Minowa castle – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

114.Karasawayama Castle Part1

The last lord of the castle, Nobuyoshi Sano built high stone walls on the main portion of the castle, which was a rare case in the region. It must have been done with help from Hideyoshi Toyotomi because he and his retainers had built many similar stone walls in western Japan.

Location and History

Sano Clan builds Castle during Sengoku Period

Karasawayama Castle was located in modern day Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture, which was a large mountain castle beside the northern edge of the Kanto Plain. Tradition says that a famous general, Hidesato Fujiwara built it in 972 during the Ancient times. However, historians think that it was created by the Sano Clan, who were descendants of Hidesato and governed the castle for a long time. According to the results of the research and studies, the clan first lived in a hall at the western foot of the mountain until the 15th Century. It was thought that the castle was built or developed by the clan on the mountain when many battles happened in the Kanto Region, during the Sengoku Period. Other popular mountain castles in the region like Kanayama and Minowa Castles were built at the same time to protect the owners under the severe conditions. The Sano Clan first used the mountain castle in the cases of emergency, but eventually lived in it to survive.

The range of Sano City and the location of the castle

The relief map around the castle

The ruins of the Sano Clan’s residence (current Koshoji Temple)

Kenshin Uesugi devotes to capture Castle

On the other hand, great warlords, who wanted to rule over the region, thought they would need to get Karasawayama Castle because of its advantageous location. Kenshin Uesugi was one of them and was devoted to do it. There is a symbolic episode when he first invaded the Kanto Region around 1560. He visited Karasawayama Castle with few vassals, which was surrounded by his enemy, the Hojo Clan’s large troops, to persuade the lord of castle, Masatsuna Sano to support him until he succeeded. However, every time Kenshin returned to his home, Kasugayama Castle in Echigo Province, the Hojo Clan got its territory back and forced local lords to support it. Masatsuna was one of them and he had to switch allegiance.

*The portrait of Kenshin Uesugi, owned by the Uesugi Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Kenshin, who is considered one of the strongest generals, got angry and attacked the castle, but was not able to capture it by force as it was really strong. Even when Masatsuna surrendered to Kenshin, they would do the same things after Kenshin went back. As a result, they fought with each other at least five times. Kenshin once banished Masatsuna from the castle and sent his relative and vassals to govern it. However, he finally returned the castle to Masatsuna for some reasons. He might have felt the difficulty of how to control this distant site.

*The portrait of Masatsuna Sano, owned by Daianji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

High stone walls are built with help of Hideyoshi Toyotomi

The Kanto Region, including Karasawayama Castle, eventually belonged to the Hojo Clan during the 1570’s and 1580’s. It sent its relative, Ujitada Hojo to govern the castle like Kenshin had used to do. On the other hand, Masatsuna’s relative, Fusatsuna Sano ran away from the region to western Japan to serve Hideyoshi Toyotomi who was the ruler of Japan at that time. Fusatsuna led Hideyoshi to the region when they invaded it in 1590, which resulted in Fusatsuna getting the castle back as the lord. However, Hideyoshi seemed to also want to control the castle. He made the little brother of his close vassal, Nobutaka Tomita to be the successor of Fusatsuna, which would be called Nobuyoshi Sano, the last lord of the clan and the castle. This could be because his rival, Ieyasu Tokugawa was moved by him to the region. He wanted to have Ieyasu monitored by someone reliable.

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

Karasawayama Castle was built on a large mountain which had several ridges. Lots of enclosures were also built on the top and the ridges which had turrets, lookouts, guard houses and shooting points to monitor and attack enemies. These ridges or enclosures were divided by deep ditches to prevent enemies from invading easily. There are two main routes in the south and west, which gathered at the meeting point in front of the Main Gate near the top, which were controlled by the castle’s soldiers. The foot area was used as the lords and senior vassals’ residences surrounded by thick and long earthen walls for defense. They had been developed and improved by the Sano, Uesugi, and Hojo Clans for a long time.

Karasawayama Mountain where the castle was built

The remaining earthen walls at the foot of the mountain

The ruins of the residence of a sennior vassal at the foot of the mountain called Hayato-Yashiki

The castle’s foundations were basically made of soil, which was a common way of building castles in eastern Japan at that time. However, the last lord, Nobuyoshi built high stone walls on the main portion of the castle, which was a rare case in the region. It must have been done with help from Hideyoshi because he and his retainers had built many similar stone walls in western Japan. On the other hand, Ieyasu still didn’t have the techniques and guilds for building such high stone walls. That meant the stone walls of strong Karasawayama Castle must have been a big threat to Ieyasu.

The high stone walls of Karasawayama Castle

Life of Castle suddenly ends, ordered by Ieyasu Tokugawa

When Ieyasu got the power to be the ruler around 1600 after Hideyoshi died, Nobuyoshi somehow survived by supporting Ieyasu. However, the declinations of Karasawayama Castle and the Sano Clan suddenly occured. In 1602, Ieyasu ordered Nobuyoshi to move from Karasawayama to Sano Castle in a plain area nearby. It was said that the reason for it was that it could be rude for Nobuyoshi to look down on Ieyasu’s home, Edo Castle from the mountain castle. Nobuyoshi was finally fired by Ieyasu in 1614 due to being implicated for a crime of his brother, Nobutaka Tomita. Overall, Ieyasu seemed to want to remove possible rebels like Nobuyoshi with strong castles like Karasawayama.

*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 “Karasawayama Castle Part2”

118.Oshi Castle Part1

Tins castle is known for the Battle of Oshi Castle.

Location and History

Narita Clan builds Castle using Marshes between rivers

Gyoda City is located in the northern part of Saitama Prefecture, which is sandwiched by two large rivers in the Kanto Region, Tonegawa and Aarakawa Rivers. The land of the city is very flat and has been developed for living comfortably, however, it was marshy and waterlogged in the Middle Ages due to its terrain and flood from the rivers. The Narita Clan governed the area, which was called Oshi, in the 15th and 16th Centuries during the Sengoku Period. It is said that the clan first built Oshi Castle in the late 15th Century. Many battles happened in the Kanto Region at that time, so local lords needed to protect themselves by building strong castles. Some built mountain castles such as Minowa Castle for the Nagano Clan and Kanayama Castle for the Iwamatsu Clan. On the other hand, the Narita Clan’s choice was to build a Water Castle, using the area’s features of islands among the marshes and natural levees along the rivers. The castle’s enclosures were connected by paths on bridges and earthen walls.

The range of Gyoda City and The location of the castle

The strength of the castle was actually proven when Hideyoshi Toyotomi invaded the Kanto Region to complete his unification of Japan in 1590. The whole region had been governed by the Hojo Clan which the Narita Clan served then. The Hojo Clan ordered their branches including Oshi Castle to gather soldiers to their home base, Odawara Castle to against Hideyoshi. Ujinaga Narita, the lord of Oshi Castle had to leave it for Odawawa, so few defenders were left in the castle, under the castle keeper, Nagachika Narita, Ujinaga’s cousin. Hideyosi attacked the Hojo’s territory with over 200,000 soldiers, sending troops to not only Odawara Castle but also branch castles. For example, Kanayama Castle where a magistrate from the Hojo governed was easily open by the troops. However, the only 500 defenders with 2500 residents in Oshi castle, instructed by Nagachika, never surrendered against over 20,000 attackers.

Castle is attacked by Inundation tactics in Battle of Oshi Castle

The commander head of the attackers was Mitsunari Ishida, a highly trusted retainer from Hideyoshi, who was also supported by other lords, such as Nagamasa Asano and Masayuki Sanada. Hideyoshi was not there, but he ordered Mitsunari to flood the castle by making banks surrounding it to keep more water. His idea probably came from the geographical features and his successful experience of the Battle of Bicchu-Takamatsu Castle where he did the same way. It is said that Mitsunari put his strong hold on Maruhakayama-Kofun, an Ancient Burial Mound, about 2km away from the castle in the south. His team rapidly built 15 to 25 km banks around the mound in few days to dam water from the rivers. A folk story remains that farmers were asked to bring earth bags to build banks for a high fee.

The portrait of Mitsunari Ishida, owned by Hajime Sugiyama (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The partially remaining bank Mitsunari built, called Ishida Tsutsumi

It is uncertain if his attempt was successful according to some records in which the defenders secretly cut part of the banks to drain water drowning some attackers. The fact is that when the supporting lords tried to assault the castle, Hideyoshi ordered them to stop it and continue the inundation. The siege lasted for about a month, however, the castle couldn’t be beaten until the master Hojo surrendered in Odawara Castle. The castle has been nicknamed “a floating castle” of “a turtle castle” which probably originate from what the castle looked like in the siege.

“The illustration of the Narita Clan’s Oshi Castle during the Tensho Era”, it was made by a local historian to consider the Battle of Oshi Castle during the Meiji Era, exhibited by the Gyoda City Local Museum

The Horikiri-bashi Bridge where the bank was cut according to a local tradition

Castle becomes important defense site for Edo

In the Edo Period, Oshi Castle was governed by relatives or hereditary vassals of the shoguns as the Oshi Domain. This was because this castle was located in an important defensive site for Edo Castle, the shogun’s home base in the south. It is said that the Abe Clan, which often became members of shogun’s council of elders, completed the castle. They still used the basic structures of the castle as the island-like enclosures among the moats and marshes. However, they improved the castle’s defense systems more by building the three-level turret (similar to the Main Tower), other turrets and gates. The castle and domain were finally followed by the Okudaira-Matsudaira Clan, whose origin was the son of Nobumasa Okudaira who contributed to Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the shogunate, in the Battle of Nagashino Castle and was married with Ieyasu’s daughter. They were trusted in and ordered by the shogunate to guard the No.3 Shinagawa Battery facing Edo Bay to prepare for possible threat to Western battleships at the end of the Edo Period.

The miniature model of Oshi Castle during the Edo Period, exhibited by the Gyoda City Local Museum

The rebuilt three-level turret of Oshi Castle, it was built in a different position from the original one

To be continued in “Oshi Castle Part2”

16.Minowa Castle Part3

If you were a general, which way you would prefer?

Features

Remaining Stone Walls along Main Route

You can also walk on the Main Route up from the western side of the hill or down from the Second Enclosure. The route goes through the Third Enclosure where you can see the remaining stone walls here and there. It is thought that the builder, Naomasa Ii aimed to show his authority to the visitors passing the route. The Ii Clan later built Hikone Castle using much greater stone walls, but they built stone walls of Minowa Castle as much as they can at that time.

The map around the castle

The remaining stone walls of the Kaji Enclosure on the Main Route

Going to the Third Enclosure from the Kaji Enclosure

The remaining stone walls of the Third Enclosure

Later History

The ruins of Minowa Castle was designated as a National Historic Site in 1987. After that, the excavation was done widely between 1998 and 2006 by Takasaki City which owns the ruins. Since then, the city has been developing the ruins as a historical park.

The earthen walls and stone walls over the great artificial trench were also developed

The trail going on the bottom of the trench

My Impression

I was very impressed by Narimasa Nagano and his clan’s way of life to devote themselves to their master and territory. There were also other generals who had different ways of lives such as the Obata and Sanada Clans. If you were a general or warrior in the Sengoku Period, which way you would prefer? In addition, if we apply their lives in present times, the life of the Nagano Clan would be like working for the same company for a long time, the Obata Clan would be changing careers often, and the Sanada Clan would be starting a business. We can think about our own lives from learning about those generals in the Sengoku Period.

The wooden statue of Narimasa Nagano, owned by Chojunji Temple, quoted from the website of Takasaki City

Norizane Obata drawn in the “Battle of Nagashino” folding screens, exhibited by Kanra Town Museum of History and Folklore

The portlait of Masayuki Sanada, the successor of Yukitaka Sanada, who struggled to be independently, privately owned (licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

How to get There

I recommend using a car when you visit the ruins.
It is about a 30-minute drive away from Takasaki or Maebashi IC on the Kanetsu Expressway. You can park at several parking lots in the ruins.
If you want to use public transportation, you can take the Gunma Bus bound for Ikaho-Onsen from Takasaki Station and get off at the Shiroyama-Iriguchi bus stop. It takes about 5 minutes on foot from the bus stop to get there.
To get to Takasaki Station from Tokyo: Take the Joetsu Shinkansen super express.

The parking lot in front of the Back Route

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Minowa Castle Part1”
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