main enclosure – ページ 27 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

38.Iwamura Castle Part2

The castle ruins are worth to climb

Features

Long Trail to Top of Mountain

Today, the ruins of Iwamura Castle have been well developed for visitors. If you climb up from the foot to the top of the mountain, you can understand how strong the castle was. There is the partly restored Main Hall for the lord with the Drum Turret on the foot. From the foot, you will need to climb to the top for about 800 m long and about 170 meters high. Only stone walls and foundations of the castle remain on the mountain. However, if you have a smartphone, you can see the re-produced image using CG and hear the explanation (however only available in Japanese) at each signboard by scanning the QR code on it.

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

The map around the castle

An example of the re-produced images (around the Main Gate)

Lots of Gateway to protect Castle

The first part of your climb may be very tough because the trail is steep and it’s on a winding road which is as long as 500m, which is called Fijisaka. You will pass three defense points called Hatsu-mon Gate, Ichi-no-mon Gate and Toki-mon Gate before reaching the Main Gate Ruins. Enemies in the past must have also found it tough when they attacked the castle through the same route.

The past Hatsu-mon Gate drawn in the signboard at the site

The present Hatsu-mon Gate Ruins seen from above

The past Ichi-no-mon Gate drawn in the signboard at the site

The past Toki-mon Gate drawn in the signboard at the site

*The Toki-mon Gate Ruins* seen from above

Main Gate, Pivot for Defense

The Main Gate was the pivot for the defense, which had a complex system protecting the castle. The Three-level Turret was built beside the gate, which was also the symbol of the castle. The current trail goes around to the left, but visitors in the past had to go across a bridge called the Tatami-bashi which went straight to the gate. The floor boards of the bridge could be removed like tatami mats (traditional mats in Japanese homes) if enemies were to attack. Moreover, visitors had to turn left on the bridge when they entered the gate. If visitors were enemies, they would have been stuck and counterattacked from the turret and gate.

The past around the Main Gate drawn in the signboard at the site

The current trail goes around to the left

After passing the Main Gate Ruins, the trail becomes easier, and the area around it is relatively spacious. There used to be some warriors’ houses in the past. You will go though the area seeing the Hachiman Shrine Ruins on the left and the Kirigai Well which was said to never run out of water on the right. There were two routes in the past to reach the Main Enclosure on the top, the one from the Second Enclosure and the other from the Eastern Enclosure. However, the Second Enclosure is not well developed for visitors now, so most visitors usually go towards the Eastern Enclosure instead.

Six Tier Stone Walls, Highlight of Castle

One of the highlights of the castle is the Six Tier Stone Walls of the Main Enclosure beside the Eastern Enclosure. They look so great. In fact, these stone walls had originally been a single high stone walls, but the other tiers were added later to prevent them from collapsing. Other than that, the Main Enclosure is all surrounded by great stone walls, especially, the high stone walls on the western side are also so nice.

A front view of the Six Tier Stone Walls

A view of the Six Tier Stone Walls from the right side

A view from the top of the *Six Tier Stone Walls*

The high stone walls on the western side of the Main Enclosure

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

142.Naegi Castle Part2

The castle ruins integrate stone walls and natural rocks.

Features

Going to Center from Entrance

Today, no castle buildings remain in the ruins of Naegi Castle, but you can still see the spectacular foundation mixing stone walls and natural rocks. Just after you enter the entrance of the ruins, you can see a great expansive view of the top of the mountain with the observation platform from the ruins of the soldiers’ barracks.

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

The map around the castle

The diorama of Naegi Castle Ruins, from the signboard at the site

The imaginary drawing of the castle in the past at the site

Then, if you walk to the center of the ruins along the mixed walls of natural rocks and stones, you will reach the Third Enclosure. This enclosure had originally been a deep dry moat for defense but was eventually filled to make more land for buildings later.

A view of the Third Enclosure from the top of the Large Turret

Large Turret Ruins, and going to Top of Mountain

There are the ruins of the Large Turret in the front, which is the remaining base of huge rocks and stone walls. You can climb up to the top of the base to see the top of the mountain closer.

A view of the center of the ruins from the Large Turret Ruins

A view of the Large Turret Ruins from the center of the ruins

To climb up to the top of the mountain, you will need to walk on a narrow and zigzagging route alongside the rocky terrain. You will also see a lot of ruins of gates and buildings as you go. That means those buildings were crowded in such a small space in the past.

The imaginary drawing of around the route to the top in the past, from the signboard at the site

You will finally arrive at the Main Enclosure on the top. It is now empty, but you may feel it’s not large. There were also some buildings such as the living quarters for the lord.

Observation Platform, no less than real Main Tower

The base for the Main Tower is a huge rock itself on the top and the observation platform is on it instead of the historical tower. The platform was built using the method of Kake-zukuri like the original tower. The columns of it use the same post holes on the rock as the tower, so you can easily imagine how great it was.

The observation platform in on the huge rock as the base

The platform was built using the Kake-zukuri method

The column uses the same post hole on the rock as the Main Tower

Moreover, the deck of the platform has the same size and level as the top floor of the original tower. You can enjoy the same great view of the area around, including the Kiso River, Nakatsugawa city and the mountains behind, just as the lord did back then.

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

16.Minowa Castle Part2

You can see how the castle was developed at the site.

Features

Older part of Castle

Today, the ruins of Minowa Castle have been well developed for visitors. If you have a car, you can park at some parking lots for the visitors beside the ruins. The main parking lot is the eastern foot of the hill where the castle was located. You can walk up from the parking lot to the ruins on a gentle winding slope which was actually the Back Route. You will first reach the Second Enclosure, part of the main portion of the castle.

The map around the castle

The main portion consists of the Second, Main and Gozen Enclosures from south to north. These enclosures are basically surrounded by thick earthen walls and divided by deep dry moats, which are the oldest part of the castle. If you walk into the Main Enclosure where the hall of the lord was built, you can now see the recently restored wooden bridge connecting to the western part of the castle.

The stone monument of the castle in the Main Enclosure

The wooden bridge connecting to the western part of the castle

The earthen walls of the Main Enclosure and the dry moat beside it

If you go further, you will reach the Gozen Enclosure, the last part of the Nagano Clan. There is the well in the enclosure, which was discovered in 1927, where many memorial tablets of the clan were found from the bottom. That meant the episode when the clan had been defeated may have been confirmed.

The well where many memorial tablets of the clan were found

Vast Dry Moat

You can walk down the steep trail on the northern edge of the Gozen Enclosure to the bottom of the dry moat. If you turn right to the east, you will reach the Inari Enclosure that Naomasa Ii built. This enclosure had a water moat on the side in the past.

Walking down from the Gozen Enclosure to the bottom of the dry moat

The bottom of the dry moat beside the Gozen Enclosure

The Inari Enclosure and the former water moat beside it

If you turn left to the west, you can walk around the bottom and see how large and deep the moat is. You can also see the older stone walls surrounding the Gozen Enclosure, which the Nagano Clan might have built. If you go further to the south, you will arrive at the Second Enclosure.

The remaining stone walls under the Gozen Enclosure

Going back to the Second Enclosure through under the wooden bridge

Umadashi System is developed later

The Second Enclosure was the pivot of offence and defense, where the three main routes to the castle are all together. Other than the Back Route from the east, the Main Route comes from the west and the other route comes from the south. In particular, a great artificial trench called O-Horikiri is dug in the southern side of the enclosure to prevent enemies’ attacks.

The stone walls under the earthen bridge over the trench

Only the narrow earthen bridge is over the trench, connecting to the southern route. Moreover, a square stronghold called Kaku-Umadashi is sticking out of the Second Enclosure through the bridge. The Umadasi system is a unique defense system which the Takeda and Tokugawa Clans often used. This system in Minowa Castle was probably developed by Takeda and completed by Naomasa under Tokugawa. The two-story turret gate called Kaku-umadashi Western Entrance Gate was recently restored based on the achievement of the excavation, which had been the symbol of the castle.

The square stronghold called Kaku-Umadashi

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