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

114.Karasawayama Castle Part1

The last lord of the castle, Nobuyoshi Sano built high stone walls on the main portion of the castle, which was a rare case in the region. It must have been done with help from Hideyoshi Toyotomi because he and his retainers had built many similar stone walls in western Japan.

Location and History

Sano Clan builds Castle during Sengoku Period

Karasawayama Castle was located in modern day Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture, which was a large mountain castle beside the northern edge of the Kanto Plain. Tradition says that a famous general, Hidesato Fujiwara built it in 972 during the Ancient times. However, historians think that it was created by the Sano Clan, who were descendants of Hidesato and governed the castle for a long time. According to the results of the research and studies, the clan first lived in a hall at the western foot of the mountain until the 15th Century. It was thought that the castle was built or developed by the clan on the mountain when many battles happened in the Kanto Region, during the Sengoku Period. Other popular mountain castles in the region like Kanayama and Minowa Castles were built at the same time to protect the owners under the severe conditions. The Sano Clan first used the mountain castle in the cases of emergency, but eventually lived in it to survive.

The range of Sano City and the location of the castle

The relief map around the castle

The ruins of the Sano Clan’s residence (current Koshoji Temple)

Kenshin Uesugi devotes to capture Castle

On the other hand, great warlords, who wanted to rule over the region, thought they would need to get Karasawayama Castle because of its advantageous location. Kenshin Uesugi was one of them and was devoted to do it. There is a symbolic episode when he first invaded the Kanto Region around 1560. He visited Karasawayama Castle with few vassals, which was surrounded by his enemy, the Hojo Clan’s large troops, to persuade the lord of castle, Masatsuna Sano to support him until he succeeded. However, every time Kenshin returned to his home, Kasugayama Castle in Echigo Province, the Hojo Clan got its territory back and forced local lords to support it. Masatsuna was one of them and he had to switch allegiance.

*The portrait of Kenshin Uesugi, owned by the Uesugi Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Kenshin, who is considered one of the strongest generals, got angry and attacked the castle, but was not able to capture it by force as it was really strong. Even when Masatsuna surrendered to Kenshin, they would do the same things after Kenshin went back. As a result, they fought with each other at least five times. Kenshin once banished Masatsuna from the castle and sent his relative and vassals to govern it. However, he finally returned the castle to Masatsuna for some reasons. He might have felt the difficulty of how to control this distant site.

*The portrait of Masatsuna Sano, owned by Daianji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

High stone walls are built with help of Hideyoshi Toyotomi

The Kanto Region, including Karasawayama Castle, eventually belonged to the Hojo Clan during the 1570’s and 1580’s. It sent its relative, Ujitada Hojo to govern the castle like Kenshin had used to do. On the other hand, Masatsuna’s relative, Fusatsuna Sano ran away from the region to western Japan to serve Hideyoshi Toyotomi who was the ruler of Japan at that time. Fusatsuna led Hideyoshi to the region when they invaded it in 1590, which resulted in Fusatsuna getting the castle back as the lord. However, Hideyoshi seemed to also want to control the castle. He made the little brother of his close vassal, Nobutaka Tomita to be the successor of Fusatsuna, which would be called Nobuyoshi Sano, the last lord of the clan and the castle. This could be because his rival, Ieyasu Tokugawa was moved by him to the region. He wanted to have Ieyasu monitored by someone reliable.

The Portrait of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, attributed to Mitsunobu Kano, owned by Kodaiji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Karasawayama Castle was built on a large mountain which had several ridges. Lots of enclosures were also built on the top and the ridges which had turrets, lookouts, guard houses and shooting points to monitor and attack enemies. These ridges or enclosures were divided by deep ditches to prevent enemies from invading easily. There are two main routes in the south and west, which gathered at the meeting point in front of the Main Gate near the top, which were controlled by the castle’s soldiers. The foot area was used as the lords and senior vassals’ residences surrounded by thick and long earthen walls for defense. They had been developed and improved by the Sano, Uesugi, and Hojo Clans for a long time.

Karasawayama Mountain where the castle was built

The remaining earthen walls at the foot of the mountain

The ruins of the residence of a sennior vassal at the foot of the mountain called Hayato-Yashiki

The castle’s foundations were basically made of soil, which was a common way of building castles in eastern Japan at that time. However, the last lord, Nobuyoshi built high stone walls on the main portion of the castle, which was a rare case in the region. It must have been done with help from Hideyoshi because he and his retainers had built many similar stone walls in western Japan. On the other hand, Ieyasu still didn’t have the techniques and guilds for building such high stone walls. That meant the stone walls of strong Karasawayama Castle must have been a big threat to Ieyasu.

The high stone walls of Karasawayama Castle

Life of Castle suddenly ends, ordered by Ieyasu Tokugawa

When Ieyasu got the power to be the ruler around 1600 after Hideyoshi died, Nobuyoshi somehow survived by supporting Ieyasu. However, the declinations of Karasawayama Castle and the Sano Clan suddenly occured. In 1602, Ieyasu ordered Nobuyoshi to move from Karasawayama to Sano Castle in a plain area nearby. It was said that the reason for it was that it could be rude for Nobuyoshi to look down on Ieyasu’s home, Edo Castle from the mountain castle. Nobuyoshi was finally fired by Ieyasu in 1614 due to being implicated for a crime of his brother, Nobutaka Tomita. Overall, Ieyasu seemed to want to remove possible rebels like Nobuyoshi with strong castles like Karasawayama.

*The Portrait of Ieyasu Tokugawa, attributed to Tanyu Kano, owned by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons*)

To be continued in “Karasawayama Castle Part2”

133.Samegao Castle Part1

The final place of the Otate Rebellion and Kagetora Uesugi

Location and History

Branch of Kasugayama Castle

Samegao Castle was located on a mountain in the western part of Echigo Province which is now Nigata Prefecture. It is uncertain when the castle was first built, but in the late 16th Century, it was one of the satellite castles of Kasugayama Castle, the home base of Kenshin Uesugi. Kenshin was one of the greatest warlords at that time in Japan, who built the network of castles to protect his home base. Samegao Castle is, in fact, rather well-known as the final battlefield of the Otate Rebellion and the place of Kagetora Uesugi’s death, who was defeated in the rebellion.

The location of the castle

The network of the branch castles around Kasugayama Castle exhibited by Joetsu City Buried Cultural Property Center, Samegao Castle is marked by the red circle

Kagetora is adopted from Hojo to Uesugi

Kagetora Uesugi was an adopted child of Kenshin, but had been born as a family member of the Hojo Clan, which fought with Kenshin over the Kanto Region. The reason why Kagetora came to Uesugi was that Uesugi and the Hojo made peace temporarily in 1569 against the Takeda Clan. The Takeda clan broke the alliance of the three clans (Takeda, Imagawa and Hojo) by invading Imagawa territory. The Hojo clan was very angry about it. However, the new alliance between Uesugi and the Hojo lasted for only two years because the Hojo quit and reforged the alliance with the Takeda in 1571. Ordinarily, Kagetora could have been returned to the Hojo, but Kenshin let Kagetora stay as a part of the Uesugi clan for some reason. It is said that Kenshin personally liked Kagetora. Even though no portraits of Kagetora remain, records say he was attractive and looked beautiful.

The imaginary portrait of Kagetora Uesugi, from the signboard at the site

Two adopted sons are against each other after Kenshin’s death

With the cessation of the alliance with the Hojo, Kenshin adopted another son from his relatives, called Kagekatsu Uesugi. Kenshin seemed to hope that Kagetora would support Kagekatsu and they would cooperate with each other. Many historians also say Kenshin had not clearly decided his successor before his sudden death in March 1578. In fact, these two adopted sons lived in the same Kasugayama Castle as if Kagekatsu was the master for a while after their father’s death. However, the situation didn’t allow them to make peace. The trusted vassals of Kagekatsu, who were the core members of the government, supported him. Other local lords in Echigo Province and some warlords outside the province supported Kagetora because he had come from the outside. Kagetora’s parents’ home, the Hojo and its ally, the Takeda especially wanted him to be the successor. That made the two successor candidates battle each other starting in May 1578, which was called the Otate Rebellion.

The portrait of Kagekatsu Uesugi, owned by Uesugi Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Otate or the Palace, was originally the residence for Norimasa Uesugi, who was a former shogunate deputy for the Kanto Region and Kenshin’s foster father. Kagetora escaped from Kasugayama Castle to the residence, about 5km from the castle. It became his home base during the battle for nearly one year. At the beginning of the battle, Kagetora was superior in terms of support to Kagekatsu until the lord of the Takeda, Katsuyori Takeda came to Echigo Province with his troops to support Kagetora in June. However, Kagekatsu let Katsuyori return to his home by giving a lot of money and promising to cede some territories. After that, the situation reversed as Kagekatsu had many native loyal retainers while Kagetora had few because of his career. Kagekatsu finally made a full-scale attack on the Otate Residence before it fell in March 1579. Kagetora escaped and tried to get to Odawara, his parental familial home base, Odawara Castle. He stopped by a castle of his supporter, Munechika Horie, which would be the place of his death. This place was called Samegao Castle.

The Portrait of Katsuyori Takeda, owned by Koyasan Jimyoin (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The imaginary scene of the Otate Residence’s fall, exhibited by the Hida Historical Village Information Center

Kagetora dies in Samegao Castle

Samegao Castle was a satellite castle, but had a large scale because it was on the way to Shinao Province (now Nagano Pref.), south of Echigo, where Kenshin and Shingen Takeda, who was Katsuyori’s father, often battled each other. It was a typical mountain castle at that time, using natural terrain to make it defensive. Many enclosures made of soil were built on the ridges. They were divided by artificial ditches and connected by narrow paths cut vertically on both sides. The routes through the valleys were zigzagged so that enemies could not attack the castle easily.

The statues of Shingen Takeda (on the left) and Kenshin Uesugi (on the right) at the Kawanakajima Battlefield in Nagano Prefecture

The illustration of Samegao Castle Ruins, from the signboard at the site

Even staying in the strong castle, Kagetora was not able to survive without reinforcement from the outside. He was attacked by Kagekatsu’s pursuing troops right away. Some records say Munechika Horie, the lord of the castle also betrayed Kagetora. Kagetora finally committed Harakiri (ritual suicide) at the age of 26 after the castle buildings were burned by the troops.

To be continued in “Samegao Castle Part2”

16.Minowa Castle Part1

The castle of Narimasa Nagano, the strongest general

Location and History

Nagano Clan builds Castle in Sengoku Period

Minowa Castle was located on a hill at the foot of Mt, Haruna in Kozuke Province which is now Gunma Prefecture. The Nagano Clan first built this castle at the start of the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. The clan was thought to originally be an official family of the local government in the ancient times, and eventually became a powerful local lord in the Middle Ages. They had lived near the Provincial Office on a plain land in the center of the province. However, it got dangerous to continue to do so, because many battles happened all over the Kanto Region since the late 15th Century. That’s why the clan built the castle beside the mountain area near western part of the province.

The location of the castle

Narimasa Nagano fights alone

The Nagano Clan worked under the Uesugi Clan, the governor of Kozuke Province. Norimasa Uesugi, the lord of the clan at that time, was defeated by the Hojo Clan from the south in the Battle of Kawagoe Castle in 1546. After that, he escaped from Kozuke Province to Echigo Provence in the north of the Kozuke Province. As a result, most of the local lords supported the Hojo Clan. However, Narimasa Nagano who was the lord of the clan, didn’t do so, showing his loyalty to the Uesugi Clan. He was considered as one of the strongest generals at that time, against large warlords such as the Hojo and Takeda Clans. He organized a group of local lords in the region, called the Minowa Group, to maintain their territories. He even accommodated some other generals who lost their territories due to defeats of battles, such as Yukitaka Sanada.

The wooden statue of Narimasa Nagano, owned by Chojunji Temple, quoted from the website of Takasaki City

The portrait of Yukitaka Sanada, owned by Chokokuji Temple (*licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

After some years of his binding time, Kenshin Uesugi, the successor of Norimasa, invaded the Kanto Region including Kozuke Province from Echigo Province in 1560. Narimasa became one of senior vassals of the Uesugi Clan again and succeeded to be the lord of the western Kozuke Province. However, when Kenshin returned to his home base, Kasugayama Castle in Echigo Province, the Hojo Clan started to get the territories back. In addition, Narimasa tried to subject the Obata Clan in Kunimine Castle to the southwest of Narimasa’s territory, but failed. This was because Nobuzane Obata, the lord of the clan, asked Shingen Takeda, one of the greatest warlords, for help and became his retainer. Yukitaka Sanada, who was saved by Narimasa, also became a senior vassal of Shingen after leaving Narimasa. Shingen was a lifetime competitor of Kenshin, so he started to invade the western Kozuke in 1561.

The imaginary drawing of Kunimine Castle, exhibited by Kanra Town Museum of History and Folklore

Norizane Obata drawn in the “Battle of Nagashino” folding screens, exhibited by Kanra Town Museum of History and Folklore

The portrait of Shingen Takeda, owned by Jimyo-in Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Castle falls with Destruction of Nagano Clan

Narimasa could somehow maintain Minowa Castle and the area around in his life, but died of illness in 1561. His son, Narimori Nagano followed his father’s way not to surrendering to their enemies. However, Shingen did a full-scale attack on Minowa Castle in 1566 before the castle fell. Narimori and his relatives fought to the end and finally killed themselves in the Gozen Enclosure of the castle. It is said that they threw the memorial tablets of their ancestors into the well in the enclosure before their deaths.

The family crest of the Nagano Clan, called Hiogi or A fan made of wood

The ruins of well in the Gozen Enclosure of Minowa Castle

After that, Nobuzane Obata changed their master to the Oda and Hojo Clans to maintain their territory after the destruction of the Takeda Clan. In 1590, when the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi invaded Hojo’s Kanto Region, Obata’s own castle fell, then the clan loss their territory as well. On the other hand, the Sanada Clan struggled to be independently based in Ueda, Numata and Iwabitsu Castles. They finally succeeded to achieve this, however it was very hard to climb.

The miniature model of Iwabitsu Castle at the information center at the site

Naomasa Ii modernizes and abandons Castle

After Minowa Castle fell, the Takeda Clan owned the castle, followed by the Oda, Hojo and Tokugawa Clans. Naomasa Ii, the head of senior vassals of the Tokugawa Clan, was the last lord of the caste. He entered the castle when the Tokugawa Clan was moved to the Kanto Region in 1590. Minowa Castle was large, but originally had enclosures mainly made of soil, surrounded by dry moats. Naomasa improved and modernized the castle as much as he could. For example, he developed new enclosures such as the Inari Enclosure with a water moat to be more defensive. Stone walls were built alongside the Main Route to show the castle lord’s authority. Some turret gates were also built in the important positions of the castle, such as the Kaku-umadashi Western Entrance Gate. However, Naomasa finally moved to his new home base called Takasaki Castle on a plain land in 1598 before Minowa Castle was abandoned.

The portrait of Naomasa Ii, owned by Hikone Castle Museum *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The restored Kaku-umadashi Western Entrance Gate

The stone walls of the Third Enclosure Gate Ruins

To be continued in “Minowa Castle Part2”