main enclosure – ページ 3 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

19.Kawagoe Castle Part2

Features

Today, the ruins of Kawagoe Castle are not noticeable among the city area. Only part of the Main Hall remains in the Main Enclosure and some related historical items are preserved or restored around. For example, if you walk or drive from the east of the castle, which was a waterlogged area, to the castle ruins, you may just notice the road is slightly going up. That was a border for dividing the inside and outside of the castle, but all of them have become a city area. Therefore, let us first seek for some of the traces of the castle in the city area before visiting the Main Hall in the center.

Around the eastern edge of the castle in the past

Older Traces of Castle

We will start from the second enclosure, which is the north of the main enclosure and where Kawagoe City Museum is located. This was the eastern edge of the castle in its early stage. You can now walk down to the Shingashi River on the east, which was developed during the Edo Period. Some of the residential areas around originate from new enclosures at that time and some of the roads were moats.

Leaflet|国土地理院

The aerial photo around the castle

If you walk along the river, it will follow the edge of the Musashino Plateau. You will eventually find Taya Weir which was originally the estuary of the Taya River. That means the upstream beyond is older than the downstream.

If you go further, you will see Dokan Bridge which named after the castle’s builder, Dokan Ota’s residence was nearby. You will next see Tomyoji Bridge where the Uesugi Clan’s troops assaulted during the Siege of Kawagoe Castle in 1546. The Tomyoji Temple is near the bridge, where severe battles occurred in the battle.

The stathe of Dokan Ota in front of Kawagoe City Hall

The monument of the Night Battle of Kawagoe in the Tomyoji Temple

From Western Main Gate Ruins to Main Enclosure

Let us nest go to the south around the City Hall of Kawagoe where the western main gate of the castle was built. The route through the gate was protected by a Umadashi system which was a round-shaped small enclosure in front of it. However, it was removed and has become an intersection crowded with many tourists. The current road goes straight to the center of the castle on the east, unlike the former curved road.

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

The map around the castle

The intersection in front of Kawagoe City Hall

The western main gate (marked by the red circle) in the miniature model exhibited by Kawagoe City Museum

The road curved on the right and hit the moat of Naka-no-mon Gate. Visitors had to turn left to enter the gate. The moat has partially been restored to be open to the public.

The miniature model seen from the north, the western main gate is marked by the red circle. the moat of the Naka-no-mon gate is marked by the blue circle, and another curved point is marked by the green circle

The moat of the Naka-no-mon Gate is on the right

If you go further after passing the moat, you will find a planted round space on the right. This is the trace of another moat overhanging from the left, which meant visitors were not able to go straight again. The former road finally reached the main enclosure after passing the second enclosure.

From Southern Main Gate Ruins to Main Enclosure

Let us check out another original route to the center from the southern main gate. The gate was similar to the western one and also completely removed, so there are no traces at all at the site beside Kawagoe Daiichi Elementary School.

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

The map around the castle

The miniature model seen from the south, the southern main gate is marked by the red circle and the Fujimi Turret is marked by the blue circle

Around the ruins of the southern main gate

If you walk on the road along the school to the north and turn right at the first intersection, you will go on the original path to the center. The path is paved and surrounded by modern residential areas now, but was surrounded by earthen walls or water moats in the past. You will next see a hill on the left, which is the ruins of Fujimi Yagura (meaning Seeing Mt. Fuji Turret). The turret had three stories, which was the substitute for a Main Tower. It was used as a lookout and defense for the castle.

You can climb to the top of the hill over the dried moat ruins in front. The turret was accessible from the center in the past, since it is currently used as a High School establishment, access is already restricted. You need to go back to the path, turn left to reach the main enclosure.

The top of the hill where the turret was built

The area behind the turret is used as the school

You need to go back to the path to reach the main enclosure

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

181.Kokura Castle Part2

The design of the current Main Tower is very different from the original one which had simple roofs. The current tower apparently has many decorations like large hip-and-gables, which the original one didn’t have.

Features

Castle is near Kokura Station

Today, the current Kokura Castle is near Kokura Station, only about a 15 minute walk away from the station. Unfortunately, you can’t see the castle from the station because of the high buildings around. If you first reach a side of Murasaki River and walk on the promenade alongside it for a while, you can see the Main Tower of the castle among the buildings. This is the moment when you can understand the castle was developed together with the rivers.

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

The map around the castle

The main portion of the castle, including the tower, has been developed as Katsuyama Park. It was once surrounded and divided by many water moats, so there were few gates and bridges such as Tora-no-mon Gate and Nishi-no-mon Gate. However, few of the moats remain, so that’s why visitors can easily access the park now. For example, if you walk from the river to the park by passing the Kitakyushu City Hall beside Otesaki-mon Gate Ruins, you can get close to the Main Tower soon.

The original gates of the main portion (adding their English names by the red letters) in the Illustration of Kokura Castle in Buzen Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

Current Main Tower is apparently very different from Original Tower

The current Main Tower, which was reconstructed in 1959, is 28.7m high, 5.9m higher than the original one. It is also the sixth tallest existing Main Tower in Japan. The total height including the original stone walls is 47.5m. If you stand by the inner moat surrounding the tower and the walls, they look really great; it is certainly a good viewing spot of the castle. However, there is a controversial issue about the tower. The design of the current Main Tower is very different from the original one which had simple roofs. The current tower apparently has many decorations like large hip-and-gables, Chinese styled gables and triangular shaped gables, which the original one didn’t have. It is said that the designer of the current one tried to build a tower with the same design as the original one but he couldn’t. That was because the sponsor requested him to use the current design. People at that time wanted a showy symbol which could attract many visitors.

The top 10 tallest Main Towers of castles in Japan, the No.1 is Osaka Castle on the very left, Kokura Castle is the 6th from the left, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower

The miniature model of the original Main Tower, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower

Several Gate Ruins of Main Enclosure

To enter the Main Tower, you have to go to the main enclosure by passing the great stone walls of the Main Gate Ruins. The walls have some huge ornamental stones and form a defensive square called Masugata.

An ornamental stone used at the corner of the stone walls of the Main Gate

After that, you only need to walk up a gentle slope to reach the enclosure and the tower. However, in the past, high-class warriors went through another gate called Keyaki-mon which remains as ruins. Meanwhile, low-class warriors had to enter Kurogane-mon Gate instead. These came from a clear discrimination of how to get the castle even among the warriors.

The Main Gate is marked by the red circle, the Keyaki-mon Gate is marked by the blue circle and the Kurogame-mon Gate is marked by the green circle, in the restored image by CG exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower

The path direct to the Main Tower for the current visitors

In the main enclosure, there was the main hall and there are the ruins of the Imperial Japanese army’s 12th division headquarters.

Renewed Interior of Main Tower

The Main Tower is used as a historical museum whose interior was recently renewed in 2019. Its top floor is used as an observation platform like the original one used to be. The appearance of the floor was also restored hanging out in the Nanban (Western) style, so its interior was built being wrapped in by the outer part.

A view of the Murasaki River from the floor

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

105.Shiroishi Castle Part2

The restored three-level Main Tower is on the corner of the stone walls of the main enclosure, which looks really great! Not only is it a symbol of the castle but also of the city. It could also had been seen as the authority of the lord as well as a threat to enemies when the original tower was there.

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Kuniori Katakura, the last lord of the castle moved to Hokkaido with his some retainers. All the castle buildings and stone walls were demolished and sold to earn their expenses. The vacant castle ruins were turned into Masuoka Park which has became famous for cherry blossoms for some time. In 1987, a NHK drama called “Dokuganryu (one-eyed hero) Masamune” aired and became very popular. The drama featured not only Masamune Date but also the Katakura Clan, so many visitors visited the Shiroishi Castle Ruins but were disappointed at the ruins with few historical items. The mayor of the city saw the situation and decided to restore the castle in 1988.

One of the most important topics about it was that the castle would be restored using the traditional wooden construction. However, there was a big problem with the law. The original Main Tower was 16.7m high. Meanwhile, Japan’s Building Standard Act basically doesn’t allow builders to build wooden buildings which are over 13m tall. According to this law, the tower would not be able to be built. After that, The city negotiated with the central government, and finally got an exemption by the competent minster to build the tower at its original height. The restoration was completed in 1997.

The restored Main Tower of Shiroishi Castle

Features

Many Historical Items in Main Enclosure

Today, the Shiroishi city area still has a traditional atmosphere of Shiroishi Castle and its castle town. This is probably because the Main Tower was restored on the hill and the old waterways are still intact in the city area. There were several enclosures on the hill in the past, but they were turned into shrines, parks, and playgrounds, excluding the main enclosure with the restored items.

Shinmeisha Shrine in the second enclosure

The Masuoka Park in the second enclosure

That’s why most visitors go to the main enclosure by walking on the eastern or northern slopes on the hill. If you take the eastern one, you will see the few remaining original stone walls at the base of the enclosure. The other stones above were all demolished and sold during the early Meiji Era. You will next see the restored stone walls which were piled up using natural large stones in Nozura-zumi method. They look mild rather than wild as most of the stones were round-shaped.

The map around the main enclosure

The walls were piled up using natural stones

Well restored Main Tower and Main Gate

The restored three-level Main Tower is on the corner of the stone walls, which looks really great! Not only is it a symbol of the castle but also of the city. It could also had been seen as the authority of the lord as well as a threat to enemies when the original tower was there. In fact, there were three-generation towers on the walls during the Edo Period, which meant it had been rebuilt twice, according to the excavations. The current tower was restored on the second stone foundations because they remain in the best conditions. In addition, the appearance of the tower came from the third generation which was drawn in some pictures. The second and third ones are probably almost the same or similar since the third one was restored in 1823 after the second one burned in 1819.

Part of the Illustration of Shiroishi Castle, attributed to Unyo Koseki, owned by Shiroishi City, exhibited in the Main Tower

The main gate of the enclosure was also restored at the same time as the Main Tower. The gate consists of two gates and stone walls, which form a defensive space called Masugata. The Masugata systems in other castles are usually a square and closed space but that of Shiroishi Castle is very unique. The first gate is always open with no doors (according to the excavations so far) and the space inside is half occupied by a corner of the stone walls of the enclosure. Visitors can’t clearly see the inside, because it is blocked by the walls. That may be the reason for the first gate having no doors.

The second gate is half blocked by the stone walls

The Masugata system seen from the Main Tower

Other Ruins in Main Enclosure

The inside of the main enclosure is empty with the signboard of the Main Hall which was built there. The other sides of the enclosure look like earthen walls which remained after the covering stone walls had been removed. There are the Back Gate Ruins on the opposite side of the Main Gate. There are also the ruins of Tatumi (southeastern) Turret and Hitsujisaru (southwestern) Turret at other corners of the enclosure.

The Back Gate is marked by the red circle, the Southeastern Turret is marked by the blue circle and the Southwestern Turret is marked by the green circle, in the miniature model exhibited by the Shiroishi Castle History Museum

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