Today, the ruins of Tatsuoka Castle are used as the Taguchi Primary School, which are still surrounded by the five pointed star shaped perimeter. Local people often called them “Tatsuoka Goryokaku (which means Pentagonal Style Fort)”. They are also famous for cherry blossoms. Because of the current usage, the facilities for visitors, such as the information center called “Goryokaku deai-no-yakata”, are located outside of the ruins.
The aerial photo around the castle
The information center
Visitors usually go to the Main Gate Ruins first which have the most precise stone walls in the castle, such as the Tortoise Shell and Hanedashi styles. The restored wooden bridge is over the water moat, where you can feel a traditional atmosphere. There are also two other gate ruins you can pass, one is Kuro-mon and the other is the side gate.
The Main Gate RuinsThe stone walls of the Main GateThe water moats and stone walls around the Main GateThe side gate
Walking around Castle Ruins
You can easily walk around the perimeter of the ruins because they are not so large. You will see the moats expire and the stone walls look rough as you go to the back. This is because the construction of the castle, in fact, ended halfway through due to the lack of budget or because of another priority. Please make sure that you don’t walk across the route around the ruins because it is private property.
The stone walls in the back sideThere is private property ahead
Only one remaining building
You can also enter the inside of the ruins except for the facilities and playground of the school. If you look around the inside, you will see the five pointed star shape is basically made out of soil. There is the only one remaining building in the castle, called the Kitchen House. It was originally used as part of the Main Hall, then turned int o a school house, a warehouse, and finally moved to the current position as a historical item. Only group tours which has a previous booking can enter this building. Therefore if you want to see it you have to be part of a group.
The inside of the castle ruinsThe ruins are surrounded by the earthen walls insideThe remaining Kitchen House
View of Castle Ruins from Observation Platform
Tatsuoka Castle was designed flat, so today’s visitors might not be able to grasp its shape. Therefore, I recommend you consider visiting the Goryokaku observation platform, located on a mountain in the northside, about 500m away from the ruins. In fact, that spot is the ruins of another castle called Taguchi Castle in the Sengoku Period, where you can see several enclosures made of soil.
The relief map around the castle
The Goryokaku observation platformThe ruins of Taguchi Castle
Of course, you can also see a nice view of the five pointed star shape clearly. This has probably been the best spot to overlook the area around. You could easily target Tatsuoka Castle if you were an artillery man attacking the castle during the end of the Edo Period.
A view of Tatsuoka Castle Ruins from the observation platformThe area around the Main Gate RuinsThe Kitchen House
You will finally reach the front of the main portion, the Main Gate Ruins. If you go out of the ruins, you can see how well the gate was protected. There is another enclosure in front it, divided by a long and deep dry moat. The moat has double ditches and you need to go across them on a small bridge and a large one. These bridges are zigzagged so that enemies would sometimes be stuck when they attacked the hall. There are thick and high earthen walls with restored wooden fences around the gate ruins, where you can imagine defenders could counterattack with arrows.
Arriving at the Main Gate RuinsLooking at the ruins form the outsideThe two bridges were built being zigzaggedThe restored wooden fences on the earthen walls around the gateAround the Main Gate of the Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date miniature model, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility
Later History
Kaminoyama-Katsuyama Date Ruins were the place of ancestor worship for the Matsumae Domain during the Edo Period. As castle ruins, they were designated as a National Historic Site in 1977, considered one of the “Kaminokuni Hall Ruins” including Hanazawa Tate, one of the Dounan 12 Halls. After that, they have been excavated and researched since 1979. That’s why the new discoveries about the mainland and Ainu people were found.
the miniature model of Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance FacilityThe ruins of the Main Gate
My Impression
I think Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date deserves not only a hall, but definitely a castle or a medieval city, too. That was the destination of the halls which the mainland people going to Ezo built. That also created a unique way of life where the mainland and Ainu people lived together. I recommend visiting the ruins even though it may take a long time for you to get there.
The Iouzan Tombs seen from the Katsuyama Castle Guidance FacilityThe ruins of the Stable
How to get There
I recommend using a car when you visit the castle ruins because there are only a few buses available. It is about 70km drive away from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station. From Hakodate Airport or the center of Hakodate City, it takes about 90km to get there. You can use the parking lot beside the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility. It may be a good idea to rent a car at the station or the airport. To get to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station from Tokyo: Take the Hokkaido Shinkansen super express at Tokyo Station.
The parking lot beside the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility
There are so many attractions you should check out in the castle.
Features
From Main Gate to Nakagomon Gate Ruins
Today, Wakayama Castle site has been developed as Wakayama Castle Park by Wakayama City. It still includes the main portion of the original castle. It has five entrances same as the castle had, as the Main, Okaguchi, Oimawashi, former Akazuno, and former Fukiage Gates.
The map around the castle
If you want to see what the castle was like, it may be better to enter the Main Gate at the northeastern part of the park. The gate and the bridge in front it over the Inner Moat were restored in the present time. Once you enter the gate, you will see how large the castle grounds and moats are.
The Drawing of the Main Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the siteThe Main GateA view from the inside of the Main GateThe Inner Moat at the eastern side of the castle
You will go to the ruins of Nakagomon, the second gateway, which still have alternating stone walls. This is an interesting spot where you can see two types of the gate stone walls using roughly and precisely processed stones. In addition, you can see the old stone walls surrounding the hill using natural greenschists ahead. These walls were built in different periods.
The ruins of Nakagomon GateLooking down the alternated part from the top of the stone wallsThe walls using granite porphyry stones on the left and the walls using sand stones on the rightThe walls using natural Greenschist stones
Second and Western Enclosures
The Second Enclosure is the west of the Main Gate area. It has only a rock garden built in the present time, but it had the luxury Main Hall with turrets beside the Inner Moat. The Large Hall, part of the Main Hall, was moved to Osaka Castle and remained until 1947 when it was burned. Wakayama City is planning to restore the Large Hall at the original position with some turrets and the O-oku residence in a long term. The distant view of the Main Tower may be the best seen from the enclosure.
The map around the Second Enclosure
The inside of the Second EnclosureThe ruins of Monomi-Yagura Turret at the Second EnclosureThe Inner Moat at the northern side of the Second EnclosureThe Large Hall which was moved to Osaka Castle, quoted from the website of Wakayama CityA distant view of the Main Tower from the Second Enclosure
In the next Western Enclosure, the water garden, called Momijidani-teien or the Autumn Leave Valley Garden, was restored in the present time and designated as a National Scenic Beauty. the Passage Bridge between the Second and Western Enclosures was also restored in 2006. You can walk into the roofed and slanted bridge which is quite rare.
The Autumn Leave Valley Garden in the Western EnclosureThe Passage BridgeThe interior of the Passage Bridge
Remaining Okaguchi Gate
The area around the Okaguchi Gate at the southeastern part of the park is also great to visit. The gate building with the mud wall beside is one of the few remaining buildings of the castle and designated as an Important Cultural Property. It looks like a simple gate with a gabled roof, but it was sandwiched by turrets on both sides.
The map around the Okaguchi Gate
The Okaguchi GateThe remaining mud wallsThe top of the Okaguchi GatePart of the Drawing of the Okaguchi Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the site
Inside the gate, there is the second gateway similar to the Main Gate area. You can see a great and high stone wall base for Matsunomaru Turret on the left. Other stone walls form a square space called Masugata to prevent their enemies from attacking them. No buildings remain on them, however, these newer stone walls are also worth seeing.
The second gateway from the Okaguchi GateThe stone wall base for Matsunomaru TurretThe square space seen from the top of the base
Going Main Enclosure and Main Tower climbing Slope
There are two routes to the Main Enclosure on the hill as the Front Slope and the Back Slope. The Front Slope is a gentler but longer route. The first part of it is wide and zigzagged, with beautiful paved Greenschist stones.
The map around the Main Enclosure
The Front SlopeThe beautiful paved Greenschist stones
The last part is long, with old stone walls on the right hill side and several turret stone wall bases on the left valley side. Currently, visitors can enjoy a relaxing walk on that route, but at that time, the enemies would have found the route troubling as they could be counter-attacked.
The last part the Front SlopeA turret stone wall base on the valley side
The Back Slope is steeper but shorter. This route is also made and surrounded by old stone walls, but has a different taste with the mossy stones.
The Back SlopeThe mossy stone walls
The top of the hill has two peaks, one was for another Main Hall, and the other is for the Main Tower. The Main Hall coexisted with that of the Second Enclosure, but it was not often used for its small size and inconvenient location. There is a water station now and it is a good view point of the Main Tower.
Going to the Main Enclosure from the Front SlopeThe Main Hall Ruins of the Main EnclosureA view of the Main Tower from the ruins
Most visitors’ destination is the Main Tower. It is actually a modern building, not original, but was apparently restored in 1958. Its stone wall base is original and thought that it is the oldest among the stone walls in the castle. A building like the Main Tower may have been built on it from the first stage.
A close view of the Main TowerThe stone wall base for the Main Tower
The style of the tower is called Renritsu-siki or the Tower Grouping, which refers to the Large and Small Main Towers and turrets being connected by Hall Turrets like a corridor. The interior of the tower is used as a historical museum and the top floor is used as the observation platform.
You can see the style of the Tower Grouping from the top floorA storage box for tea ceremony utensils, one of the exhibitions in the towerThe top floor of the Large Main Tower as the observation platformAn eastern view including the Main Hall Ruins from the platform
