main enclosure – ページ 54 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

149.Komakiyama Castle Part1

The castle had a very short life but rich history.

Location and History

Nobunaga’s Foothold

Komakiyama Castle was located on an 86m high mountain called Komakiyama, on Nobi Plain in Owari Province, what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture. The mountain had no castle until Nobunaga Oda built a castle on it in 1563. The reason for it was that he wanted to move his home base from Kiyosu Castle in now Nagoya City to this castle. He aimed to capture Inabayama Castle, what is now Gifu City, which the Saito Clan owned at that time. Komakiyama was much closer to Inabayama than Kiyosu. However, it was very rare for warlords and their retainers to move their home to another. They always continued to live in places where their ancestors had been.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Nobunaga Oda, attributed to Soshu Kano, owned by Chokoji Temple, in the late 16th century (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Three Distinct Features

Komakiyama Castle by Nobunaga had three distinct features. First, the Main Enclosure or Honmaru on the top was surrounded by stone walls made using huge stones. Some of the stones were carried from another mountain. At that time, building stone walls for castles was rare, and there was likely no other case like Komakiyama. It was one of the earliest examples of using stone walls as a show of authority.

The remaining stone walls on the mountain

Secondly, the castle had two residences for the lord, one was on the mountain, the other was at the foot. Other warlords who had a mountain castle also often had two residences. They usually lived in the one on the foot and used the one on the mountain when a battle happened. However, in the case of Nobunaga, he seemed to live in his residence on the mountain. He might have considered the mountain as a special place. Another similar example can be seen in Gifu Castle, his next home base.

Lastly, the Main Route went straight from the foot to the mid-slope of the mountain like Azuchi Castle, his last home base. It was abnormal for other warlords to have such a route on the mountain, because it was not defensive. The reason is still unsure, but it must have depended on Nobunaga’s idea. In addition, its castle town was built in an advanced way in an area where nothing existed prior. The town was divided orderly to accommodate warriors, merchants, and craftsmen separately. Such a way to develop castle town is commonly seen in those in the next century.

The miniature model of the castle town distribution at the site

Ieyasu’s Stronghold

The life of the castle by Nobunaga was just four years, as he was successful in capturing Inabayama Castle in 1567. He moved his home base again to Inabayama castle and renamed it Gifu Castle. Komakiyama Castle was abandoned right away. In 1584, the castle was reused by Ieyasu Tokugawa when he fought with the ruler Hideyoshi Toyotomi in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. Ieyasu reinforced earthen walls and dry moats surrounding the castle to establish a stronghold there against Hideyoshi at Inuyama Castle. This battle resulted in a dead heat and Ieyasu showed his great presence towards the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate later.

*The Portrait of Ieyasu Tokugawa, attributed to Tanyu Kano, owned by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Komakiyama Castle Part2”

40.Yamanaka Castle Part2

A beautiful historical park, now with a view of Mt. Fuji

Features

Third Enclosure as Entrance

Now, the ruins of Yamanaka Castle have been well developed and maintained as the Yamanaka-jo Castle Park by Mishima City, though the ruins have only earthen foundation. The entrance of the ruins is alongside the old Tokaido Road, and you can park at the parking lot inside when you visit the ruins by car. The entrance was also once that of the Third Enclosure which is now the town area. So, you will walk to the center of the castle by passing through the ruins of the moats for the enclosure. Most of the moats are dried, but part of them remains as a pond called “Tajiri-no-Ike”.

The map around the castle

Second Enclosure as Pivot of Defense

From the pond, you have to walk up the stairs and winding slope to reach the Second Enclosure. The Second Enclosure was large and the connecting point with the center of the castle and the other parts. You can see good views of the area around, including Mt. Fuji from the enclosure. It is surrounded by high, thick earthen walls. It was the important point to protect the castle. Two more enclosures, including the North Enclosure, have been built to protect the Main Enclosure.

Main Enclosure as Center of Castle

You have to walk up more and across the bridge to the center of the castle, the Main Enclosure. The bridge, which is made of half wood and half earth, looks very interesting. The part of woods could be destroyed when a battle happened. The Main Enclosure is the highest place in the castle and has two tiers. It is thought that a high turret called “Tenshu Turret” stood on the upper tier. The enclosure is surrounded by deep valleys.

The bridge made of half wood and half earth

The ruins of Tenshu Turret at the Main Enclosure

The dry mort surrounding the Main Enclosure

Group of Western Enclosures

On the west of the Second Enclosure, there are the West Enclosure and the West Turret over another small enclosure called the former West Turret. Though they were all connected by wooden bridges in the past, we can now go to these enclosures through wooden or earthen bridges. The West Turret is also a kind of enclosures, but once had buildings for defense as the frontline of the castle. Actually, the severe battle between Hojo and Toyotomi occurred there. Many of the latticed dry moats called Une-bori and Shoji-bori remain around the West Turret and the West Enclosure. They were originally deeper and the soil was exposed. The original surfaces have been buried and planted to protect them, as a result, the moats look very beautiful like a waffle with a great view of Mt. Fuji.

The latticed dry moat called Shoji-bori between the West Enclosure and the West Turret

the latticed *dry moat called Une-bori around the West Turret*

Taizaki-demaru defense strongpoint, others

Going back to the entrance of the ruins, you can also visit Taizaki-Damaru defense strongpoint to the south. This is a long and gently sloped enclosure which is also surrounded by earthen walls and Une-bori dry moats. The severe battle also occurred there, but it has a good atmosphere to walk around now. It may be a good idea to have lunch with a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji. You can also walk on the stone pavement of the old Tokaido Road below Taizaki-Dmaru. If you have time, I recommend that you visit the Sokan-ji Temple in the former Third Enclosure town area. There is the tomb of Naosue Hitotsuyanagi, a Hideyoshi’s commander, together with other tombs of Hojo’s soldiers.

A view from Taizaki-Damaru defense strongpoint

*the latticed dry moat called Une-bori* at *Taizaki-Damaru defense strongpoint*

The stone pavement of the old Tokaido Road

The old Tokaido Road through the Third Enclosure

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

40.Yamanaka Castle Part1

The castle for the western defense of the Hojo Clan

Location and History

Western Defense for Hojo Clan

Yamanaka Castle was located on the west of Hakone Barrier, the western gateway of Kanto Region, now in the eastern part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The castle was first built in the middle 16th Century during the Sengoku Period by the Hojo Clan, who owned Kanto Region. The clan aimed to protect their home base, Odawara Castle on the eastern side of Hakone Barrier, by building Yamanaka Castle. This castle was also improved before the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, attacked the Hojo Clan in 1590.

The location of the castle

Yamanaka Castle was built surrounding the Tokaido Road, one of the major roads in Japan. During that time, if someone walked up the slope on the road from the west, it would require passing through the castle. The road was actually on the Third Enclosures of the castle, and beside the Main Enclosure. The Third Enclosure also had water moats on the west to prevent enemies’ attacks and was for the water reservoir.
On the south of the Third Enclosure, a long defense strongpoint called “Taizaki-demaru” spread with the road parallelly. On the west of the Third Enclosure, the Second Enclosure, the West Enclosure, and the West Turret were added towards that direction. These enclosures were able to work closely to prevent attacks from enemy forces.

The location map of the ruins of Yamanaka Castle (from the signboard at the site)

Hojo’s Unique Methods for building Castle

The techniques used in the castle were unique to the Hojo Clan. All the enclosures were made of earthworks, using natural terrain such as ridges and valleys. They were mainly connected by wooden bridges which could fall down when a battle happened. They were also divided by deep dry moats whose bottoms were left parallel or as latticed ridges. The method for building the moats is called “Une-bori” for the parallel ridges and “Shoji-bori” for the latticed ridges. These dry moat building methods are considered features of the Hojo’s castles. Once soldiers fell into the moat, they couldn’t move from there at all. The area of the castle reached about 200,000 square meters. Hojo thought the castle could make Hideyoshi stuck for a while.

Fall in Battle of Yamanaka Castle

However, the castle was captured by Hideyoshi in just half a day. In the early morning, March 29, 1590, nearly 70,000 soldiers of Hideyoshi’s troop started to attack the castle, while the number of the defenders was only about 4,000. The attackers first charged both the West Turret and the Taizaki-Demaru defense strongpoint, but they suffered a significant number of casualties by the counterattack of Hojo’s guns. If it was a local battle, the attacker might have paused the charge to prevent more damages. However, the commanders forcibly continued to charge, otherwise, they might have been fired by the ruler. That resulted in the success of capturing the castle for Hideyoshi in exchange for a lot of dead soldiers including one of the Hideyoshi’s commander, Naosue Hitotsuyanagi.

The Portrait of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, attributed to Mitsunobu Kano, ownd by Kodaiji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

This battle lasted for a few hours. It is said that another reason for the short battle was that Hojo’s soldiers were confused because their head, Ujikatsu Hojo, escaped from the castle. Others point out that the Taizaki-Demaru defense strongpoint was unfinished in construction before Hideyoshi’s attack. Anyway, even such a strong castle couldn’t survive without enough soldiers and the right instructions.

To be continued in “Yamanaka Castle Part2”