タグ: stable

50.Hikone Castle Part2

There are so many attractions to see in this castle.

Features

Entering Sawayama Route

Today, Hikone Castle site has well been developed for visitors inside the Middle Moat (the second moat from the Inner Moat). There are three routes over the moat same as the past (Sawa-guchi, Kyobashi-guchi and Funamachi-guchi). Out of them, the Sawaguchi Route is the most popular as it is close from Hikone Station and to the front entrance of the castle. If you choose the route, you will first see the remaining the Sawaguchi-Tamon Turret on the left with a distant view of the Main Tower. The entrance to the castle consists of this turret and the other restored turret on the right. After entering, you will also see the remaining Stable which in the only remaining case in castles in Japan.

The aerial photo around the castle

The Sawaguchi-Tamon Turret on the left with a distant view of the Main Tower
The Sawaguchi Entrance
The inside of the Sawaguchi Entrance
The remaining Stable
The inside of the Stable

Lots of Exhibition of Hikone Castle Museum

You can go across the bridge over the Inner Moat to enter the Front Gate Ruins as the front entrance of the castle. Inside the ruins, there is the Hikone Castle Museum which looks like the past Main Hall for the lord at the same place. The museum stores over 90,000 items about the Ii Clan and Hikone Domain and exhibits about 100 items of them.

The bridge over the Inner Moat
The Inner Moat
The ruins of the Front Gate
The Hikone Castle Museum

You can see the items such as the unique Ii Clan’s Red Armor, swords, tee things, Noh masks and the remaining Noh stage. In the back of the museum, you should check out the restored part of the lord’s private quarters and Japanese Garden. They were restored in traditional methods using wooden materials based on the records and excavations.

The Red Armor which was said to be used by Naomasa Ii, exhibited by the Hikone Castle Museum
A tea jar called “Setotetsuyu-Shijiko” or “The Seto iron glaze jar with four handles”, exhibited by the Hikone Castle Museum
The remaining Noh stage, exhibited by the Hikone Castle Museum
the restored chamber of the lord’s private quarters, exhibited by the Hikone Castle Museum
The Japanese Garden, exhibited by the Hikone Castle Museum

Strong Line of Defense around Large Ditch

Let us next climb up the mountain to the center of the castle. After walking the long, wide stone steps, you will see a huge scale deep ditch with a bridge over it. You will need to go to the Taiko-maru Enclosure on the right side of the ditch to the center. However, you will first have to go on the bottom of the ditch, turn left to the other Kanenomaru Enclosure on the left, and go across the bridge to reach the enclosure. If you were an enemy, you would be counterattacked from both sides of the ditch, and the bridge would be fallen. The remaining Tenbin-Yagura or the Balance Turret also stands behind the bridge to protect the enclosure. It is said that this turret was built by moving the Main Gate of Nagahama Castle.

The stone steps to the center of the castle
The Large Ditch in front of the Balance Turret
The area around the Large Ditch drawn in the signboard at the site, with the additional red arrow which indicates the route
Turning left to the Kanenomaru Enclosure
Crossing the bridge to the Balance Turret
Looking down the bottom of the ditch from the bridge
Looking down the bridge from the Balance Turret

Contrasting Exterior and Interior of Main Tower

After passing the Taiko-maru Enclosure, you will reach the remaining Taiko-mon Yagura or the Drum Gate Turret, as the entrance of the Main Enclosure. There is only the Main Tower in the enclosure, but it looks very elegant.

Going to the Main Enclosure
The remaining Drum Gate Turret
A view from the Main Enclosure
The remaining Main Tower in the Main Enclosure

This is because this three-level tower has a lot of decorations such as Chinese styled gables with gold work, hip-and-gables, gable ends, bell-shaped windows and the decorated veranda.

Chinese styled gable
Hip-and-gable
Gable end
Bell-shaped windows and the decorated veranda

You can enter the tower to look around from the first to the top which is the third floor. The interior of the tower is practical in contrast with its exterior. You can find many hidden loopholes for guns which would be used by breaking the outside walls. The holes have been left hidden because no battles occurred. It was also found that the tower was built by moving the four-level Main Tower of Otsu Castle and reducing to three levels.

The iron doors of the Main Tower Entrance
The first floor of the tower
hidden loopholes on the wall
The second floor of the tower
Going to the top floor
The top floor of the tower
You can’t go out to the veranda at the top floor of the tower

To be continued in “Hikone Castle Part3”
Back to “Hikone Castle Part1”

5.根城（Ne Castle）

根城は、地元の人たちと行政の多大な努力により再建された城です。
Ne Castle is a castle which has been rebuilt thanks to the great effort of the local people and officials.

復元された本丸主殿（The restored Honmaru Main Hall）

Location and History

この城は現在の青森県八戸市にありました。この地域は東北地方の北部としては開けた場所で、中世から商業で栄えてきました。
The castle was located in what is now Hachinohe City, Aomori pref. which has been the opening for the northern Tohoku region and has flourished through trading since the Middle Ages.

八戸市の位置（The position of Hachinohe City）licensed by Lincun via Wikipedia Commons

南北朝時代において南朝方により、南部師行が陸奥国にこの地域を統治するために派遣されてきました。彼は１３３４年に、以前の支配者であった北条氏の館があった糠部郡の丘の上に、初めて根城を築きました。
In the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, Moroyuki Nanbu was sent to Mutsu Province by the Southern Court to govern this area. He first built Ne Castle on a hill in Nukanobu district after the former ruler Hojo’s hall in 1334.

八戸博物館前の南部師行像（The statue of Moroyuki Nanbu in front of the Hachinohe Museum）licensed via Wikipedia Commons

この城には、主殿及び関連する建物が立つ本丸があり、柵と空堀により囲まれていました。「虎口」と呼ばれたその入り口は、橋によりつながれており、非常時には落とされました。主殿は、代替わりなどのときを含め１６回建て替えられました。その間、城の領域は、「館」と呼ばれる７つの同様の曲輪により拡張されました。これは中世における典型的な城の作り方の一つでした。
The castle had the main enclosure “Honmaru” with the main palace and related buildings surrounded by fences and dry moats. The entrance called “Koguchi” was accessed by a bridge which would be destroyed in an emergency. The main hall was rebuilt even16 times ,for example, when inheritance. During that time, the castle area was expanded adding seven similar enclosures called “Date”. This is one of typical castle styles in the Middle Ages.

本丸入り口の橋（The entrance bridge of Honmaru）

南部氏は、２５０年以上に渡ってこの城に居続けましたが、戦国時代の終わりに三戸城にいた一族の南部信直が力を持ち、天下人の豊臣秀吉に南部の頭領であると認められました。秀吉は根城の破却を命じましたが、実際には虎口が壊され、堀が埋められた程度でした。その後主殿はしばらく使用されましたが、１６２７年にはついに廃城になりました。
The Nanbu clan had been staying at the castle for over 250 years, but at the end of the Warring States Period, Nobunao Nanbu, a relative in Sannohe Castle had great influence and was admitted to be the head of the Nanbu clan by the ruler Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Toyotomi ordered Ne Castle to be destroyed, however, it was not done as completely as just the Koguchi was removed and moats were filled. After that, the main hall was used for a while, but it was finally abandoned in 1627.

堀の跡（The ruins of a moat）

Features

現在、本丸部分はかつてのように復元されています。空堀の上の橋を渡り、虎口を通ってそこに入ります。本丸の内部は木柵により囲まれています。
Now, the Honmaru area is restored to show it was. You can go across the bridge on the dry moat and pass the Koguchi to enter the area. The inside is surrounded by a wood fence.

本丸の木柵（The wood fence around Honmaru）

また、復元された本殿に入ることもでき、中では新年の儀式の様子を再現した人形や、城の歴史の説明パネルを見学できます。
You can also see and enter the restored main palace where figures represent a new-year ceremony and panels of its history are shown.

復元された本殿（The restored Main Palace）licensed by 小池隆 via Wikimedia Commons

更に関連する建物として、馬小屋、工房、倉庫、鍛冶場などがあります。鎧や什器などがそっくりそのままに作られて置かれています。
There are also restored related buildings such as a stable, workshops, warehouses, and a forge. Many things like armor and utensils are placed inside exactly like the original ones.

復元された馬小屋（The restored stable）licensed by 小池隆 via Wikimedia Commons
復元された工房（The restored workshop）
工房の内部（The inside of the workshop）

これらの文物を見ていると、中世の世界に入り込んだような気がしてきます。ここにあるものは、１５９２年に城が廃城となる直前の時代を想定して再現されています。
These items make you feel like you are in the world of the Middle Ages. They are recreated according to the same specifications as the period just before the destruction of the castle in 1592.

本丸内部全景（The whole view of Honmaru inside）

Later Life

廃城となった後、根城の辺りは畑か住居として使われたようです。ここは１９４１年という比較的早い時期に国の史跡に指定されました。第二次世界大戦後、行政側は遺跡が開発され完全に破壊されてしまうことを心配していました。そこで１９７２年から土地の公有化を進め、１９７８年に遺跡の環境整備計画を作成しました。そして１９８９年までに本丸が発掘され、その後どのように遺跡を展示するか考えるにあたり、平面展示ではなく、多くの人に理解してもらえるよう復元することにしました。
After being abandoned, the area of Ne Castle seemed to be used for farming and residences. It was designated as a national historic site, comparatively early in 1941. After World War II, officials were worried about the ruins being developed and completely destroyed. They started to make the land public in1972, make the plan for developing environment of the ruins in 1978, and excavated Honmaru area until 1989. After that, they also thought about how to show the ruins not a flat exhibit, but a restoration to make them understood by many people.

根城の航空写真、一部が住宅化している（The aeriel photo of Ne Castle, Part of it has become residential area）


しかしながら、いくつか問題がありました。最も困難だったのは、建物の詳細です。発掘して出てくるのはほとんどがおびただしい柱の穴でした。研究者は何とかそれを分類し、個々の建物のレイアウトを推定しました。次には、類似の地域や時代の事例から３次元で建物の復元設計を行いました。ついには、１９９４年にこの再建工事が完成し、「史跡根城の広場」として一般に公開されました。
However, there would be some problems.. The most difficult one was the unclear details of the buildings. The excavation mostly shows plenty of holes for pillars. Researchers somehow managed to sort them and estimate the layout of each building. Next, they tried to design three-dimensional restored buildings from examples in similar regions and periods. Finally, the reconstruction was completed and the site was open to the public in 1994 as “Nejo Castle Site”.

復元された建物の柱の位置（The restored positions of pillars of a building）

My Impression

八戸市の人たちや行政は、５０年近くの長きに渡り根城史跡の整備を行ってきました。これは驚くべき成果であり、心から尊敬します。復元された建物や文物は、伝統的手法で作られており、その維持には特別な修繕や多額の予算が必要です。ここを訪れることもその維持に貢献します。もちろん根城は、訪れるに値しますし、是非中世の雰囲気を味わっていただきたいです。
People and officials in Hachinohe City have been developing the Ne Castle Site for nearly 50 years. This is a significant achievement. I really respect them. The restored buildings and objects are made in the traditional way. Keeping them for a long time requires specific maintenance and much funding. Visiting the site helps keep it as well. Of course Ne Castle is worth visiting to feel the atmosphere of the Middle Ages.

復元された倉庫の内部（The inside of a restored warehouse）

How to get There

車で行く場合：八戸自動車道八戸ＩＣから約１０分かかります。
八戸駅からバスで行く場合：バス１番乗り場から南部バスに乗り、根城バス停で降りてください。
東京から八戸駅まで：東北新幹線に乗ってください。
If you want to go there by car: It takes about 10 minutes from the Hachinohe IC on Hachinohe Expressway.
If you want to go there by bus from Hachinohe station: Take the Nanbu bus at the bus terminal plarfoem 1, and take off at the Ne-Jo bus stop.
From Tokyo to Hachinohe st.: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen super express.

Links and References

・VISITはちのへ（VISIT HACHINOHE）
・「日本の遺跡１９根城跡／佐々木浩一」同成社（Japanese Book）