one thousand murder stone walls – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

195.Nobeoka Castle Part3

A pleasure of visiting castle and castle ruins is …

Features

Main Enclosure, Final Strongpoint of Castle

You can next walk on the stone steps beside the stone walls to the Main Enclosure. The route turns left, enters a square space surrounded by other stone walls and turn left again to enter. This square space is called Masugata for protecting the entrance of the enclosure, where the gate buildings were also built on the walls. The inside of the Main Enclosure is an empty square now like the Second Enclosure, so it has a good view point of the city area. It must also have been the final strongpoint of the castle, which could use the 1,000 Murder Stone Walls to repel enemies.

Walking on the stone steps to the Main Enclosure

The map around the castle

The top of the hill next to the Main Enclosure is the Main Tower Enclosure or Base which actually didn’t have the Main Tower. The enclosure is small which could rather have been used as a lookout. There is a bell tower which the keeper still rings the bell 6 times a day at designated times. It has been done for over 140 years since 1878 after the former Drum Turret was burned down during the Seinan War in 1877. It is simple thing, but it is very rare to continue to do so without any holidays. The Three-level Turret was built below the enclosure probably as the substitute of the Main Tower. However, it unfortunately burned down in 1682 and only its stone wall base remains now.

Bell Tower still announces Time

The bell tower in the Main Enclosure, quoted from the Nobeoka City website

The ruins of the Three-level Turret *(licensed by PIXTA)*

If you have time, I recommend visiting the western side of the Second Enclosure which was also surrounded by great stone walls. These stone walls were built for preventing enemies from attacking the castle and the Inner Moat was built outside of it as well. However, the outside area was turned into modern residences just across a narrow path. Therefore, you can see the great stone walls close by and an interesting contrast with many houses.

Stone Walls close to Residential Areas

The aerial photo around the castle, the stone walls of the Second Enclosure are close to residence areas

My Impression

I didn’t know about Mototane Takahashi who built the castle and the story of the 1,000 Murder Stone Walls at all before I visited the castle ruins. I think one of the pleasures of visiting castle ruins is that it will make you interested in what you really see and think much more than just reading about them or watching media.

How to get There

If you want to visit the castle ruins by car, it is about a 10 minute drive away from Nobeoka IC on the Higashi-Kyushu Expressway. There are several parking lots for visitors around the ruins.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 20 minutes on foot to get there form JR Nobeoka Station. You can also take the Miyazaki-kotsu bus bound for Kyushu-Hokenfukushi-Daigaku from the station and get off at the Shiyakusho-mae bus stop or take the Machinaka-junkan bus on the Uchimawari Line from the station and get off at the Kyuden-mae, Shiyakusho-nishi bus stop.
For visitors from Tokyo or Osaka: Get the JR Line at Miyazaki Airport after using a plane.

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Nobeoka Castle Part1”
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195.Nobeoka Castle Part2

The 1,000 Murder Stone Walls as the highlight of the castle,

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Nobeoka Castle was abandoned and most of the castle buildings were demolished. Some buildings such as the Drum Turret remained for a while. However, the turret was burned down. In 1877, a hero of the restoration, Takamori Saigo started a rebellion against the government known as the Seinan War. From the south in Kagoshima, his troops started an attack on Kumamoto Castle. However, after failing to capturing Kumamoto Castle, they were forced to withdraw and battles took place all over the Kyushu Region. Nobeoka was one of them. In fact, Nobeoka Castle was held by the government army, but their navy shot the castle by mistake. The army had to burn the turret to show the castle was already friendly.

The monument of the battle of Wadagoe at the Nobeoka area between the Saigo troops and the government army (licensed by shikabane taro via Wikimedia Commons)

Another interesting episode for the castle is about the 1,000 Murder Stone Walls. In fact, the nickname first came out in Meiji Era after abandonment of the castle. It is said that there were gaps between the base stones where children could play inside. That might have made some people imagine and create such an interesting story to express how great the stone walls were.

Features

Sandbank becomes City Area

Today, if you visit the ruins of Nobeoka Castle on foot from JR Nobeoka Station, you will go across the Gokasegawa river by using one of the bridges over it. You will also see the hill which the castle ruins are located a little far away from the bridge. The sandbank, sandwiched by the rivers, has become a modern city area with many official buildings and no moats remain in the area, so you can easily arrive at the eastern edge of the ruins.

The map around the Nobeoka area

Castle Ruins becomes Castle Mountain Park

The castle ruins have become Shiroyama-Koen or the Castle Mountain Park, which has two entrances in the north and the southeast. The former was the main route to the castle and the latter was the back route. Either route is well developed for visitors. If you walk around the hill to the northern entrance of the park, you will see old stone walls partially surrounding the hill. You will eventually enter the park through the restored Northern Main Gate.

The map around the castle

The restored Northern Main Gate *(licensed by ja:User:Sanjo via Wikimedia Commons)*

Stone Walls are modified due to their Nickname

After entering the gate, here comes the highlight of the castle, the 1,000 Murder Stone Walls once you enter the Second Enclosure. The stone walls surround the Main Enclosure, upper than the Second Enclosure where you can look up close by. They look so great and it is unbelievable to imagine how the stone craftsmen built them 19m high using such rough natural stones. In addition, if you look at the corner base stone which might have caused the collapse of the stone walls, it is enforced with concrete. According to the signboard at the site, it had been done before the Emperor Showa visited in 1935. In fact, the 1,000 Murder Stone Walls is kind of an overstatement for the great stone walls, which was created after the castle was abandoned. However, the emperor was treated as Arahitogami or a Living God until the World War II. That’s probably why people in Nobeoka enforced the stone to avoid any accidents.

This picture shows the corner base stone clearly *(licensed by ja:User:Sanjo via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Nobeoka Castle Part3”
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195.Nobeoka Castle Part1

A castle all built using stone walls by Mototane Takahashi

Location and History

Only Castle completely built using Stone Walls in Hyuga Province

Nobeoka is an industrial city, located in the northern part of Miyazaki Prefecture which used to be called Hyuga Province. The province was very long from the north to the south and its terrain was complex with plain and mountain areas, so it was divided by many lesser lords until the end of the Edo Period, except for a short period when the Ito Clan prospered in the late 17th Century. These lesser lords lived in castles mainly built using soil from the natural terrain, such as Sadowara and Obi Castles. However, Nobeoka Castle was the only castle which was completely built using stone walls in the province by Mototane Takahashi.

The range of Hyuga Province and the location of the castle

Talented Mototane Takahashi

Mototane originally came from the Akizuki Clan, which governed part of Chikuzen Province, north of Hyuga, and he was adopted by the Takahashi Clan. When the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, invaded the Kyushu Region in 1587 for his unification of Japan, Mototane and his parents’ clan quickly surrendered and supported Hideyoshi. Mototane was loved by Hideyoshi, which resulted in him becoming the lord of the Nobeoka area after Hideyoshi’s conquest of the region. Motonane must have made an good impression on his boss.

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

In 1600, after Hideyoshi died, the East Squad, led by Ieyasu Tokugawa and the West Squad, led by Mitsunari Ishida, supporting the Toyotomi Clan, fought a decisive battle in the Sekigahara field. Mototane joined the West Squad and stayed in Ogaki Castle near the field. Once he heard that his side had been beaten, he quickly changed his sides, killed some of the lords of the West Squad, and surrendered to Ieyasu. That also resulted in his territory being maintained by the Tokugawa Shogunate, established by Ieyasu. Mototane must have had great tact.

Very Defensive Castle built in Sandbank

After that, he started to build his new home base in 1601, which would be called Nobeoka Castle, on a hill in a sandbank which was sandwiched by the Gokasegawa and Osegawa rivers. The Main Tower, Main, Second and Third Enclosures were built on the hill from the top in a tiered form and they are all surrounded by stone walls. However, the Main Tower Enclosure actually did not have the Main Tower building. The sandbank was divided into warriors’ residences, including the castle, and townsmen area, by a moat which can be crossed over by only one bridge. Moreover, the rivers around the sandbank had no bridges at that time, which would be very defensible. If enemies somehow arrived at the Main Gate of the castle at the foot, they would need to pass 5 gates and turn 11 times to reach the top.

The greatest stone walls of the castle are the ones called “The one thousand murder stone walls” which is about 19m high. They are the third highest stone walls in the Kyushu Region, following Kumamoto and Kokura Castles. The top two castles were built by great lords under Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Ieyasu Tokugawa, such as Kiyomasa Kato and Tadaoki Hosokawa, who also had much larger territories than Mototane who was just a local lord. In addition, the stone walls were piled using natural stones which would have been impossible to pile to such height, unless an excellent stone wall guild had been invited. Mototae must have had more power and a better connection than we expect. The nickname originates from the scale of the stone walls which would collapse and kill 1,000 soldiers below the walls if the corner base stone was pulled out.

“The one thousand murder stone walls” of Nobeoka Castle

Mototane is suddenly Fired

Mototane was suddenly fired by the shogunate in 1613. He had accommodated his wife’s relative who caused a trouble in the Tsuwano Domain and escaped from it. The domain’s lord, Naomori Sakazaki was monomaniac and sued Mototane in the Shogunate Court. Though it is still uncertain if that really caused such a serious outcome, the fact is that Mototane emerged and left in a short time. His work should be studied more. Nobeoka Castle and the area around it called the Nobeoka Domain were followed by the Arima Clan, which completed the castle building some turrets in 1656. During the peaceful Edo Period, bridges were built over the rivers around the castle and the Drum Tower in the Main Tower Enclosure which announced the time to people. Luckily, no battles happened to the castle until the end of the Edo Period when the Naito Clan took over.

The portrait of Naomori Sakazaki, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Nobeoka Castle Part2”