high stone walls – ページ 6 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

79.Imabari Castle Part3

This castle is beautiful and firmly built.

Features

Walking outside Inner Moat after getting out of Back Gate

The castle park also has the back gate called Yamazato-mon which was restored in 1990. To get out of the castle area, you have to go down a few stone steps, pass another Korai-mon style gate, and go across a narrow earthen bridge. The earthen bridge was originally wooden made which would have been fallen if a battle happened. The area around the gate is sunken, on the other hand, the area over the bridge extends upward.

The aerial photo around the castle

Seeing Yamazato-Yagura Turret connecting the gate from outside of the Inner Moat

The Korai-mon style gate and the earthen bridge

After you go out of the park, you can try walking around the Inner Moat. The moat is about 50 to 70m wide and the stone walls inside are 9 to 13m tall. They look like a floating fortress!

Seeing the castle from the Second Enclosure side

Imabari Port, Source of Inner Moat

After looking around, you can check out how the sea water gets inside the Inner Moat of the castle. You can also see the water reservoir near the main entrance of the park. If you go along the waterway towards the source, you will reach the Imabari Port which was the castle port. It was located at the edge of the Middle Moat in the past. Because of that source, the surface level of the Inner Moat is changing depending on the tide.

The water reservoir at the Inner Moat side

The water reservoir at Imabari Port side

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Imabari Castle was abandoned and all the castle buildings were eventually demolished or burned. The Main Enclosure was turned into the Fukiage Shrine in 1872 before the Fukiage Park was established including the Second Enclosure in 1914. That’s why the main portion of the castle inside the Inner Moat still remains, while the outside of the moat was all turned into the city area. Since the castle ruins were designated as a Prefectural Historic Site of Ehime in 1953, Imabari City has been developing and restoring them as a historical park as mentioned above.

The main portion of the castle as the park

Bugu-Yagura Turret, the other restored turret

My Impression

After walking around the Inner Moat to see the great view of the moat and the high stone walls, I noticed Imabari Castle was quite practical. Why did Takatora Todo make the Inner Moat around 50m wide and the stone walls around 10m high? I speculate that the defenders on the stone walls were able to hit the attackers outside the Inner Moat effectively by guns and arrows. On the other hand, the guns and arrows from the attackers could not be useful. I think Takatora built this castle that way. Imabari Castle was beautiful as well as so strong.

The height of the stone walls and the width of the Inner Moat may have been the best to protect the castle

A view of the castle from the Imitation Main Tower

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about 15 minutes from Imabari-Kita IC on the Nishi-Seto Expressway or about 20 minutes from Imabari-Yunoura IC on the Imabari-Komatsu Expressway. There is a parking lot beside the main entrance of the park.
By public transportation, you can take the Setouchi Bus bound for Imabari-Eigyosho from Imabari Station and get off at the Imabari-jo-mae bus stop or it takes about 30 minutes on foot from the station to get there.
From Tokyo or Osaka to Imabari Station: I recommend traveling by plane and when you get there you can take the bus or train to get to Imabari station.

The parking lot beside the main entrance of the park

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

A great appearance of a sea castle

Features

Entering Castle over Inner Moat using Sea Water

Today, Imabari Castle, which is now also called the Fukiage Park, has only its main portion surrounded by the Inner Moat, but still looks so great. The contrast of the high stone walls and Inner Moat is very impressive and may also be artistic. Some buildings were rebuilt that include the Main Tower on the stone walls to make it more attractive. It is still near the Imabari Port and uses the sea water for the Inner Moat, and maintains the sea castle atmosphere.

The aerial photo around the castle

The remaining main portion of Imabari Castle as a park

Visitors usually enter the castle from the main entrance which was one of the square Masugata spaces in front of the Inner Moat. You can go across the earthen bridge over the moat towards the main gate called Kurogane-gomon or the Iron Gate like the past visitors used to do. The gate is still surrounded by great stone walls, forming a Masugata space. It was actually restored in 2007 based on the Imabari Domain’s records and the excavation results, including some of the walls.

The earthen bridge seen from the main entrance

The stone walls use some huge ornament stones and one of which is the largest one in the castle. It is called Kanbe Stone, which was named after Kanbe Watanabe who was responsible for the castle construction under Takatora Todo. In fact, the gate space had another Korai-mon style building in the front, and in the past some visitors could be completely locked up in the gate. That was a way to protect the castle.

Kanbe Stone, the largest stone in the castle

The original structure of the Masugata system, from the signboard at the site

Several Turrets are restored in Second Enclosure

Inside the gate is the Second Enclosure, which is rectangular shaped. It had the Main Hall for the lord, and now has the statue of Takatora Todo riding a horse.

The front square is the Second Enclosure

The three turrets at each corner were also restored in the present time, which were used for exhibitions. (the other corner of it is shared with the Main Enclosure.) Part of the Hall Turrets called Tamon-Yagura connecting the turrets above were also restored on the stone walls.

Olane-Yagura Turret, one of the restored turrets in the Second Enclosure

Imitation Main Tower is built in Main Enclosure

The Main Enclosure is next to the Second Enclosure, which is quadrate and around half the size of it. It now has the Fukiage Shine inside, but both enclosures look the one because there is no partition between them. In the past, there were mud walls between them, so visitors going to the Main Enclosure had to pass another Masugata space as well.

There were also four turrets at each corner, but only their stone wall bases are remaining except for the northern corner. This is where you can see the Imitation Main Tower. This tower was built in 1980 when it was still uncertain where the original Main Tower had been. It also doesn’t resemble the Multi-story type Main Tower Takatora created because the current one looks like a Look-out tower. This is probably due to the designer considering the popular design of the some towers at that time.

No turrets were restored in the Main Enclosure except for the one corner

The Imitation Main Tower was built on the northern corner of the Main Enclosure

You can enter the tower passing the former Masugata space which is surrounded by the stone walls. It is actually a modern building which is used as a historical museum and an observation platform.

The entrance of the Imitation Main Tower

A view of Imabari Port from the Imitation Main Tower

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

79.Imabari Castle Part1

The monumental castle-building techniques of Takatoro Todo

Location and History

Takatora Todo builds Castle as his ideal Home Base

Imabari Castle is located in Imabari City in the northern part of Ehime Prefecture which was called Iyo Province in the past. The castle was built in 1604 by Takatora Todo who was a well-known master of castle construction. So far, he built several castles, for example, Wakayama and Akagi Castles when he was a retainer, Uwajima and Ozu Castles after he became a feudal lord of some parts of Iyo Province. However, Imabari Castle was his first home base which was built form the ground up independently. That means he was able to throw all his ideas and experiences in building the castle. That resulted in the castle becoming the monumental work of his castle construction.

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

The range of Iyo Province and the location of the castle

Before the construction, Takatora joined the invasion of Korea in 1597 as the leader of the Japanese Navy. From the experience, he thought his new castle would need a good location for naval support and water transportation. That’s why the castle was built facing the Seto Inland Sea, as a sea and plain castle. Such a location could had been difficult and dangerous because the seaside ground was too soft to build a castle and enemies could attack the plain land easily. To prevent them from happening, berms called Inubasiri were first built for the base of the stone walls. The berms would also be used for standing fences when enemies would attack the castle. The castle was also surrounded by water moats tripled, to which the sea supplied water.

The stone walls of Imabari Castle were built on the berms

Simple but Defensive Layout

Other than the specific conditions for Imabari area, Takatora introduced new common and easy ways of building castles to Imabari Castle but it was strongly protected from sudden attacks. The main portion of the castle, which combined the Main and Second Enclosures, was simply square shaped, which was easy to construct and accommodate large troops. While it may be weak for defense, the portion was surrounded by the wide Inner Moat, high stone walls, and many turrets on the walls. The gates of the portion were strongly guarded with a square defensive space called Masugata. Moreover, to enter the Main Gate, visitors had to pass other small enclosure called Demaru or the Barbican in front of the Inner Moat, which had another Masugata, and go across the earthen bridge over the moat. Such structures can be seen in other castles which Takatora would later be involved in, such as Nagoya, Nijo, and Sasayama.

The illustration of Imabari Castle in Iyo Province, exhibited by Cultural Heritage Online

The miniature model of Sasayama Castle, exhibited by the Large Study Hall of Sasayama Castle

Takatora creates Multi-storied type Main Towers?

Another Takatora’s invention of building castles is a new type of Main Towers, called multi-storied type or “Soto-shiki”. The Main Towers had usually been built in a method, called look-tower type or “Boro shiki”, which had many decorations such as gables or “Hafu” and bell-shaped windows or “Kato-mado”. The new method had simply square floors diminished towards the top with minimal roofing. That made the Main Towers more efficient and also made the tower easier to protect. The Main Tower of Imabari Castle is said to be the first multi-storied type with five levels, which was built in the Main Enclosure.

The Main Tower of Shimabara Castle, a typical multi-storied type one

The Main Tower of Inuyama Castle, a typical look-tower type one

In fact, it is not scientifically proven by excavation whether or not the Main Tower was really built in Imabari Castle. This is because the tower was demolished to be moved to another place when Takatora was transferred to Iga-Ueno Castle in 1608 after his short stay in Imabari Castle. Takatora once thought the tower should be used for his Iga-Ueno Castle, but he finally presented it to the Tokugawa Shogunate for the construction of Kameyama Castle which was ordered by the shogunate. According to the old photo of the castle’s Main Tower, it is certainly a five-level multi-storied type tower. This story was recorded only in Takatora’s biography or his clan’s annuals. There has been no evidence for the tower found in Imabari Castle such as the trace of its stone wall base. Some historians speculate that the Main Tower of Imabari Castle might have been built directly on the ground, not using any stone wall base.

The old photo of the Main Tower of Kamayama Castle *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The castle itself was followed by Takatora’s relative, Takayoshi Todo until 1635 and finally the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira Clan. The clan had been originally called just Hisamatsu, then it was allowed to use the family name Matsudaira which meant the shogun’s relatives after its lord accepted Ieyasu Tokugawa’s mother as the later wife. The clan governed the castle and the area, called the Imabari Domain, until the end of the Edo Period.

To be continued in “Imabari Castle Part2”