タグ: Hiketa port

177.Hiketa Castle Part2

The great stone walls of the castle, the great view from the castle

Features

Becoming hiking trail now

Now, the ruins of Hiketa Castle has also become a hiking trail. There are two trails to the top of the mountain called the Tanoura Campsite side route and the Hiketa Port side route. If you drive to the castle ruins, it’s better for you to park beside the Tanoura Campsite side route.

The map around the castle

The location map of Hiketa Castle Ruins at the site

The trail is steep, but the top area is relatively flat. That meant it was a good point for a mountain castle as it was difficult to attack but easy to defend. You will first find the Northern Enclosure which has no stone walls. It was thought that the enclosure remained the same as what it had been before the Ikoma Clan came. However, the clan didn’t use it as their castle.

The entrance of the Tanoura Campsite side route
You can see the trail is very steep from above
The Northern Enclosure

Great stone walls of Northern Second Enclosure

You will now see the apex of the castle, the doubled tier stone walls which surrounded the Northern Second Enclosure. The upper tier is 2 to 3m high and the lower tier is 5 to 6m high. So together, they are almost 10m high in total. Though the upper one is unfortunately covered to prevent it from collapsing, even just seeing the lower one is great.

Approaching the Northern Second Enclosure
The upper tier of the stone walls of the Northern Second Enclosure
The lower tier of the stone walls of the Northern Second Enclosure

These stone walls are originally form the Ikoma Clan’s period which can’t be seen in other castles like Takamatsu and Marugame Castles. This is because both castles were improved and developed by other lords after the Ikoma Clan. Only the remaining old stone walls at the foot of Marugame Castle might have been built by the Ikoma Clan.

The old stone walls of Marugame Castle

It was said that this enclosure had the Main Hall for the lord and there was the Main Gate under the enclosure. That is the reason why the great stone walls were built to show the authority of the lord to the visitors. Finally, the original Main Route to the Main Gate is not being used now.

The inside of the Northern Second Enclosure

Great view from Main Enclosure

From the Northern Second Enclosure, other enclosures spread into two directions which look like the letter U. One of them is the Main Enclosure in the south. It is long and narrow and faces the Hiketa Port. It also has some remaining stone walls and the ruins of the base for a Main Tower. Therefore, the enclosure would have stood out in the past. You can see a good view of the port and Hiketa town from the enclosure. That meant people in Hiketa would have looked up at the buildings and stone walls clearly in the past.

The remaining stone walls of the Main Enclosure
A view seen from above the stone walls
The ruins of the base for a Main Tower
A view of Hiketa Port seen from around the base for the tower

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

177.Hiketa Castle Part1

The forgotten castle in the eastern part of Sanuki Province

Location and History

Castle on Mountain supporting Port

Hiketa Castle was located on an 82m high mountain called Shiro-yama in the eastern part of Sanuki Province which is the modern day Kagawa Prefecture. The Hiketa Port, facing the Harima Sea, beside the mountain which could prevent strong wind from blowing into the port. The port became popular amongst ships waiting for favorable wind from the Ancient Times. It was said that the mountain was also used as a fire beacon platform at that time. In the Middle Ages, several lords used the mountain as Hiketa Castle. For example, in 1583, Hisahide Sengoku under the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi fought with Motochika Chosogabe using Hiketa Castle. Overall, the castle was used whenever it was needed. It was built with natural terrain.

The location of the castle

The aerial photo around the castle

The portrait of Hisahide Sengoku, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

One of Important Branch Castles in Sanuki Province

During the unification of Japan, Hideyoshi gave Sanuki Province to his retainer, Chikamasa Ikoma in 1587. Initially, Chikamasa lived in Hiketa Castle, but soon after that, he moved to another one, and finally built Takamatsu Castle as his new home base. However, Hiketa Castle was maintained as one of the branch castles of Takamatsu Castle. The stone walls were built surrounding the enclosures on the top of the mountain. Part of them still remain on the mountain. They were specifically built in places where visitors often came and local people could look up from the foot of the mountain. That was the way for Hideyoshi and his retainers to show their authority to the people in their new territories. It was said that the way originated from the castles like Nobunaga Oda’s Azuchi Castle and Nagayosi Miyoshi’s Imori Castle.

The portrait of Chikamasa Ikoma, owned by Kokenji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Takamatsu Castle
The remaining stone walls of Hiketa Castle
The ruins of Azuchi Castle
The ruins of Imori Castle

Some castle buildings were also built on the enclosures, but the details are uncertain because none of them remained. However, it was thought that the buildings looked like those of Takamatsu Castle. That’s because the roof tiles, which were made from the same model, were excavated from both sites. That meant there might have been the three castles which had very similar appearance in Sanuki Province which the Ikoma Clan owned. They were Takamatsu Castle in the center which was their home base, Hiketa Castle in the east, and Marugame Castle, which was the other branch castle in the west. Hiketa Castle was at its peak at the beginning of the 17th Century. The castle town was also built beside Hiketa Port.

Marugame Castle

Abandoned by Law of One Castle per Province

However, Hiketa Castle was abandoned in 1615 due to the Law of One Castle per Province which was created by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Only Takamatsu Castle was allowed to be used from then on. Marugame Castle was once abandoned at the same time as Hiketa Castle. However, Marugame Castle was rebuilt when Sanuki Province was divided by other lords later on. As a result, Hiketa Castle was the only castle that had peace and quiet and stayed idle eventually becoming forgotten for a long time.

The ruins of Hiketa Castle

To be continued in “Hiketa Castle Part2”