stone wall base for main tower – ページ 10 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

Location and History

After Nihonmatsu Clan built, Date and other Clans owned it.

Nihonmatsu Castle was a castle with a long history which was located in what is now Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture. The castle was built along the Oshu Road, an important route in Tohoku Region, and also connected to other important inland areas such as Aizu District. When the Ashikaga Shogunate was established in the first 14th Century, the shogunate sent their relative Hatakeyama Clan to the Tohoku Region to govern the region. The clan settled in the region and built Nihonmatsu Castle in the first 15th Century. It started as a simple mountain castle but later on transformed to another type of castle.

The clan later called themselves the Nihonmatsu Clan which governed the castle and the area around for a long time. In the late 16th Century during the Sengoku Period, one of the greatest warlord, Masamune Date attacked Nihonmatsu Castle and the Nihonmatsu Clan finally surrendered in 1586. Since then, the castle became a branch castle of Wakamatsu Castle in Aizu District, which was the Date Clan’s home base. The lords of Wakamatsu Castle were changed to the Gamo, Uesugi, and Kato Clans, They also improved Nihonmatsu Castle by building stone walls.

伊達政宗像、仙台市博物館蔵（licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Wakamatsu Castle

Niwa Clan mostly Governed Castle in Edo Period

In 1643 during the Edo Period, The Niwa Clan was transferred to the lord of the castle as the government building of the Nihonmatsu Domain by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The clan renovated the castle as well. They built the stone wall base for the Main Tower on the top of the mountain, but it is unknown if the tower was built at all. They also built the Main Hall for the lord with many other buildings for governing at the foot of the mountain. They also improved the defense system of the castle. The Oshu Road was moved beyond a hill from near the castle and visitors from the road had to pass through the Main Gate on the hill. The area around the castle called Kakunai or the Inner Compounds was protected by five gates including the Main Gate. The Niwa Clan peacefully governed the castle until the end of the Edo Period.

The portrait of Mitsushige Niwa, the founder of the Nihonmatsu Domain, owned by Dairinji Temple （licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons）

Part of the illustration of Nihonmatsu Castle in Mutsu Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

Castle falls in one day in Boshin war

However, the castle got involved in the Boshin war in 1868 during the Meiji Restoration. The New Government Army attacked the Nihonmatsu Domain which still supported the Tokugawa Shogunate. Many of the warriors of the domain were sent to Shirakawa-Komine Castle, located in the south of Nihonmatsu Castle, to reinforce the allies at the moment. They had to protect the castle with only a few defenders including the drafted child soldiers between the age of 12 and 17. They were confused by the sudden attack and the castle was captured in just one day. Some warriors such as senior vassals of the domain committed suicide while most of the castle building being burned down. Many of the child soldiers were also killed, and they have been called Nihonmatsu Shonentai, symbolizing the tragedy of the war.

Shirakawa-Komine Castle

Nihonmatsu Castle and the statues of the Nihonmatsu child soldiers

Features

The ruins of Kofu Castle is just close to Kofu Station. The ruins are the eastern part of the main portion, and the western part was turned into the city area such as the Yamanashi prefectural office. Moreover, the ruins are divided between north and south by the station and the railway. That’s why the station is so close.

The aerial photo around the castle

Restored Yamanote-mon Gate in North of Station

In the north, you can visit the Yamanote-mon Gate which was restored as the Kofu City Historic Park in 2007, using the original way. It is one of the three entrances of the castle, and the only one that we can see now. It has a typically gate style usually found in castles of the Edo Period called “Masugata”. The style has a square space inside sandwiched by two gate buildings facing different directions, which serves as defensive wall.

*The miniature model of the main portion of Kofu Castle, the front of the photo is the Yamanote-mon Gate (an exhibition in the Inari Turret)*

Center of Castle “Maizuru Castle Park” in South of Station

Crossing the railway through the station to the south, you will stand in front of the Inari Enclosure with the restored Inari Turret. This is where the entrance of Maizuru Castle Park is. Maizuru is a nickname of Kofu Castle, which comes from the castle looking like a flying crane in the past. You might think it’s the castle’s entrance, but you are already in the castle area for the reasons mentioned above. The turret is on the Inari Enclosure located on the northeast corner of the mid slope of the hill.

The map around the castle

You can see the center of the castle (Maizuru Castle Park) over the train line from around the Yamanote-mon Gate

The entrance of Maizuru Castle Park from the station

The restored Inari Turret (from the outside of the park)

The Inari Enclosure (inside the Inari Turret)

You can walk around the eastern side of hill to the south through the Sukiya Enclosure. You will eventually arrive at the Kaji Kuruwa at the southern foot of the hill. You can see the stone walls still cover the whole hill by the walk.

Going to Main Enclosure

Part of the Inner Moat remains only at the southern foot of the hill. There is a wooden bridge over the moat as the entrance of the park which was built in the present.

The only remaining part of the Inner Moat

You can walk up to the top of the hill through the zigzagged route surrounded by stone walls. The restored Kurogane-mon Gate is in front of the Main Enclosure where the main enclosure turret used to be located. There was also the Bishamon-do Hall built in Yanagisawa’s period which remains at another place in Kofu City called the Keko-in Temple.

The map around the castle

Mysterious Base for Main Tower and Great View

The stone wall base for the Main Tower remains next to the Main Enclosure. In fact, it is still uncertain if the base had a Main Tower or not. There has been no evidences for the tower such as drawings and other records, while ridge-end tiles with golden leaf and roof tiles with a clan’s family crest which might have been used for a Main Tower were found by excavations. Anyway, you should check out a great 360-degree view of Kofu City from the top of the base. The city in on the Kofu Basin which is all surrounded by the mountains. For example, You can see Mt. Fuji on the south and the South Alps on the west if the weather is fine.

The stone wall base for a Main Tower that can be seen from the inside Main Enclosure

A view in the south of the base (Mt. Fuji can slightly be seen )

*A view in the west of the base (the South Alps)*

*The stone wall base for a Main Tower that can be seen from the outside Inari Enclosure*

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

タグ: stone wall base for main tower

11.Nihonmatsu Castle Part1