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

36.Maruoka Castle Part3

The Main Tower survived two crises.

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Maruoka Castle was abandoned. All the buildings of the castle including the Main Tower were sold. However, the tower was priced very low because it couldn’t be used for general offices or residences. It was impossible to scrap or move the tower for a low price. The buyer was not able to do anything to the tower, while the other buildings were moved or demolished. All of the water moats were also filled to create more land space in the city. The owners of the tower finally donated it to the officials in 1901. That’s why only the Main Tower remains now.

The miniature model of Maruoka Castle, all the buildings of the castle except for the Main Tower were sold and demolished.

In 1948, The Main Tower and its stone wall base collapsed due to the Fukui Earthquake. However, people in this area restored the tower in 1955 to almost the same condition as the original one. This was because they researched the details of the tower when it was repaired 8 years before the earthquake. They used about 70% of the original main materials to restore it. Such a method is usually used to repair other remaining castle buildings in Japan. That means the Main Tower of Maruoka Castle is valuable like it had been before the earthquake.

The stone grampuses which fell from the roof when the earthquake happened

My Impression

If you have time after visiting the inside of the Main Tower of Maruoka Castle, how about walking around the castle along the trace of the Inner Moat? The moat was turned into city area, but the outer edge of the moat remains as a road. If you walk along the road, you can look up a beautiful view of the Main Tower on the hill. I was honestly envious of the people who can see the view every day when I walked. In fact, Sakai City is considering restoring part of the Inner Moat and make a park inside it over the next 50 years to make the castle more attractive.

The Main Tower of Maruoka Castle seen from the road, former Inner Moat

The trace of the Inner Moat on the present road

Another photo from a different point on the road

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 10 minutes away from Maruoka IC on Hokuriku Expressway.
The castle park offers a parking lot.
By public transportation, take the bus bound for Eiheiji-eki-mae from JR Maruoka Station and get off at the Maruoka Bus Terminal bus stop. It takes about 5 minutes to get there on foot.
To get to Maruoka Station from Tokyo: Take the Hokuriku Shinkansen super express, transfer to the Hokuriku Line at Kanazawa Station.
From Osaka: Take the Thunderbird limited express and transfer to a local train on the Hokuriku Line at Fukui Station.

That’s all. Thank you.
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36.Maruoka Castle Part2

The attractive Main Tower that is discussed by many, from then until now.

Features

Old looking Main Tower

Today, Maruoka Castle has only the remaining Main Tower on the hill at the site. The Main Tower is about 12m high with two levels and three stories, not so large compared with the other remaining Main Towers in Japan. However, it stands out when you see it from the area around. It has a 6m high stone wall base and is on a 27m high hill.

The map around the
castle

If you drive to the castle, you can park at the parking lot in the former Second Enclosure and walk to the Main Tower on the well-developed route for visitors.

The parking lot, former Second Enclosure

You may feel the Main Tower looks very old like many other people who feel the same way. This type of the tower is called the Lookout Tower Type, which refers to a small lookout tower on a large turret with the hip-and-gable roof. This type is considered the first one among the Main Towers in Japan. The top floor of Maruoka Castle’s Main Tower has a veranda, which is a feature of the early Lookout Tower Type. Its many wooden parts were left bare in the tower, which is also a feature of that type. In addition, the rooftiles of the tower are made of stone because of the cold climate in the winter around this area. This is the only case in the twelve remaining Main Towers. These rooftiles make the tower look older, too. For these reasons, many people expected the Main Tower of Maruoka Castle to be the oldest remaining one in Japan.

The old-fashioned Main Tower of Maruoka Castle

The stone rooftiles seen through the window of the second floor of the tower

Is Main Tower of Maruoka Castle Oldest or not?

On the other hand, some specialists argued that the Main Tower of Maruoka Castle is not as old as the other remaining ones. One of the reasons for it is that the veranda is not practical, just for decoration. Using verandas for decoration can be seen in castle buildings much later than the period the people, who wanted Maruoka Castle to be the oldest, expected. Other architects also argued that the structure of the tower can also be seen much later designs.

You can’t go out to the veranda at the top floor of the tower

The Main Tower of Maruoka Castle has been designated as an Important Cultural Property since 1950. Sakai City thought the tower would become a National Treasure if it was confirmed as the oldest Main Tower in Japan. In 2018, the city conducted research to find out when the tower was built with the latest technology. It was mainly done by the growth ring dating method to confirm when the wooden materials of the tower were cut. The result was that the materials were cut in 1620s, and the tower was built in the period or later. It was much later than what the city expected. Overall, the tower is thought to have been built after the Honda Clan became an independent lord of Maruoka Castle. That means the builder of the Main Tower, probably the Honda Clan, built the tower with the old style intentionally.

The Main Tower of Maruoka Castle is not the oldest

Interior of Main Tower

The Main Tower is not the oldest, but of course, it is worth visiting. You can climb up on the original stone steps to the first floor of the tower.

The floor is the large room in the turret part, and it has a lot of columns to support the weight of the tower including the stone rooftiles.

The floor also has loopholes for guns and bay windows used for machicolations along the walls to protect the tower.

You can also climb up the very steep stairway at 65 degrees to the second floor, with the rope to help you. The second floor is the attic of the tower part, but it has windows in the roof of the first floor.

Be careful when you go up to the top floor because the stairway to the floor is steeper at 67 degrees! The top floor has windows in all directions, so is open and bright. You can see a good view of the city area and the back of the ridge-end tiles made of stone from the floor.

To be continued in “Maruoka Castle Part3”
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36.Maruoka Castle Part1

A castle in the northern part of Echizen Province

Location and History

Katsutoyo Shibata builds Castle in Sengoku Period

Maruoka Castle was located in the northern part of Echizen Province, which is now Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture. The castle has one of the twelve remaining Main Towers in Japan. The castle was first built in 1576 during the Sengoku Period by Katsutoyo Shibata when his relative, Katsuie Shibata owned the province. After the Shibata Clan was defeated by Hideyoshi Hashiba in 1583, several clans such as the Matsudaira Clan owned the castle. The details of the early history of the castle are uncertain, but it is thought that it had the first Main Tower from that period. This is because the remaining stone wall base for the first Main Tower is older than the present Main Tower.

The location of the castle

The remaining Main Tower of Maruoka Castle

Narishige Honda becomes independent as Maruoka Domain

In 1624, Narishige Honda who was a senior vassal of the Matsudaira Clan became an independent lord of Maruoka Castle as the founder of the Maruoka Domain. He started to renovate the castle, including rebuilding of the present Main Tower. The renovation was completed in the period of Narishige’s son.

The illustration of Narishige Honda (in the left, the right one is his father, Shigetsugu Honda), exhibited in the Main Tower

The Main Enclosure with the Main Tower was on a hill. The Second Enclosure with the Ninomaru Main Hall was on a flat area beside the Main Enclosure. These enclosures were surrounded by the Inner Moat like a pentagon. It is said that the shape of the moat was meant to make enemies confused when they would attack the castle. In addition, the Third Enclosure with the warriors’ houses and the Outer Moat surrounded the Inner Moat.

The miniature model of Maruoka Castle, the Main Enclosure on the left, the Second Enclosure on the right

Part of the illustration of Maruoka Castle in Echizen Province, in the Edo Period, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

Arima Clan governs Castle until end of Edo Period

In 1695, the Honda Clan was fired by the Tokugawa Shogunate due to the clan’s internal trouble. As a result, the Arima Clan became the lord of Maruoka Castle and the Maruoka Domain. The clan maintained the castle and governed the domain until the end of the Edo Period.

The family crest of the Arima Clan called the Arima Gourd (licensed by Fraxinus2 via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Maruoka Castle Part2”