoto Domain for 24 years until 1609 when he was transferred to Ozu Castle.

The portrait of Yasuharu Wakizaka, owned by Tatsuno Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Yasuharu Wakizawa improved Castle significantly

Sumoto Castle was originally a simple mountain castle made of soil on Mikuma-yama Mountain where the sea area around can be seen from the top. Yasuharu renovated Sumoto Castle by building stone walls and many turrets including the Main Tower on the mountain. These structures came from the typical method for building castles used by Hideyoshi and his retainers. This building method spread across the whole country during Hideyoshi’s unification of Japan. They made their castles stronger which made people recognize their authority. Yasuharu also built his main hall and the castle town at the foot of the mountain. He finally constructed a direct route made with terraced stone walls called Nobori-Ishigaki or the Climbing Stone Walls. The stone walls connected the foot and the top of the mountain. This is one of the few remaining examples of it which some lords, including Yasuharu, developed during the Imjin War in Korea for transmission or defense. He applied it to Sumoto Castle after he returned to Japan. Sumoto Castle was then considered completed.

The relief map around the castle

The stone walls of the Main Enclosure
The Climbing Stone Walls

Castle is once abandoned

However, Sumoto Castle was not used by other lords after Yasuharu was transferred. This was because Awaji Province became part of their territories and they used other castles as their branch castles in the province. Moreover, the castle was once abandoned after The Law of One Castle per Province by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1615. All the buildings on the mountain were demolished by the Hachisuka Clan which governed Awaji Province and Awa Province (what is now Tokushima Prefecture) at that time. According to a theory, the Main Tower for Sumoto Castle was moved to Ozu Castle by Yasuharu before Sumoto Castle was abandoned. The style of the Main Tower at Ozu Castle matches one of the popular methods for main towers when Yasuharu was at Sumoto Castle.

The location of branch castles in Awaji Island

Ozu Castle

Stone walls maintained as branch of Hachisuka Clan

In 1631, the Hachisuka Clan restored Sumoto Castle as their branch castle in Awaji Province for reasons unknown. They sent their senior vassal, the Inada Clan to the castle to govern it. However, the center of the castle was set at the foot of the mountain by re-building the main hall for the lord. The mountain part had just the maintained stone walls which the Wakizaka Clan built, with few new gates added. This is probably because Sumoto Castle was a branch of Hachisuka Clan, not their home base called Tokushima Castle, but needed as a place for emergency on the mountain. This unique design was kept until the end of the Edo Period in the middle of the 19th Century.

Part of the illustration of Sumoto Castle and the castle town, in the Edo Period, exhibited by the National Diet Library, Only the stone walls already remained on the mountain
The castle ruins of the foot of the mountain(licensed by Reggaeman via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Sumoto Castle Part2”