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

Features

Route to Kiriyama Castle

The route to Kiriyama Castle is much longer than that from the foot to the final castle. You have to climb ridges and valleys of the mountain for over 30 minutes. The castle was built on the northern and southern peaks of the mountain.

The map around the castle

The location map of the castle at the site, adding the red English letters

Bell Tower Ruins on Southern Ridge

You will eventually arrive at the southern one which is called the Bell Tower Ruins. As its name suggests, there was a bell tower, but there are no buildings now. The view of the area around is very good, so it might have had a lookout tower as well.

The aerial photo around the castle

There are also two other ridges (in the north and southernwest, or right and left from the southern ridge from where you came). You should choose the northern or right one to reach the northern peak which were the Main Enclosures. Please don’t go to the southwestern or left one, or you will be stuck at much harder mountain areas. You can see some artificial ditches in the direction to prevent enemies from even attacking under the severe conditions.

You should choose this path to the northern ridge

You shouldn’t choose this direction (southernwest)

The ditch for preventing the enemies from the southernwest

Main Enclosures on Northern Ridge

If you go on the northern ridge, which goes up and down steeply, you will finally arrive at the Main Enclosures on the top. The enclosures are divided by ditches into the Rice-granary ruins in the southwest, the Main Enclosure in the center on the top, and the Turret ruins in the northeast. They are all still surrounded by thick earthen walls.

The stone monument of the castle ruins at the Main Enclosure

The ditch between the Main Enclosure and the Turret Ruins

The Main Enclosure, in particular, looks like a bowl probably because the walls collapsed and the ground inside was filled with soil, which made their shape becomes round. These enclosures on the northern ridge look isolated from the other mountains around, so it must have been the real final stronghold.

Later History

After the invasion by the Oda Clan, Kitabatake Clan Hall, plus the final castle and Kiriyama Castle, were abandoned. A descendant of the Kitabatake Clan built a small shrine in the hall ruins, which worshiped his ancestors during the Edo Period, which is the origin of the current shrine. After the Meiji Restoration, the situation changed as the government decided that the Southern Court has been orthodox. Since then, the warriors and lords who had supported the Southern Court were focused on, one of which was the Kitabatake Clan. The shrine was developed being named The Kitabatake Shrine, and finally designated as an Imperial Shrine of Special Status in 1928, which worships loyal vassals. Similarly, the Kitabatake Clan Hall Ruins Garden and Kiriyama Castle Ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 1936. This was probably reflected by the contributions of the clan. After the discovery of the old stone walls of the original hall, the hall ruins were added to the National Historic Site in 2006.

My Impression

When I first visited the Kitabatake Clan Hall Ruins as the current Kitabatake Shrine, I was honestly disappointed with them. This was because there were few castle-like items. I also found the introduction of Kiriyama Castle at that time, but I decided not to go there as I thought I didn’t have enough time to complete it. That’s why I tried to go to the castle ruins on another day and was satisfied. However, I can now say that if you don’t have enough time to see both ruins of Kitabatake Clan Hall and Kiriyama Castle, you can at least go to the final castle of the hall on the way to Kiriyama Castle in a short time.

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Kitabatake Clan Hall Part1”
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How to get There

Regarding the ruins of Kitabatake Clan Hall, visiting them starts from when you enter the Taki area. The current roads to the area have been developed and paved for the convenience of transportation, but some of them are narrow and winding mountain passes. For example, if you want to visit the ruins going on National Road 368 (the former Ise Main Road) by car from the west, it is easy because the road has been developed through Kaisaka Tunnel into the mountain beside the area.

The map around the Taki area with the current 7 entrances

The old Ise Road to the steep Kaisaka Mountain Pass goes along it

However, if you go from the east, you may find it troubling. The road still goes on the steep Nigaki Mountain Pass and becomes narrow and zigzagged. It may give you a good understanding of how the hall was protected by this natural hazard. Please be careful when passing each other. It about an hour or 40km drive away from Matsusaka IC on the Ise Expressway. The severe mountain pass area is about 5km long. If you want to go on an easier route from the IC, you can take the Mie Prefectural Road 43 from the north to the ruins.

The National Road 368 on the Nigaki Mountain Pass

If you want to use public transportation, take the Tsu City Community Bus (the Misugi-higashi or Misugi-junkan route) from Ise-Okutsu Satation and get off at the Kitabatake-jinja-mae bus stop. Be careful the buses only run on weekdays and there few of them.
From Tokyo to Ise-Okutsu Station: take the Tokaido Shinkansen super express, transfer to the Mie rapid train or the Kintetsu Railway at Nagoya Station, and transfer to the JR Meisho Line at Matsusaka Station.

Features

Hall becomes Kitabatake Shrine

The ruins of Kitabatake Clan Hall has turned into the Kitabatake Shrine since the Edo Period. The shrine was built on where the hall had been built, so it looks like a typical shrine, not a hall or castle. The only remaining item of the hall is the Kitabatake Clan Hall Ruins Garden in the southern part of the shrine. The garden is a pond garden with a circular promenade which is said that Takakuni Hosokawa, the shogun’s deputy designed and Harutomo Hatakeyama, the seventh lord of the clan first built. It looks very beautiful and sophisticated and is considered one of the three greatest Samurai gardens and was designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty.

The map around the hall

it doesn’t look like hall or castle ruins.

Ichijodani Asakura Clan Garden, another greatest Samurai garden

Earliest Stone Walls used for Warriors’ Halls during Middle Ages

There is a signboard which shows the excavated stone walls of the original hall and says they are the earliest example of stone walls used for warriors’ halls during the Middle Ages. However, we can’t look at them directly, as they have been buried again after they were excavated. The stone walls were first built around the upper tier of the hall’s land where the Main Hall for the lord was probably built. In fact, the stone walls were buried by the Kitabatake Clan themselves to extend the tier. The Main Hall was rebuilt on the tier, which would be the final version of the hall. That means the stone walls ruins are just inside of the current shrine so that visitors usually can’t see them.

The explanation board for the stone walls

Final Castle Ruins

If you want to see what looks like castle ruins, you should consider visiting the final castle of the hall and/or Kiriyama Castle. They are on the same route and the final castle is not so far from the hall. Therefore, you can choose which one or both depending on your schedule. If you walk on the path south of the shrine, you will find the starting point of the route to the ruins. There is a zigzagging trail to the mountains, so you will need to hike.

You will first reach the ruins of the final castle, on the mountain about 80m above the shrine (the former hall). The ruins simply have the main enclosure and the belt enclosure around. You can see the top of the shrine and the area around there. You will understand the place must have been the refuge shelter for the people living in the hall. The trail goes beside the belt enclosure to Kiriyama Castle Ruins ahead over the western ditch.