タグ: Kasugayama castle

32.Kasugayama Castle Part1

The castle of Kenshin Uesugi, the strongest warlord

Location and History

Kenshin Uesugi, Warlord who respected Justice

Kasugayama Caste was located in Echigo Province (what is now Nigata Prefecture), facing the Japan Sea. The castle is well known for one of its lords, Kenshin Uesugi. Kenshin is said to be the strongest warlord in the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. While he fought over 70 battles during his 49-year life, he suffered no obvious defeat.

The location of the castle

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

Kenshin also had very unique perspectives which other warlords never had. He never fought to invade other provinces by himself. He only fought with the help of others who were defeated by another warlord. As a result, he fought with a great warlord, Shingen Takeda 5 times on the south of his province. He also went over the mountains to the Kanto Region facing the Pacific Ocean to fight with the Hojo Clan as many as 17 times. Kenshin was a devout Buddhist, remained single all his life, and prayed for victory at the Bishamon-do Hall several days before his battles. He once escaped from the castle and tried to become a Buddhist priest, but his retainers urged him to go back to the castle until he gave up trying to become a priest.

The statues of Shingen Takeda (on the left) and Kenshin Uesugi (on the right) at the Kawanakajima Battlefield (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The restored Bishamon-do Hall

Despite Kenshin’s strength, he was not able to become a ruler. Every time he withdrew from a province after his win, his enemies got their territories back. He is sometimes criticized by historians. However, many history fans still love him as a warlord who respected justice.

The flag of Kenshin Uesugi (taken by 松波庄九郎 from photoAC)

Castle covered with Enclosures and Buildings.

Kasugayama Castle was built using earthworks on an 189m high mountain beside the Kubiki Plain, the western part of Nigata Pref. It is uncertain when the castle was first built, but Tamekage Nagao, Kenshin’s father, improved the castle. The scale of the castle became larger in Kenshin’s period, and the mountain was covered with uncountable enclosures and buildings.

The old drawing of Kasugayama Castle  (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The castle consisted of three parts at that time. The main portion of the castle was on the top of the mountain with the front facing the plain on the east. It included the Main Enclosure, the Bisyamon-do Hall, a senior vassal Naoe’s Hall, and Halls for Kenshin’s two adopted sons, Kagekatsu and Kagetora. Next, the Main Route went up from the southeast foot of the mountain to the top. It was a long detour around the mountain, passing the guard house and other senior vassals’ halls such as Kakizaki. Lastly, the Back Route also went up from the northeast foot to Naoe’s Hall. It passed through the Kurogane-mon Gate, the Hall for the Lord, the Sengan-mon Gate and the alternate entrance called Koguchi.

The georama of Kasugayama Castle at Joetsu City Buried Cultural Property Center

The castle might not have had complex defense systems, but it had the network of the branch castles, such as Samegao Castle, to work together when a battle happened.

The network of the branch castles around Kasugayama Castle (Joetsu City Buried Cultural Property Center)

Abandoned at Peaceful Time

After Kenshin died in 1578, an internal battle unfortunately happened in the castle between Kagekatsu and Kagetora. Kagekatsu finally won, but he was transferred to Wakamatsu Castle by the ruler Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1598. After that, the Hori Clan governed the castle, building the outer earthen walls called So-gamae to make the castle the largest. However, the clan moved to Fukushima Castle on the plain for convenience of governance in 1607. Kasugayama Castle was abandoned at the same time.

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

To be continued in “Kasugayama Castle Part2”

24.Takeda Clan Hall Part1

Were the people the castle, the stone walls, or the moats?

Location and History

Nobutora Takeda built Castle as Governor’s Residence

Takeda Clan Hall, which is also called Tsutsujigasaki Hall, was located in what is now Kofu City, the Prefectural Capital of Yamanashi Prefecture. I would say the hall is the origin of Kofu City. The Governor of Kai Province (now Yamanashi Pref), Nobutora Takeda first built the hall in 1519. The hall was not only for the official residence of the governor, but also for the home base of the Takeda Clan, so it is classified as one of the castles in Japan.

The portrait of Nobutora Takeda, attributed to Nobukado Takeda, owned by Daisen-ji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Its location had mountains behind on the north, and an alluvial fan spread down on the south from around there. This meant Nobutora was able to overlook the castle town and the area around. He built his hall on a square enclosure which was nearly 200m on one side, surrounded by earthen walls and water moats. This was a typical style of the residences for governors in Japan at that time, emulating the style of Shogun’s palace in Kyoto. In addition, he built another castle on a mountain about 2km away from the hall on the north, called Yogaisan Castle, for emergency. For example, he and his family could escape from the hall to the mountain castle when a battle happened. Indeed, his son, Shingen Takeda was born at Yogaisan Castle during the battle between Nobutora and the Imagawa Clan in 1521. The network of these castle was defensive enough to maintain their safety during that time.

The location of the castle

Shingen Takeda’s saying related to Castle

Shingen, who was one of the greatest warlords in Japan, developed the hall as well, adding the West Enclosure for residences of his family and relatives on the west of the center enclosure in 1551. Apart from that, the Umadashi system, which refers to a round shaped sticking out defensive position, was built in front of the Main Gate on the east. It is also said that the hall for Shingen’s mother was built on the north. Each enclosure was surrounded by nearly 10m high earthen walls and over 5m deep water moats.

The imaginary drawing of Takeda Clan Hall (from the signboard at the site)

However, the hall seems to be misunderstood by many people. This comes from Shingen’s saying “The people are the castle, the stone walls, and the moats…” recorded in the military science book called Koyogunkan in the 17th Century of the Edo Period. The sentence means it is more important to win the people’s hearts than to build a strong castle, but many people later have been thinking it shows the reason why Shingen only had such a small castle in comparison to other castles for other warlords such as Nobunaga Oda and Kenshin Uesugi.

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

Takeda Clan Hall itself is much smaller than Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle or Kenshin’s Kasugayama Castle, but it is because their periods or situations were different. In the case of Shingen, his hall started from the governor’s residence. It was common for governors to live in such a hall at that time. The Takeda Clan added defense systems like the network of the castles and Umadashi to deal with their situation. It was enough for them.

The ruins of Takeda Clan Hall

Katsuyori Takeda moved to another

In 1582, Shingen’s son, Katsuyori Takeda decided to move his home base to a large new castle called Shinpu Castle, because the situation changed. Katsuyori was threatened by Nobunaga, so Katsuyori needed a stronger and larger castle than the Takeda Clan Hall which was once abandoned. Katsuyori was unfortunately beaten by Nobunaga before the hall was used by the Oda Clan and the Tokugawa Clan again. It was finally abandoned in 1590, when the Tokugawa Clan built Kofu Castle near the hall.

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

To be continued in “Takeda Clan Hall Part2”