Today, the ruins of Sagaki-Kuniyoshi Castle are very easy to access for visitors. If you drive to the ruins from the former Echizen Province, you can access them just by going through the tunnel in the mountain where the castle was built. It may be difficult for us to imagine how tough it was to attack from the province in the past. The ruins have also been well developed for visitors. There are no castle buildings, but the foundations, some excavated stone walls, and some relics remain at the site.
You will first see the Wakasa Kuniyoshi Castle Historical Museum at the foot of the mountain. This is where the Sagaki magistrate’s office was built in the past. You can learn a lot about the history of the castle including the reason for why the castle was so strong. You can next go to the valley below the mountain where the Main Hall was built when the castle was active. There are tiered foundations where some advanced stone walls were discovered, which shows they were used until the final stages of the castle.
The aerial photo around the castle
Climbing steep slope to Top of Mountain
The next, will be the trail to the top, where you can experience the strength of the castle. This trail is not original, but good enough for us to imagine what it was like. The top is about 140m from the foot, but you may feel too high for the actual height. You have to climb the very steep zigzagged trail for a very long time.
From Second Enclosure to Ditch
You will eventually reach the area beside the ruins of the Second Enclosure, at around half of the trail. You can take a rest and see the ruins. The enclosure is still surrounded by the thick earthen walls forming a gate of the castle. The original trail came to the gate and went to the top. Historians speculate not using stone walls at the enclosure means it was abandoned earlier.
Going back to the trail, you have to try to climb it again. If you were an enemy, the defenders could shoot guns and arrows, and throw the stones and wood, so you would not stand a chance. However, you will eventually reach the ditch in front of the top, seeing some remaining stone walls covering it. These stone walls were destroyed in the upper part when the castle was abandoned, were buried naturally, and excavated recently. You can also see many Stone Buddha Statues gathered which may have been left for throwing when enemies actually attacked.
Border Castle between Northern and Southern Omi Province
Kamaha Castle was a mountain castle during the Sengoku Period, which was located in Omi Provence (currently the modern day location of Shiga Prefecture). Its position was in the central area of the province, which at the time was divided into two parts, the northern part and the southern part. As a result, the two warlords from the Rokkaku Clan in the south and the warlord from the Azai Clan in the north were constantly gaining and loosing castles each other. Kamaha Castle was built on one of the ridges, which was 384 meters high, of Mt. Ryozen,. The name “Kamaha” which means “Sickle Blade” got its name from the shape of the ridge with its steep sides. The castle was located near a major road called “Nakasendo”, which was conveniently located for battle making it easier for transportation as well.
The range of Omi Province and the location of the castle
城周辺の起伏地図
In the middle of the 16th Century, during the Sengoku Period, the Hori Clan was the ruler of the castle. The clan frequently changed their masters depending on the situation. In one instance, back in 1553, the Rokkaku Clan attacked Kamaha Castle, forcing the Hori Clan to escape, eventually surrendering the castle completely. However, the Hori Clan would eventually form an allegiance with the Azai Clan, most likely because the Azai Clan was gaining a lot of power at that time. Back in 1570, The Azai Clan fought Nobunaga Oda, where Hidemura Hori sided with Nobunaga who was easily persuaded by Hideyoshi Hashiba, the eventual ruler of Japan. This was the destiny of lord of the border castle.
Harsh Fate of Hidemura Hiri, Lord of Castle
Since Hidemura formed an allegiance with Hideyoshi, the Azai Clan were eventually beaten. Furthermore, Hideyoshi assisted Hidemura defend Kamaha Castle from an Azai Clan attack in 1571. This resulted in Nobunaga, Hidemura and Hideyoshi capturing Odani Castle (the home base of the Azai Clan) in 1573. A year later (in 1574) shortly after the succession, Hidemura was fired by Nobunaga due to Hidemura’s senior vassal’s failures. The primary reason for this is still unknown, but perhaps we can assume that this was purely the cruelty of Nobunaga’s character. Some historians speculate that there was a power imbalance since Hidemura was getting more powerful through his allegiance with Nobunaga. It was well-known that Hidemura accumulated more territory than Hideyoshi, who at the time was Nobunaga’s important retainer. Nobunaga might have the rebellion by Hidemura, or perhaps he wanted to take the territory for him. As the famous Chinese proverb goes “When the nimble rabbit dies, the hunting dog will be cooked”, so too was the fate of Hidemura. Finally, there is a strong belief by historians that Hidemura was hired by Hideyoshi and his brother Hidenaga in the end.
Systems of Castle improved uniquely
Kamaha Castle was finally abandoned in 1575. Some historians assumed that because the castle was made of soil, and that it was inferior to other castles, that it was abandoned sooner than other castles. However, according to a more recent excavation, it was revealed that Kamaha Castle actually had an advance system compared to other mountain castles. Kamaha Castle had at least a 3-level large turret, like a Main Tower, in the northern enclosures of the castle. This turret was thought to be used by defenders who shot arrows against attackers, as well as a large ditch located in front of it. If attackers had the misfortune of getting stuck in the ditch, it would give a clear and perfect sight for the defenders. Many enclosures were surrounded by stone walls. Moreover, the main enclosure at the center of the castle had its entrance with a square space surrounded by stone walls and steps called “Koguchi”. These types of systems were seldom seen in castles that were built after Azuchi Castle which Nobunaba built back in 1579. Based on these findings, Kamaha Castle was truly more advance than Azuchi Castle.
On the other hand, there were some differences between Kamaha Castle and Azuchi Castle as well. The large turret in Kamaha Castle was placed on earthen walls, and not on stone walls. These stone walls supported the earthen walls which prevented them from collapsing. In the case of Azuchi Castle, its main tower was built on stone walls directly. The Koguchi entrance of Kamaha Castle was designed for the gate of the main hall, and not for defense. Koguchi entrances built after Azuchi Castle exhibited more defensive capabilities, combined with complex routes. Historian often speculate that the systems used in Kamaha Castle had been improved uniquely, but was eventually replaced with other systems which were first seen in Azuchi Castle. However, the design of Kamaha Castle ‘s large turret might have been used for the main towers of other castles. This is because Hideoyoshi who would eventually build Osaka Castle included its main tower, must have seen the large turret when he worked with Hidemura at Kamaha Castle.
The home base of the Ii Clan, a senior vassal of the shogunate
Location and History
Shogunate sent Ii Clan to Important Military Base
Hikone Castle is located near Biwa Lake in Shiga Prefecture and considered as one of the most popular historical sites in Japan. It has its Main Tower which is one of the twelve remaining and the five national-treasure Main Towers in Japan. It also has five castle buildings which are designated as Important Cultural Properties. The main portion of the castle also remains in a good condition with the buildings above, stone walls, and other structures. Because of it, the castle site has been designated as a National Special Historic Site since 1956.
After the Battle of Sekigahara between Ieyasu Tokugawa and Mitsunari Ishida in 1600, Ieyasu got the power as the ruler of Japan. Ieyasu promoted his senior vassal, Naomasa Ii to the lord of the territory beside Biwa Lake, which Mitsuanri had owned. Naomasa first lived a mountain castle called Sawayama Castle Mitsunari lived. However, Naomasa thought it was not enough because he needed a stronger and more convenient castle. The Toyotomi Clan was still at Osaka Castle and there were many lords in western Japan, who thought their master was Toyotomi, not Tokugawa. They might have gotten together and attacked the Tokugawa Shogunate which Ieyasu established in eastern Japan. Naomasa’s territory was located in the area which could avoid the attack to eastern Japan.
The location of the castle
Castle is built as Construction Order by Shogunate
After Naomasa died in 1602, his young son, Naotsugu conducted the new castle’s location with Ieyasu. They finally decided to build it on a low mountain at 50m high near Biwa Lake, which would be called Hikone Castle. The castle was built as a construction order by the shogunate with help of over 10 other lords. In order to hurry to complete the construction, they used waste materials from other abandoned castles like Sawayama Castle. However, the construction continued long since 1603, as the scale of castle was huge.
The Main Tower, Main Hall and other turrets were built together, surrounded by stone walls, on the ridge of mountain to make it easy to protect. Deep ditches were dug around both edges of the ridge to avoid enemies’ invasions to the center of the castle. Moreover, five long-line stone walls were built along the slopes of the mountain to prevent the enemies from moving smoothly.
The mountain was surrounded by tripled water moats and the Main Gate was built behind them. The gate was open to the southwest direction towards Osaka Castle where the Toyotomi Clan lived. Seri-kawa River flowed out of the moats in this direction, so it could have been the forth moat.
It becomes Castle for Peaceful Time
The castle was completed in 1622, about twenty years after its launch. However, the situation dramatically changed in 1615 during the construction. The Tokugawa Shogunate defeated the Toyotomi Clan in that year. After that, the construction was done only by the Hikone Domain building houses for living and government. As a result, the new Main Hall for the lord was built at the foot of the mountain on the opposite side of the Main Gate. The gate to the hall was called the Front Gate just like a new Main Gate. The castle town was also developed around the castle. They were either connected to Biwa Lake through waterways or ponds for water transportation.
Fortunately, no battles happened at Hikone Castle throughout the peaceful Edo Period. The lord of the castle, Ii Clan also played an important role in the central government as the head of hereditary feudal lords. Out of ten, five heads of the shogun’s council of elders came from the Ii Clan and it happened once in 265 years during that period. The most famous one is definitely Naosuke Ii at the end of the Edo Period. He decided to open more doors to foreign countries by signing the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the US and Japan in 1858. However, he was unfortunately assassinated by the opposite Ronin outside the Sakurada-mon Gate of Edo Castle in 1860. This incident decreased the power and authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate and would be a trigger of the Meiji Restoration.