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

Later History

After the Boshin War during the Meiji Restoration, Nihonmatsu Castle was abandoned and the few remaining buildings of the castle were all demolished. A silk mill was established in the Third Enclosure at the foot of the mountain and it was operational between 1873 and 1925. After World War II, the castle ruins became what is known today as Kasumigajo Park as a natural park while some buildings of the castle were rebuilt. The investigation and study for the castle have been done since 1990. The stone walls of the Main Enclosure were restored in 1995. The ruins were finally designated as a National Historic Site in 2006. Nihonmatsu City is now considering restoring the Main Hall in the Third Enclosure on the foot of the mountain.

The foot of the mountain at the castle ruins site

A view from the top of the mountain

The Third Enclosure

My Impression

Nihonmatsu City is known for the Chrysanthemum Figures which means “dolls clothed with chrysanthemum flowers and leaves”. The Chrysanthemum Show is held every autumn at Kasumigajo Park. The park itself is also famous for cherry blossoms, so the mountain of the park is covered with them in spring. In fact, if you look down from the top you will be surprised to see a carpet of flowers. Therefore I highly recommend you visit this castle in Spring and Autumn if possible.

The cherry blossoms like a carpet that can be seen from the top

Chrysanthemum figures exhibited at the Chrysanthemum Show (taken by happy.mom from photoAC)

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 10 minutes away from Nihonmatsu IC on the Tohoku Expressway.
The park offers plenty of paking spaces.
By train, it is about 20 minutes away from JR Nihonmatsu Station on foot.
To get to Nihonmatsu Station from Tokyo: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen super express and transfer at Koriyama Station to the Tohoku Line.

If you visit the ruins of Nihonmatsu Castle by train, you have to walk long from Nihonmatsu Station. The Old Oshu Road goes near the station, so turn right at the Nihonmatsu Station Ent. Intersection and go along the street. Then, turn left at the Kubochozaka Ent. Intersection. It’s an easy walk, but it’s on an incline called Kubochozaka on a hill to reach the ruins. This is one of the structures for the castle’s defense system. You will also see the remaining stone walls for the Main Gate on the way. When you go over the top of the hill, you will finally see the mountain where the castle was built.

Nihonmatsu Station (licensed by D700master via Wikimedia Commons)

The stone walls for the Main Gate (quoted from the Nihonmatsu Castle Official Site)

You can see the castle ruins after going over the hill

Features

The aerial photo around the castle

Foot of Mountain

The area around the castle was turned into a park called Kasumigajo Park (Kasumigajo is a nickname of the castle which means “Castle with a Mist”). The great stone walls which are said the Kato Clan built remain at the foot of the mountain. The buildings of the Minowa-mon Gate, the Two-story Turret and the Tamon Turret were rebuilt on the walls during the present time. Visitors usually enter the Minowa-mon Gate. The statues of the child soldiers, Nihonmatsu Shonentai stand in front of it.

The stone walls at the foot of the mountain

The statues of the child soldiers, Nihonmatsu Shonentai

After passing the zigzagged route surrounded by the stone walls, you will enter the Third Enclosure. It is now empty, but this is where the Main Hall used be for the lord which was also the center of the castle in the Edo Period.

Top of Mountain

After that, you can climb up to the Main Enclosure on the top of the mounttain through the trail the Hatakeyama Clan might have originally made. The mountain part was said to be first built for the castle. When you are alomost at the top, you will see large scale old stone walls on a gentle slope under the Main Enclosure. They are called Ohishigaki or the Large Stone Walls which were probably built by the Gamo Clan. They are also one of the oldest stone walls in the Tohoku Region. At this point, you will soon reach the top.

The Main Enclosure on the top is surrounded by the wonderful stone walls which still look new today. They were originally build by the Kato Clan or the Niwa Clan, and recently restored after the recent excavation. They also have three stone bases for the Main Tower, the Eastern Turret, and the Western Turret. The Eastern Turret and the Western Turret seemed to be actually built on these bases, but there has been no evidence on whether the Main Tower was built or not. If such relics were found or such drawings were discovered it would prove that these structures were indeed built the way we suspected.

The restored stone walls of the Main Enclosure

The inside of the Main Enclosure, the back is the stone wall base for the Eastern Turret

Great view from Main Enclosure

Anyway, you can see a great wide view of the area around the castle on the top of the stone walls. The Mountains in the Tohoku Region such as Adatara-yama Mountain can be seen across the great distance. You can feel you are standing on the region with a lot of mountains. In addition to this, you will see monuments with written description of senior vassals of the Boshin War who committed suicide beside the stone wall base for the Main Tower.

Adatara-yama Mountain that can be seen across the great distance

The monuments for the senior vassals of the Nihonmatsu Domain, who committed suicide

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

タグ: Kasumigajo park

11.Nihonmatsu Castle Part3