タグ: Mukai-Haguro gallery

111.Mukai-Haguroyama Castle Patr3

The trail to the Main Enclosure turns left or right, and then, a horizontal moat goes along it on the left. The other right side are vertical cliffs. That means the enemies were able to attack the enclosure only on this trail and the defenders would be able to focus on the spot.

Features

Main Enclosure is protected by Moats and Cliffs

Going back to the forest road, you can also climb to the Main Enclosure on the top of Iwasaki Mountain. If you walk straight up on the trail, you will see a huge scale of vertical moat designed to avoid enemies from moving freely parallel to the right.

The map around the castle

The trail to the Main Enclosure
The trail on the left and the vertical moat on the right
The vertical moat beside the trail

The trail turns left or right, and then, a horizontal moat goes along it on the left. The other right side are vertical cliffs. That means the enemies were able to attack the enclosure only on this trail and the defenders would be able to focus on the spot.

The layout of the Main Enclosure, the white part is the trail, the yellow part shows enclosures or bottoms of the moats, and the orange part is cliffs, exhibited by the Mukai-Haguro Gallery
The trail goes up while curving
The horizontal moat left of the trail
The vertical cliffs right of the trail

Final place of Final Castle

The trail goes in a zigzagged pattern and reaches the Main Enclosure. It is also protected by other alternating gate, earthen walls and dry moats like the Second Enclosure, but smaller and had steeper terrain, so it can be seen as the final place of the final castle.

The zigzagged trail
The entrance ruins of the Main Enclosure
The Main Enclosure is surrounded by dry moats and earthen walls as well
Going to the top
The top of the Main Enclosure
A view from the enclosure

Later History

The mountain, where Mukai-Haguroyama Castle was built, was first designated as a natural park in 1953 and the forest road was developed on the mountain in 1964. As for the castle ruins, they were first designated as a historic site of Hongo Town (at that time) in 1974. The excavations of the ruins have been done since 1982. As a result, they were finally designated as a National Historic Site in 2001.

There is a huge rock on the Main Enclosure, which was partially cut to provide stone materials

My Impression

I visited the ruins of Mukai-Haguroyama Castle twice. During my first visit, I just found the castle ruins simply becoming the natural park. However, in my second visit, I was advised at the Mukai-Haguro Gallery in advance, so that I was able to see the major spots of the castle easily. In my experiences, I would like Aizu-Misato Town, the current owner of the ruins to install a streamline path for walking from the foot to the top which would make visitors better understand what the castle looked like.

there are many paths in the Third Enclosure, like a maze

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about a 15-minute drive away from Nitsuru smart IC or a 20-minute drive away from Aizuwakamatsu IC on the Banetsu Expressway. There are several parking lots for each spot of the ruins.
By public transportation, it takes about 20 minutes on foot to get the northern entrance of the park from JR Aizu-Hongo Station.
From Tokyo to the station: take the Tohoku Shinkansen super express, transfer to the Banetsu-sai Line at Koriyama Station, and transfer to the Tadami Line at Aizuwakamatsu Station.

The parking lot beside the Second Enclosure

That’s all. Thank you.
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111.Mukai-Haguroyama Castle Patr2

The ruins of Mukai-Haguroyama Castle have been developed as part of the expansive Hakuho-zan Park including three mountains. The ruins are on one of which, Iwasaki-yama Mountain, which is 50 hectares in size.

Features

Part of expansive Natural Park

Today, the ruins of Mukai-Haguroyama Castle have been developed as part of the Hakuho-zan Park. The park is an expansive natural park which is 112 hectares in size, including three mountains, Kannon-yama, Haguro-yama, and Iwasaki-yama. The castle ruins are on the Iwasaki-yama Mountain, which is 50 hectares in size. The ruins are also huge and mixed with the park’s other facilities like adventure playgrounds, promenades, and arbors.

The map around the Hakuho-zan Park

Therefore, it may be difficult for visitors to go around all of the ruins without proper instructions. It is recommended to visit the guidance facility called Mukai-Haguro Gallery in advance to get the information of the ruins. Please make sure that the facility is open only on weekends and holidays from mid-April to mid-December. In addition, please check if the ruins are open or not, for example, in cases of bears being found. Anyway, let me introduce the summary of the ruins.

The Mukai-Haguro Gallery

If you enter the park from the north beside the Mukai-Haguro Gallery, you can go on the paved forest road over Kannon-yama and Haguro-yama Mountains to the castle ruins on Iwasaki-yama Mountain in the back even by car. However, please be careful when passing each other because the road is very narrow.

The map around the castle

The forest roag though the park
The diorama of the castle ruins, exhibited by the Mukai-Haguro Gallery, the red line shows the forest road

Large Third Enclosure

If you manage to find the administration building of the park on the right, it is around the Third Enclosure of the castle. The enclosure is spacious which was said to be used as a riding ground for horses. Its thick earthen walls and deep dry moats are still there. There are also the Northern Enclosure and the ruins of Moriuji Ashina’s residence across the road.

Around the administration building
The Third Enclosure
The earthen walls of the Third Enclosure
The dry moats of the Third Enclosure

Next, you can go up the road and you will find Ochayaba (meaning the Tea House) Enclosure on the left, which is a viewing spot. It is said that Moriuji held tea ceremonies there.

The Tea House Enclosure
A view from the enclosure

Second Enclosure as Center of Castle

If you go further and turn right along the road, while seeing Benten Enclosure on the left, you will be between the Second Enclosure on the right and the Main Enclosure on the left. In fact, the road at the spot is the bottom of the former ditch dividing them.

Going on the forest road
The Benten Enclosure
The former ditch between the Main and Second Enclosures
The left ridge is the Main Enclosure and the right one is the Second Enclosure, according to the diorama

The Second Enclosure is on the top of a ridge which was thought to have been the center of the castle as it was larger and has a better view than the Main Enclosure. In addition, the Waterwell Enclosure is just below it. You can climb to the top and understand these points while seeing a great view of the Aizu Basin and Wakamatsu (the former Kurokawa) Castle

Climbing to the top of the Second Enclosure
The top of the Second Enclosure
A view from the enclosure
You can see Wakamatsu Castle in the view

If you climb down and walk around the enclosure, you will see the essence of the castle. It is mostly soil-made structures all around. For example, the enclosure is surrounded by earthen walls and dry moats which are partially supported by stone mounds. The entrance of the enclosure consists of alternating earthen walls which also use large stones. However, these stones mostly collapsed. The original path through the castle is also made looking like another dry moat.

The earthen walls and dry moats surrounding the Second Enclosure
The dry moats are partially supported by the stone mounds
The ruins of the entrance to the enclosure
There are some large stones lying around, which were probably used for the entrance
The ruins of the original path

To be continued in “Mukai-Haguroyama Castle Part3”
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