main enclosure – ページ 8 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

158.Fukuchiyama Castle Part2

The southwestern side of the stone wall base of the Main Tower is covered with many diverted stones and some of them are used for its corners. Why did Mitsuhide use them for the important part of the tower?

Features

Main Enclosure as Fukuchiyama Castle Park

Today, the current Fukuchiyama Castle remains as a historical park. The original castle includes the Main, Second and Third Enclosures in a line on a hill. However, the park has only the Main enclosure at the edge of the hill because the Second Enclosure’s part was cut down and turned into residential areas. Therefore, the Fukuchiyama Castle park looks like a castle on a small mountain, which stands out in the city.

The map around the castle

The park has been well developed for visitors so that they can easily walk up on the paved slopes to the top of the hill. You will climb the slope along the remaining stone walls and the restored stone one’s of the Main Enclosure where you can see a diverted stone being used as fillings for the gaps on the wall.

You can access the Main Enclosure by entering the restored Tsurigane-mon or the Hanging Bell Gate after climbing the stone steps or by going on the slope. There is a large well called Toyoiwa-no-i, which is 50m deep and still has 37m deep water.

The slope on the left and the stone steps to the Hanging Bell Gate on the right

Main Tower Base uses lots of Diverted Stones

The restored Main Tower is on the original stone wall base which has a complex shape in a plane view because the original tower was extended several times. The entrance of the tower is at the eastern side which has a newer part of the original base.

The aerial photo around the Main Enclosure, there are lots of deverted stones at the lower left of the red lines

The restored Main Tower of Fukuchiyama Castle

The entrance at the eastern side of the Main Tower

If you walk around the base to the southern side, you will find the base uses a lot of diverted stones. Diverted stones refer to the stones which had originally been processed and used for other purposes, such as tombstones, stone statues, and stone mills, but were collected and used for rapid castle constructions. Other examples of using them can be seen in castles like Yamato-Koriyama, Matsusaka and Himeji Castles.

The southern side a lot of diverted stones

A diverted stone used in Yamato-Koriyama Castle (little above the middle)

A diverted stone used in Matsusaka Castle

You may be surprised to see that the southwestern side of the stone wall base is covered with more diverted stones. The view of the restored Main Tower is good, but you should also check out how the stones are used. The stone wall base was mainly piled using natural stones in a method called Nozura-zumi. The diverted stones in other sides are used to fill gaps between these natural stones. However, the diverted stones at the southwestern side are used to form the corners of the base, the most important part of it. Basically, the corners of stone wall bases must support most of the weight of the tower, even in a case of emergency, such as an earthquake.

A view of the Main Tower of Fukuchiyama Castle from the southwest

What is Mitsuhide’s intention?

For example, in 2016 many earthquakes happened in Kumamoto, the Iidamaru-five-level Turret of Kumamoto Castle was once supported by only one corner stone even though other stones around had collapsed. Around the southern part of the Fukuchiyama Castle’s Main Tower was said to be the oldest, so Mitsuhide Akechi probably built it. Why did he use so many diverted stones and installed them into the important part of the tower?

Iidamaru-five-level-turret and the miracle lone stone walls in July,2016, quoted from the Sankei Photo

One possible reason is purely technical. The diverted stones in the corner are cuboid ones which look like tombs or carved Buddha status. Collecting them might have been useful for Mitsuhide to build the castle efficiently and rapidly. On the other hand, a local tradition says that Mitsuhide’s troops destroyed the temples which were against his orders and took the tomb stones away from them to build the castle. If it is true, using the stones might have meant the new lord showing the conquest and the authority to people. Other historian argued that it must have symbolized the contribution of people to the castle’s construction or taking Buddha’s power in the castle. Overall, only Mitsuhide can answer this question.

Why did Mitsuhide use these diverted stones for the important part of the tower?

So far, about 500 diverted stones were found in the stone walls of the castle or excavated in other places. The excavated ones lie down in vacant spaces in the Main Enclosure.

The diverted stones lying down in the Main Enclosure

To be continued in “Fukuchiyama Castle Part3”
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14.Mito Castle Part3

After seeing the restored Main Gate and Corner Turret, I would like the city to restore the Three-level Turret as the Main Tower of the castle as well.

Features

Only Remaining building in Castle

Back to the central street, you can go further to the Main Enclosure. You may be surprised to see, in front of the enclosure, another but much deeper (22m) dry moat. It is now used as a ground for the Suigun Railway Line. Of course, it is the castle’s original. The enclosure has the only remaining building of the castle, Yakui-mon Gate which was said the Satake Clan had built. If it’s true, the gate might have been used as their Main Gate. Please make sure you don’t enter the school to stay where you are allowed to see it on the designated area around after crossing the Honjo-bashi Bridge over the moat.

The map around the castle, the broken red line shows the Sugiyama Slope and the broken blue line shows the Sakumachi Route

The large dry moat in front of the Main Enclosure

Its bottom has become a ground for the Suigun Railway Line

Going to the Main Enclosure over the bridge

The Yakui-mon Gate, the only remaining building of Mito Castle

Other Attractions in Second and Third Enclosures

There are two original back routes from the Second Enclosure, which we can still use, the Sugiyama-zaka Slope in the north and the Sakumachi Route in the south. Both routes have restored gates called Sugiyama-mon and Sakumachi-Sakashita-mon. If you walk down on the southern route to go back to Mito Station, you will see the large scale plateau on your right side, which is covered by concrete panels today. There was also the large Senba Lake on the left in the past, but it was reclaimed and reduced to the original western part around the Kairakuen Garden.

The restored Sakumachi-Sakashita-mon Gate

If you have time, you should consider visiting the large outer dry moat of the Third Enclosure, at the root of the plateau. It remains as it was and only the earthen walls go across the moat to the prefectural office which was the senior vassals’ residences. Overall, the castle was protected by the three huge moats.

The aerial photo of around the castle

The earthen bridge has become the entrance of the prefectural office

Later History

Even after the severe events in the early Meinji Era, the Three-level Turret in the Second Enclosure of Mito Castle, which was so great that it was once called “One of the 20 remaining main towers in Japan”, had still remained until World War II, but it was burned down by the Mito air raids in 1945. After World War II, the Kodokan area was designated as a Special National Historic Site in 1952. The other items, the earthen walls, dry moats, and Yakui-mon Gate has been designated as historic sites of Ibaraki Prefecture. Mito City has recently restored some castle buildings as we can see now.

The remaining earthen walls around the Yakui-mon Gate at the Main Enclosure

My Impression

After visiting the ruins of Mito Castle, I realized that strong castles don’t always need stone walls. This was proven not only by the past battles, but also by the two dry moats being used for the current transportation. In addition, seeing the restored Main Gate and Corner Turret, I would like the city to restore the Three-level Turret as the Main Tower of the castle as well. This is because the 8 Main Towers, which had been burned down mostly during World War II, were restored except for that of Mito Castle. However, there is no plan for it yet.

A view of the earthen walls and the dry moat in front of the Second Enclosure from the Main Bridge

The explanation board of the Three-level Turret is at a different place from its original position

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about a 15 minutes drive away from Minami-Mito IC on the Kitakando Expressway or a 30 minutes drive away from Mito IC on the Joban Expressway. There is a parking lot beside the Main Gate.
By public transportation, it takes about 10 minutes on foot to get there from JR Mito Station.
From Tokyo to Mito Station: Take the Hitachi limited express at Tokyo Station.

That’s all. Thank you.
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192.Tsunomure Castle Part3

There are many stones lying on the Main Enclosure. This is because officials are repairing the stone walls of the enclosure, which Takamasa Mori built.

Features

Is Main Enclosure being improved?

However, the Main Enclosure on the top looks different. Around the Main Enclosure there are no stone walls, but it has the Vertical Cliffs which were artificially cut, made of soil. This method had also been used in the castle before Takamasa Mori came. You will walk around the natural-like path to the enclosure (the straight path for the repair work to it should not be used).

The map around the castle

The Vertical Cliffs around the Main Enclosure

The straight path for the repair work to the Main Enclosure

The path to the Main Enclosure going around the mountain

There is the observation platform on the way, where you can enjoy a great view of the Kusu area with lots of mesas or buttes, which look very beautiful.

When you arrive at the top of the Main Enclosure, you will see many stones lying on it (as of May of 2023). This is because Takamasa built stone walls only at northern side of the enclosure. The official are repairing them after they collapsed. Maybe Takamasa was also improving the Main Enclosure until he was transferred.

The stones for the stone walls being repaired

Attractions of Mori Domain

You can also visit the attractions of the Mori Domain which the Kurushima Clan established at the foot of the mountain. The lords of the domain lived in an encampment which was turned into a park. The clan also built a pond garden with a circular promenade beside a hill next to the encampment, which remains now.

The pond garden the Kurushima Clan created

There is a 7m tall monolith standing in front of the garden, called Dowa-hi or the Monument of Fairy Tales. This was not originally part of the encampment, but it was originally used as a stone for the harbor at a river nearby when the domain was thriving. The monolith was moved to the current position and reused as the monument in 1949, named after a famous writer of fairy tales, Takehiko Kurushima who was a descendant of the lord’s family.

The clan also built a tea room on stone walls, called Seihoro, on the hill, which also remains. It is said that the room was built as a substitute for a Main Tower which was not allowed to be built by the lord of the clan.

The Seihoro tea room *(licensed by ムカイ via Wikimedia Commons)*

Later History

The research of Tsunomure Castle was launched in 1993. It found that the ruins still have an example of the Ano-zumi stone walls in a good condition, which Hideyoshi’s retainers built in many areas during his unification of Japan. It also found that the ruins show the process of castles’ improvement from the Middle Ages to the Edo Period. As a result, the ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 2005. Kusu Town promoted itself as the hometown of fairy tales and having a castle with the Ano-zumi stone walls.

The Ano-zumi stone walls of Tsunomure Castle

My Impression

When I visited the Kusu Area, I felt the area has a very unique atmosphere because it is surrounded by mountains, and the small mountains or hills inside are a little strange, which I would learn are called mesas or buttes. These natural features of the area created folk tales about its history, so the town’s nick name, the hometown of fairy tales may be related to them. Tsunomure Castle also came from the area’s features and people from the outside made it more unique. I recommend visiting the Kusu area and Tsunomure Castle Ruins if you travel around there.

The stone walls of the Third Enclosure of Tsunomure Castle

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about a few minutes drive away from Kusu IC on the Oita Expressway. There are several parking lots around the ruins (in the Third Enclosure on the mountain or in the park at the foot of the mountain…).
By public transportation, take the Oita-Kotsu bus bound for Kajiwara from JR Bungomori Station and get off at the Kami-Fushihara bus stop at the foot of the mountain. You can climb the trail to the top from there.
From Tokyo or Osaka to the Station: it may be better to rent a car from Oita Airport or Fukuoka Airport after using a plane.

That’s all. Thank you.
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