three story turret – ページ 2 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

4.Hirosaki Castle Part2

The castle remains in nearly its original range.

Features

From Outer Moat to Third Enclosure

Surprisingly, almost all the range of Hirosaki Castle remains as Hirosaki Park.

The aerial photo around the castle, it looks almost the same as the old illustration of the castle below.

Part of the illustration of Hirosaki Castle in Tsugaru District, in the Edo Period, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

If you visit the park from the south such as Hirosaki Station, you will enter the Main Gate at the Third Enclosure surrounded by the earthen walls and the Outer Moat. You will also find huge amount of cherry trees planted on the earthen walls and can imagine beautiful cherry blossoms even if it is not spring.

Around the Outer Moat with cherry trees planted

The gate is one of the two remaining gate buildings at the enclosure. You may also find the gate turning to the other side not facing you. This is because other castles built in the same period as Hirosaki Castle usually have a gateway with two gate buildings. The first one is facing the visitors and the second one is turning to other the side. The two buildings form a square space with other walls to protect the castle, called “Masugata”. In the case of Hirosaki Castle, the first one was omitted, which has a very unique style.

An example of the Masugata style from the restored Yamanote-mon Gate of Kofu Castle

There is an Information Center in the enclosure.

Second Enclosure still has all its Gates and turrets

The aerial photo of around the Second Enclosure

You will walk inside, then see the Second Enclosure surrounded by the earthen walls and the Central Moat. It is also amazing that the two gates and three Three-Story Turrets of the enclosure all remain now. These turrets have cooper plate roof tiles, which make them look thin. The combination of the turrets and the earthen walls also look very good. There is an Information Center in the enclosure.

The remaining Second Enclosure South Gate

The remaining Second Enclosure Tatsumi Turret

The remaining Second Enclosure Hitsuji-saru Turret

Main Enclosure where Main Tower was once moved

The aerial photo around the Main Enclosure

You will soon reach the Main Enclosure with the remaining Main Tower inside the Inner Moat. In fact, the stone walls on the eastern side of the enclosure are being repaired (as of Sep 2021). This is because the surface of the stone walls are inflated that might collapse if there’s an earthquake.

The stone walls of the Main Enclosure which are being restored

For this reason, the Main Tower was once moved from the stone wall base at the southeast corner to the center of the enclosure. Therefore, you can see the Main Tower close by. The two sides of the tower that faces the outside are much decorated. On the other hand, the other sides facing the inner part are very simple. It might be for that the tower was at first built as a substitute, anyway it’s so interesting.

The present stone wall for the Main Tower without it

The sides of the Main Tower which are decorated

The sides of the Main Tower which are very simple

You can also see the large stone base for the first five-layer Main Tower at the southwest corner in the enclosure. If the weather is fine, you can see a great view of Iwaki-san Mountain from there.

The stone wall base for the first Main Tower

The view could be like this if the weather is fine (taken by u**m from photoAC)

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

4.Hirosaki Castle Part1

A castle which the Tsugaru Clan built and maintained.

Location and History

Tamenobu Tsugaru built Castle with his independence

Hirosaki Castle was located in what is now Hirosaki City in Aomori Prefecture. The castle was actually the origin of the city since the founder of the Hirosaki Domain, Tamenobu Tsugaru built the castle. His former name was Tamenobu Oura and he was one of the relatives of the Nanbu Clan, the greatest warlord in the northern Tohoku Region in the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. However, he aimed to be independent from the Nanbu Clan.

The portrait of Tamenobu Tsugaru, owned by Hirosaki Castle Tower *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons*)

When the ruler Hideyoshi Toyotomi was processing his unification of Japan, Tamenobu met Hideyoshi in 1590, and succeeded to be approved by Hideyoshi as an independent lord. He took advantage of his freedom, and he changed his family name to Tsugaru. After that, he maintained his territory around Tsugaru District (what is now the western part of Aomori Pref.) to support the Tokugawa Shogunate. Finally, he started to build a new castle in the Tsugaru Plain as his new home base in 1603, called Hirosaki Castle.

The location of the castle

Hirosaki Castle was built on a hill on the plain sandwiched by two rivers, Iwaki-gawa and Tsuchibuchi-gawa. Though Tamenobu unfortunately died soon after the launch of the construction, his son, Nobuhira completed it in 1611.

The portrait of Nobuhira Tsugaru, from the database of Historiographical Institute The University of Tokyo (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Tsuchibuchi-gawa River which flows in the city area now

Combination of Modern and Traditional parts

The castle had the Iwaki-gawa River on the back in the west side, and several enclosures spread towards the north, the east and the south, divided by water moats. The Main Enclosure was the center of the castle having the five-layer Main Tower and the Main Hall for the lord. The enclosure was all surrounded by stone walls, so was the most modernized place in the castle.

The Main Enclosure of Hirosaki Castle from the illustration of Hirosaki Castle in Tsugaru District, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

The Western Moat which originates from a branch of Iwaki-gawa River

The Second Enclosure was outside the Main Enclosure in the south and the east, where the halls for the senior vassals were built. The enclosure was surrounded by earthen walls which were the common method for castles in eastern Japan. It also had two gates and three three-story turrets to protect it. The Third Enclosure was the outermost and the largest one is in the castle. It had warriors’ residences and was also surrounded by earthen walls with two gates. One of the gates was the Main Gate in the south. The North Enclosure and the Forth Enclosure were next to the Main Enclosure to protect the north of the castle.

The earthen walls and moat of the Second Enclosure

Main Tower was rebuilt and Castle survived in Meiji Restoration

In 1627, there was an explosion in the Main Tower caused by lightning and an ignition of gunpowder. There had been no main tower for nearly 200 years, but the Hirosaki Domain was allowed by the Shogunate to renovate a three-story turret as the substitute for the Main Tower in1811. This is the present Main Tower we can see today. In 1868 during the Meiji Restoration, the Boshin War between the New Government and the domains supporting Tokugawa Shogunate in the Tohoku Region happened. Many domains fought with the New Government and defeated. However, the Tsugaru Domain supported the New Government from the beginning. That’s why Hirosaki Castle remained intact.

Tsuguakira Tsugaru, the last lord of the Hirosaki Domain (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Hirosaki Castle Part2”

110.Miharu Castle Part2

The town and castle ruins have distinct tastes.

Features

Features of Miharu Town

If you visit the ruins of Miharu Castle today by train, you will find JR Miharu Station to be the nearest station from the castle, being at the bottom of the valley surrounded by the hills. In this area, the roads, train lines and rivers go through the valleys. Currently you will see many large official facilities and even some farmlands are on the hills. They have the distinct feature of the area. Similarly, we can easily speculate that people of this area in the past would have had access to this unique terrain which were important facilities for a castle.

Around the station surrounded by the hills

The relief map around the castle

The center of Miharu Town originates from the castle town of Miharu Castle. It was divided into 2 sections – the southern town and northern town. The route through the town has a 90 degree angle connecting the southern and northern parts. In the Southern Town, currently you can only see the remaining gate for the Miharu Domain school and the Miharu Primary School standing there. In the past, you would be able to see the Main Gate of the Castle and the Main Hall for the lord at the foot of the mountain.

The map around the castle

The remaining remaining gate for the Miharu Domain school

Route from Southern town

You can now access the ruins of Miharu Castle by climbing up the Castle Slope which is another route to the front of the castle. There, you will see several enclosures along the slope with some of them being used as modern residential area. In order to reach the top of the mountain, you will have to go up on a zigzagged trail. At the peaks of the trail, you will see the gate ruins such as the Second Gate, the Agetsuchi Gate and the Third Gate. This would have been the defense system of the castle. You will soon reach the entrance of the lower tier of the Main Enclosure at the top where the Large Gate once stood. You can only see the stone foundations of the gate from here.

The Castle Slope and the residential area around

The Large Gate ruins in the lower tier of the Main Enclosure

Route from Northern town

The Northern Town has a Back Route to the top of the mountain called the Sanbu-zaka Slope. The trail also zigzaggs along with a lot of empty enclosures which shows the long history of the castle. There, you will see the ruins of the Back Entrance, the ruins of the Turret and the few remaining stone walls which the Gamo Clan built before reaching the other entrance of the lower tier of the Main Enclosure. This is where the Back Gate would had been in the past.

Main Enclosure with Shrine and lots of Trees

The lower tier is an open square now, but the Three Story Turret stood out in the past. The upper tier of the Main Enclosure is next to the lower tier. It is mostly empty now because of the great fire that happened in the Edo Period. You can only see the shrine which worships the Akita Clan at the stone wall foundation. However I can not be certain if the stone walls are from the original castle. There, You will see a view of the other hills around overlooking the castle town. Lots of trees have been planted around the enclosure as a park attraction. Therefore this view is very beautiful during the spring and autumn seasons .

Is this the stone wall base for a Main Tower? but it seemed to be built after the castle was abandoned

The shrine which worships the Akita Clan on the stone walls

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