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

Later History

Yamaguchi was focused on rebuilding again at the end of the Edo Period. Until then, the Choshu Domain by the Mori Clan was based on Hagi Castle beside the Japan Sea. They wanted to move their homebase to Yamaguchi. This was because its location would be the best for communication with other domains to respond to the potential threats from Western countries, in fact, to be against the Tokugawa Shogunate. They eventually built Yamaguchi Castle beside Konomine Mountain, partly using the Western style with cannons, without the shogunate’s permission. They thought they could reuse Konomine Castle for the final battle. Eventually, they became one of the winners of the Meiji Restoration. As a result, Yamaguchi Castle was turned into the Yamaguchi prefectural office. In addition, Yamaguchi Prefecture produced 8 prime ministers of Japan, the largest number among all the prefectures, including the 1st prime minister, Hirobumi Ito and the late Shinzo Abe recently.

The remaining front gate of the Yamaguchi government office in the Yamaguchi Castle period

Konomine Castle Ruins seen from the gate

The Yamaguchi prefectural office

Hirobumi Ito, the 1st prime minister (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

My Impression

I think the combination of Ouchi Clan Hall and Konomine Castle was a very good for both the government and defense like that of the Takeda Clan with Takeda Clan Hall and Yogaiyama Castle. It was also proven by the Choshu Domain that they wanted to use Konomine Castle again at the end of the Edo Period. However, in the case of the Ouchi Clan, it was too late to prepare for it. Maybe that’s because they thought Yamaguchi could never have been attacked by enemies because their government was very stable. Nobunaga Oda, who was the ruler in the 1570’s to the 1580’s, might have thought the same way before he was killed in the Honnoji Incident in 1582.

The restored earthen walls of Ouchi Clan Hall

The remaining stone walls of Konomine Castle

The ruins of Takeda Clan Hall

The ruins of Yogaisan Castle

How to get There

If you want to visit Ouchi Clan Hall Ruins by car, it is about a 15-minute drive away from Yamaguchi IC on the Chugoku Expressway. There are parking lots in the northern and southern sides of the ruins. To get to Konomine Castle Ruins from there, you will need about another 20 minutes. There is a small parking lot on the mid slope of the mountain.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot from JR Kami-yamaguchi Station to get Ouchi Clan Hall Ruins. To get Konomine Castle Ruins from there, you will need about another 1 hour.
To get to Kami-yamaguchi Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the Sanyo Shinkansen super express and transfer to the Yamaguchi Line at Shin-Yamaguchi Station.

The small parking lot on the mid slope of the mountain

Features

Hall is restoring little by little

Today, the ruins of Ouchi Clan Hall have been designated as a National Historic Site. They are still in the center of Yamaguchi City, which still have parts of names for its streets like “Oji” or Main Street and “Kouji” or Narrow Street similar to Kyoto. Ryufukuji Temple was built inside the hall ruins by Takamoto Mori who was a son-in-law of Yoshitaka Ouchi to worship Yoshitaka. The main building was moved from another in the Meiji Era, but it is very old (built in the Muromachi Period as old as the Ouchi Clan), and it is also an Important Cultural Property. While several researches and excavations have been done at this site, nothing about the Ouchi Clan’s Main Hall was ever found. This may be because it is still under the temple’s main building.

The aerial photo around the castle

Instead, many other items regarding the hall were found. According to the achievements, some of them were restored at the site. For example, there are two restored gardens inside. One is the pond garden in the southeastern part, and the other is the dry landscape in the northwestern part. The earthen walls were also restored at the northern, western and southern sides of the ruins. The Western Gate and some stone work for the water moat were also restored at the western side.

The restored dry landscape (but it’s very small)

Excavated Tsukiyama Hall Ruins

In north of Ochi Clan Hall Ruins, over the Tsukiyama-Kouji street, there is Tsukiyama Hall Ruins which was built as a villa. The southeastern part of them was excavated and developed as a historical park after a Japanese style restaurant had moved out from there to another site. Ruins of some buildings and dry moats were also found by the excavation team. The ruins were buried again for preservation and there are signboards and marks on the ground where they had been found. Historians speculate Norihiro Ouchi first used the hall as a retreat, then it was used to worship him after he died. That’s probably because the main part of the ruins are now used as Yasaka Shrine and Tsukiyama Shrine.

You can see there was the Eastern Moat in the past by the mark and signboard

The photo of the excavated cross section of the Eastern Moat, exhibited by Yamaguchi City Museum of History and Folklore

Konomine Castle Ruins are accessible

The ruins of Konomine Castle have also been designated as a National Historic Site. The castle was built on Konomine Mountain (at 338m above sea level), about 2km away from Ouchi Clan Hall. You can see the mountain standing out from the city area. You can access it by walking or driving. If you use a car, you can park at the mid slope of the mountain, however, you need to walk on the ridge to the top for about 500m.

The mountain where the ruins are can be seen from the city area

You need to walk on the ridge to the top

You will see some enclosures made of soil on the way there. They were thought to be built by the Ouchi Clan and used by the Mori Clan as well. The top is surrounded by stone walls which the Mori Clan built. They partially collapsed because the clan intentionally destroyed them when the castle was abandoned. You can see a nice view of the city area including the hall ruins. The castle and the hall makes a perfect combination.