The flat square Third Enclosure is outside of the Inner Moat and inside of the Outer Moat. If you walk around it, you will see the great stone walls of the main portion. In particular, the stone wall base for the Main Tower looks so nice, which is about 18m high, built using natural and rough processed stones, instructed by Ano-shu Group, a special stone guild at that time.
The map around the castle
The Third EnclosureThe high stone walls of the main portion seen from the Third EnclosureThe outside view of the stone wall base for the Main Tower
Two individual Umadashi systems
You can also visit the two other entrance ruins of the Eastern and Southern Gates through the enclosure. It is unfortunate that both ruins have lost their Masugata systems, however, their Umadashi systems are still intact. The system for the Eastern Gate remains as a square park, over the narrow straight path among the Inner Moat. It is surrounded by stone walls and another moat in the front and the sides, so you can easily imagine how the system worked in the past.
Going the eastern Umadashi systemThe system became the Eastern Umadashi ParkThe outside view of the Umadashi system
The other one for the Southern Gate also has a square space and is surrounded by earthen walls, not by stone walls. This is actually the only remaining example of the Umadashi system build only using earthen walls.
The ruins of the Southern GateGoing to the southern Umadashi system through a narrow pathThe inside of the Umadashi systemThe earthen walls of the Umadashi system form the square space
If you have time, I recommend walking along the street of Okachimachi warriors’ residences with several remaining their houses which are open to the public, in the west of the castle ruins.
“The Anma Clan’s samurai residence historical museum” is one of the open warriors’ houses
My Impression
I think Sasayama Castle was quite practical for its purpose of construction. That’s why its Main Tower was actually not built. This castle was not so large as other major castles like Osaka, Nagoya and Himeji Castles, but was designed to be able to protect itself by few defenders. My first impression for the castle was that it could be a supply base. I imagine Sasayama Castle could have worked flexibly either when the Tokugawa Shogunate side would be offense or defense.
I think this Third Enclosure was able to accommodate some amount of soldiers and supplies
How to get There
If you want to visit there by car, it is about 10 minutes from Tannan-Sasayamaguchi IC on the Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway. There are several parking lots in and around the castle ruins. By public transportation, you can take the Sinki Green bus bound for Sasayama-eigyosho from JR Sasayamaguchi Station and get off at the Nikaimachi bus stop. It takes about 5 minutes on foot to get there. From Tokyo to Sasayamaguchi Station: Take the Tokaido Shinkansen super express, transfer to the Kyoto Line at Shin-Osaka Station and transfer to the Takarazuka Line at Osaka Station.
The parking lot in the Third EnclosureThe parking lot in front of the Main Gate Ruins
After the Meiji Restoration, Sasayama Castle was abandoned and all the castle buildings, except for O-shoin or the Large Study Hall out of the Main Hall, were demolished. The hall was used as a school and a community center for a while, however, it was unfortunately burned down by an accidental fire in 1944. After World War II, the Inner Moat out of the double water moats was filled to became a normal park. However, since the castle ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 1956, the trend changed. Tanba-Sasayama City has been developing the ruins as a historical site such as the hall being restored in 2000 and the moat being dug up again.
The photo of the Large Study Hall, in 1943, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The Large Study Hall which was restored in 2000The Inner Moat which was dug up again
Features
From Main Gate Ruins to Main Portion
Today, the ruins of Sasayama Castle have been developed by Tanba-Sasayama City with the remaining warriors’ houses and the castle town atmosphere. Visitors usually first visit the Main Gate Ruins in the north in front of the Outer Moat. Unfortunately, the gate and its Umadashi system were destroyed, so only their traces remain now.
The ruins of Umadashi system on the Main Route
The aerial photo around the castle
If you walk the path to the center of the ruins passing the Outer and Inner Moats, you will reach the ruins of the Front Gate and Kurogane-mon or the Iron Gate, the entrance of the main portion. These ruins are still surrounded by stone walls of double Masugata system, which you can imagine the main gate had a similar system to it.
The Onter Moat at the northern sideThe path over the Outer Moat The area around the former Main GateThe earthen bridge over the inner MoatThe ruins of the Front Gate, which has the first Masugata system behindGoing to the second Masugata system The ruins of the Iron Gate
Restored Large Study Hall in Second Enclosure
The main portion has the Second Enclosure in the front and the Main Enclosure in the back. You can enter the restored Large Study Hall with the historical museum. You will first get in the museum where you can learn the history of the castle
The entrance of the historical museumOne of the exhibitions in the museum
Then, go in the hall where you can experience what it looked like in the past. The Large Study Hall was used for public ceremonies which has an impressive large hip-and-gable roof above the front entrance. Visitors enter it not from the front but from the side and walk around the corridors surrounding the rooms. There are eight rooms inside such as Honored Guest Room, Dark Room for storing, and Tiger Room for waiting.
The front side of the Large Study HallVisitors enter the hall form the right sideThe Tiger RoomHere is the inside of the front entranceThe Honored Guest Room
There are also the flat exhibitions of the residential area for the lord and the ruins of Uzume-mon or the Small Back Gate behind the hall.
The flat exhibitions of the residential area in the Second EnclosureThe ruins of the Small Back Gate
Stone Wall Base for Main Tower with Viewing Spot
The Main Enclosure is the highest point of the castle. The inside of it looked to be a square during the Edo Period, but the Aoyama Shrine, which worships the Aoyama Clan, the last lord family of the castle, has been there since its launch in 1882.
The Second Enclosure in the front, the Main Enclosure in the backThe Aoyama Shrine in the Main Enclosure
The large stone wall base for the Main Tower is at a corner of the enclosure, which is a good viewing spot of the city area. You can also see a triangle-shaped Takashiroyama-Mountain in the distance, where the ruins of Yagami Castle, which was active in the Sengoku Period, is. The stone wall base had a very small single turret for its scale at the edge during the Edo Period.
The stone wall base for the Main TowerThe top of the baseThe ruins of Ygami CastleThe appearance of the Main Enclosure during the Edo Period, exhibited by the historical museum in the Large Study Hall of Sasayama Castle
One of the castles which were built to surround Osaka Castle
Location and History
Tanba, Important Province for Rulers
Sasayama Castle was located in modern day Tanba-Sasayama City, in Hyogo Prefecture. Hyogo is a large prefecture which covers the western part of the Kansai Region. However, the castle was located at that time in Tanba Province which is much smaller than Hyogo Prefecture but was located in mountain areas just behind the northwest of Kyoto, the previous capital of Japan. That meant governing Tanba Province was very important to protect Kyoto and monitor if the lords in western Japan would do something effective to the central political circles.
The range of Tanba Province and the location of the castle
Castle construction is ordered by Shogunate
Ieyasu Tokugawa defeated Mitsunari Ishida supporting the Toyotomi Clan in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and established the Tokugawa Shogunate by becoming the shogun in 1603. However, the situation was still unstable because the Toyotomi Clan was still living in Osaka Castle, which was uncontrollable by the shogunate. In addition, there were many lords in western Japan, who were in favor of the Toyotomi Clan and might have been against the shogunate in the future. The response of Ieyasu to the situation was to build several strong castles around Osaka Castle to contain the Toyotomi Clan and divide the Toyotomi Clan and its favors. They are known as Nagoya, Iga-Ueno, Hikone, Zeze, Nijo in Kyoto, Kameyama and Sasayama Castles. These castles were built as the construction orders by the shogunate, which made lords including the Toyotomi Clan favors join at their own expenses. The side effects of the constructions were to reduce the lords’ money and force them to give up their rebellious split to be against the shogunate by showing the strong network of the castles.
The Portrait of Ieyasu Tokugawa, attributed to Tanyu Kano, owned by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The network of the castles around Osaka Castle, which Ieyasu built
The construction of Sasayama Castle launched in 1603, which was instructed by Terumasa Ikeda who was the lord of Himeji Castle, with the help of 20 lords from 15 provinces and was designed by Takatora Todo who was considered as a master of castle constructions. The castle was built on a hill called Sasayama, in the Sasayama Basin. The main portion of the castle was on the hill, using the natural terrain and building high stone walls over the hill. Other than that, the castle had simple flat square enclosures and double water moats surrounding it. That designs made it easier to build the castle, but it would made it weaker to protect the castle instead.
The Portrait of Terumasa Ikeda, owned by Tottori prefectural art museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The portrait of Takatora Todo, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The main portion of Sasayama Castle, from the miniature model of the castle, exhibited by the historical museum in the Large Study Hall of Sasayama CastleThe castle was surrounded by the double water moats, from the miniature model of the castle, same as above
Castle is designed by Takatora Todo
To prevent enemies from attacking it easily, Takatora designed the castle’s entrances to be strictly protected using the Masugata system. The Masugata refers to a defensive square space which was surrounded by gates and stone walls where enemies would be locked out. Another defensive system that Takatora designed was the Umadashi. It refers to a square enclosure sticking out from the entrance connected by a narrow path among the moat. The enclosure had another moat in front of it, so its entrances were at both sides where the defenders could counterattack from them. Takatora established these structures in his own Imabari Castle which was completed in 1604.
The Umadashi and Masugata systems at the Main Gate of Sasayama Castle, from the miniature model of the castle, same as aboveImabari CastleThe Masugata system of Imabari Castle, from the signboard at the site
Main Tower is not built
On the other hand, Sasayama Castle didn’t have its Main Tower in the Main Enclosure on the top. In fact, the stone wall base for the tower was built, however, the tower was not built. This was because the shogunate determined the castle would not need it as it would be enough to protect the castle without it. Another reason was that the lords working for the construction also needed to move to the another site for Nagoya Castle. That’s why Sasayama Castle was completed after only a half year of construction. Instead, several turrets were built in the Main Enclosure and the Main Hall for the lord was built in the Second Enclosure, which constituted the main portion of the castle.
The stone wall base for the Main Tower of Sasayama CastleThe Main Enclosure of Sasayama Castle, where its Main Tower was not built, from the miniature model of the castle, same as aboveThe Large Study Hall, the restored building of the Main Hall in the Second Enclosure of Sasayama Castle
The castle was first owned by Yasushige Matsudaira, a relative of Ieyasu Tokugawa. After the shogunate defeated the Toyotomi Clan in 1615, several hereditary feudal lords followed the castle to monitor non-hereditary feudal lords in western Japan as the Sasayama Domain, such as the Aoyama Clan which governed the area until the end of the Edo Period.
The portrait of Yasushige Matsudaira (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)A general view of Sasayama Castle, from the signboard at the site
