main gate – ページ 13 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

127.Shinpu Castle Part2

You can see the completed version of Takeda’s method for building castles.

Features

The ruins of Shinpu Castle is open to the public. Visitors usually enter the ruins from the eastern side using two trails which were either built in the present time. One of them is the very steep approach with stone steps to the shrine on the top of the mountain. The other is the gentle steep footwalk going around the mid slope of the mountain to the south. I recommend using the latter if you want to look around the ruins.

Powerful ruins of Main Gate and Umadashi system

The footwalk goes under the Third Enclosure above the Main Gate. You can walk down from the inside to the outside of the ruins of the gate. The gate ruins are still surrounded by the earthen walls.

The map around the castle

The ruins of the Umadashi system remain outside the gate. Umadashi was Takeda’s unique defense system which is a round shaped stronghold sticking out of a gate. It usually had a convex moon shaped moat in front of it to make it more protective. The defenders could also counter the attackers from the sides. The ruins of Umadashi in Shinpu Castle are very large and you can clearly see the shapes of the stronghold and the moat.

The imaginary drawing of the Umadashi part (from the signboard at the site)

Main Enclosure which worships Takeda

Going back to the footwalk, you can walk up to the Main Enclosure through the Second Enclosure. The Main Enclosure is largest one and on the top of the mountain, which had Katsuyori Takeda’s Main Hall. The excavation team recently found the foundation of the hall gate and the traces of the leveling probably done by Tokugawa.

The only things that remained was the Shinpu-Fujitake Shrine which worships Katsuyori and the shrine which worships the war deaths in the battle of Nagashino on the spacious area.

The steep approach that can be seen from the shrine

The shrine which worships the war deaths in the battle of Nagashino

You can see a good view from there including the Kamanashi-gawa River below and the mountains above.

Also pay attention to Back Gate

You can also walk down to the northern part of the castle from the Main Enclosure. Passing the ruins of the well and the wooden bridge, you will reach the ruins of the back gate called Inui-Mon.

The map of the northern part of the castle

The imaginary drawing of the wooden bridge (from the signboard at the site)

The gate was built in the Masugata style which had a square space sandwiched by two gate buildings, which could prevent enemies from attacking easily. The earthen walls surrounding the space still remain intact and the foundations of the gate were also found.

The Masugata space which is surrounded by the earthen walls

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

127.Shinpu Castle Part1

The mysterious Takeda’s last castle

Location and History

Katsuyori Takeda moved from Kofu to Simpu

Shinpu Castle was located in what is now Nirasaki City, the northwest part of Yamanashi Prefecture which was called Kai Province. The province was owned by the Takeda Clan for a long time until the late 16th Century and their home base had been located in the Takeda Clan Hall in Kofu, the center of the province. Katsuyori Takeda, the last lord of the clan decided to move his home base to Shinpu Castle in 1581. He moved to the castle within the year.

The location of the castle

The Portrait of Katsuyori Takeda, ownd by Koyasan Jimyoin (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The move was done for several reasons. First, Takeda’s territory expanded to the west such as Shinano Province (now Nagano Pref.), in order to make Shinpu Castle the center of their territory. Secondly, the large territory made Takeda’s vassals so many that the Takeda Clan Hall and Kofu were too narrow and small for them. Lastly, Katsuyori was threatened by Nobunaga Oda and Ieyasu Tokugawa from the west, after several defeated battles with them such as those of Nagashino Castle and Takatenjin Castle. Katsuyori needed to prepare a stronger castle for a possible invasion from them.

The location of Shinpu Castle and the range of Shinano Provence (on the left) and Kai Province (on the right)

Final version of Takeda Clan’s Method for building Castles

Shinpu Castle was built on a mountain on a long cliff wall called Shichiri-Iwa, which means about 28km long rock, along the Kamanashigawa River on the westerly direction. The eastern side of the castle was also a steep cliff of the mountain. The southern part of the castle had the Main Gate with the large Umadashi which was Takeda’s characteristic defense system. The northern part had this castle’s unique defense system called Degamae with water moats. The back entrance had doubled gates with a square space inside called Masugata. The Main Enclosure, the Second Enclosure, and the Third Enclosure were placed on several tiers to protect the castle. Katsuyori’s Main Hall was built in the Main Enclosure on the top. Overall, the castle could be very defensive even though it was all made of soil.

The relief map around the castle

The imaginary drawing of Shinpu Castle (from the signboard at the site)

However, Katsuyori burned the castle by himself and escaped from it in Mar 1582 after only his three-month stay, when he had heard of Takato Castle, located in the west of Shinpu Castle, being captured by Nobunaga’s invasion. Moreover, Katsuyori was defeated by his retainer’s betrayal just after eight days from the escape. So, why did Katsuyori withdraw from the castle?

The positional relation between Shinpu Castle and Takato Castle

Why did Katsuyori throw Castle away?

The reason which had been often said was that the castle was still unfinished. For example, the Main Gate was found to have no buildings through excavation. Others point out that Katsyori had only hundreds of his troops including women and children when they escaped because most of his vassals left him. Some remaining senior vassals recommended that he should be accommodated to another castle. For example, Masayuki Sanada offered Sanada’s Iwabitsu Castle in Kozuke Province (now Gunma Pref.). Katsuyori finally took another suggestion from the retainer who would deceive him. Another historian even says Sinpu Castle maybe did not deserve a castle, but a large hall would have been more suitable. This is because it needed more moats for a castle. Only Katsuyori knew the answer.

The portlait of Masayuki Sanada, privately owned licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

After Nobunaga was also killed in the Honnoji Incident in June 1582, Ieyasu used Sinpu Castle again for his stronghold to get Kai Province. He succeeded in getting it, used Takeda Clan Hall to govern it, and built Kofu Castle as its new home base before Shinpu Castle was eventually abandoned.

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

To be continued in “Shinpu Castle Part2”

25.Kofu Castle Part1

A very important strongpoint for the Tokugawa Shogunate

Location and History

Mitsuyasu Kato might have developed it greatly

Kofu Castle was located in Kai Province (what is now Yamanashi Prefecture). Kai Province was owned by the Takeda Clan for a long time until 1582 when the clan was defeated by Nobunaga Oda. Since then the Oda clan governed the province but immediately followed by the Tokugawa, Toyotomi, and the Tokugawa clan again. Kofu City, which is the prefectural capital of the prefecture, had already been the castle town for the Takeda Clan Hall. It is said that the Tokugawa Clan first built Kofu Castle at the south of the town in 1583 of their first governance, but it is uncertain. In 1590, Toyotomi’s servant, Mitsuyasu Kato was given Kai Province. He improved Kofu Castle greatly, probably with building the large scale stone walls. This is because Toyotomi had the craftsmen who were able to build stone walls called Ano-shu, which Tokugawa didn’t have. It is thought that the basic structure of the castle was completed at the same time.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Mitsuyasu Kato, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Protected by High Stone Walls and Tripled Moats

The castle consisted of three parts. The main portion is called Uchi-shiro, it includes the Main Enclosure, the base for the Main Tower and other enclosures. It was surrounded by stone walls and the Inner Moat. It was also on a hill called Ichijo-koyama, and had three entrances – the Main Gate on the south, the Yamanote-mon Gate on the north, and the Yanagi-mon Gate on the west. The eastern part of the main portion is protected strictly by the high stone walls. Secondly, the ground for the warriors’ houses called Naikaku was around the main portion, surrounded by the Second Moat. Lastly, the ground for the castle town was around Naikaku, also surrounded by the Third Moat.

The old map of Kofu Castle, from a book “Rakushido-nenroku” by Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, owned by The Yanagisawa Library *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The miniature model of the main portion of Kofu Castle, the front of the photo is the high stone walls on the east (an exhibition in the Inari Turret)

Important Strongpoint for protecting Edo

In the Edo Period from the 17th Century, Kofu Castle became a very important spot. The Tokugawa Shogunate set the Five Major Roads including the Kofu Road passing through Kofu town. Kofu was regarded as the western strongpoint to protect Edo (what is now Tokyo), the Shogun’s home base. For this reason, the Shogunate basically governed the castle directly. For example, the Shogun’s relative Tsunatoyo Tokugawa lived in the castle, who became the sixth Shogun Ienobu later. Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa was the first lord of the castle out of non-Shogun’s relatives in 1705, who was a senior vassal of the Shogunate. His son, Yoshiyasu was transferred to Yamato-Koriyama Castle in 1724, then Kofu Castle was Shogunate-owned again.

The positional relation between Kofu and Edo

*The portrait of Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, owned by Ichiren-ji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

In 1868 during the Meiji Restoration, the battle between the New Government and the Shogunate happened. Taisuke Itagaki, one of the leaders of the New Government Army thought they needed to capture Kofu Castle faster than the Shogunate. The Shogunate also sent the famous warrior party called the Shinsen-gumi led by Isami Kondo to Kofu Castle. Itagaki rushed and succeeded to enter the castle by a narrow margin, so that he could defeat the Shinsen-gumi.

The picture of Taisuke Itagaki, published by the Eastern Culture Association *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

*The picture of Isami Kondo, owned by the National Diet Library (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Kofu Castle Part2”