112.Kasama Castle Part1

Kasama is a local city, located in the central part of Ibaraki Prefecture and the northeastern part of the Kanto Region. It is known for Kasama Inari Shrine and Kasama Pottery, which attract many visitors. However, they became popular after the emergence of Kasama Castle.

Location and History

Tokitomo Kasama, Mysterious General builds Castle

Kasama is a local city, located in the central part of Ibaraki Prefecture and the northeastern part of the Kanto Region. It is known for Kasama Inari Shrine and Kasama Pottery, which attract many visitors. However, they became popular after the emergence of Kasama Castle.

Kasama Castle[/leaflet-marker]

It is uncertain how the castle was first built. The only record available is called Kasamajo-ki (meaning the Record of Kasama Castle), later written during the Edo Period. According to the record, the castle was first built in 1219 during the Kamakura Period by Tokitomo Kasama who was a relative of the Utsunomiya Clan, one of the most powerful clans in the region. There was the Shofukuji Temple on Sashiro-yama Mountain where Kasama Castle would be built. The temple prospered on the mountain with the One Hundred Quarters and had many monk soldiers to protect it. A fight broke out with a rival temple called Tokuzoji Temple and they were outnumbered, so it asked the Utsunomiya Clan for help. Tokitomo was sent by the clan and defeated the Tokuzoji Temple. He even banished the Shotokuji Temple from the mountain and built the Kasama Castle.

Sashiro-yama Mountain
The current Shofukuji Temple at the foot of the mountain
The signpost of the One Hundred Quarters Ruins

However, historians say, using fragments from other records, Tokitomo might have actually not been so radical. He was not only a warrior but also a medium class noble which other warriors rarely became. He was also highly educated and famous as a poet. There are also several remaining Buddha statues and sutras he donated to temples, which proved he was rich and religious. Overall, Tokitomo might have built the castle in a more coordinated manner. As a result, the Kasama Clan governed the castle and the area around for over 300 years until the Sengoku Period. The castle was thought to be a simple mountain castle, made of soil.

The Buddha statue Tokitomo donated to a local temple called Ishidera, quoted from the Kasama City Website
Rengeoin Temple at Kyoto where Tokitomo donated two other Buddha statues  (licensed by Akonnchiroll via Wikimedia Commons)

Satonari Gamo renovates Castle

The situation changed in the end of the 16th Century during the unification of Japan by Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The Kasama Clan declined and the Utsunomiya Clan was fired by Hideyoshi. Kasama Castle was followed by Satonari Gamo, a senior vassal of the Gamo Clan in 1598. The Gamo Clan served Hideyoshi for a long time and became one of the greatest lords in Japan. The clan also built or improved many castles like Matsusaka and Wakamatsu by building advanced items, such as high stone walls and Main Towers. The lord of the clan, Hideyuki Gamo lived in Utsunomiya Castle and one of his branch castles was Kasama Castle. Satonari improved Kasama Castle using the techniques and resources that the clan used. The Main Tower was built on the top of mountain with three-tier stone walls, called the Main Tower Enclosure. The Main and Second Enclosures were developed below the top and the route from the Main Gate to the top through these enclosures was built. Other stone walls were constructed along the route and each gate and enclosure was protected by an altered entrance or the Masugata system which refers to a square defensive space in the gate. The lord of the castle lived in the Main Hall in the Main Enclosure which also had several other turrets.

The ruins of Matsusaka Castle
Wakamatsu Castle
The miniature model of Kasama Castle, exhibited by Kasama History Exchange Center “Izutsuya”

Satonari developed Kasama Castle more in 1600 during a decisive battle when all the lords of Japan joined the Eastern Alliance or the Western Alliance. He joined the Eastern Alliance while the Satake Clan at Mito Castle in the neighboring area to the east of Kasama joined the Western Alliance. That’s why he needed to prepare to avoid the Satake Clan from invading. It is thought that Satonari built forts on three hills around the mountain and deep dry moats surrounding all the castle and the forts. The Eastern Alliance, which would be the Tokugawa Shogunate, finally won after nothing happened to Kasama Castle fortunately.

The ruins of Mito Castle
The dry moats surrounding the castle are put on the miniature model above as well
The remaining dry moats at the site

Other Clans like Asano and Makino follow Castle

The shogunate transferred the Gamo Clan to another in 1601. Since then, Kasama Castle and the area around it were considered as the Kasama Domain, but the lord’s clan changed 8 times. A major event for the castle happened when the Asano Clan governed the domain between 1622 and 1645. The second lord, Naganao Asano built suburban residences, in fact a new Main Hall, at the foot of the mountain, for the convenience of the government. An episode about it was that the residences were very large and surrounded by earthen walls and white mud walls, which looked like a new castle that the shogunate banned from being built. Naganao conveted the mud walls to hedge fences to hide and not to make it look like a castle before the shogunate heard about it. He was transferred to Ako Castle in 1645 and renovated it, so he seemed to like castle constructions. His grandchild was Naganori Asano who would cause the Ako Incident which is one of the most popular events of Japanese history.

The portrait of Naganao Asano, owned by Kagakuji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The ruins of the suburban residences
The ruins of Ako Castle

The last clan to rule the Kasama Domain was the Makino Clan between 1747 and 1871, the longest and most stable period among the others. The Kasama Pottery started to be made and developed with the help from the domain during this period. In addition, the Kasama Inari Shrine also became popular during the Edo Period, which was visited by several clans governing the domain.

Part of the Illustration of Kasama Castle in Hitachi Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan
Kasama Potteries in the Kasama Pottery Cooperative Selling Center
The Worship Hall of Kasama Inari Shrine  (licensed by On-chan via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Kasama Castle Part2”

111.Mukai-Haguroyama Castle Patr2

The ruins of Mukai-Haguroyama Castle have been developed as part of the expansive Hakuho-zan Park including three mountains. The ruins are on one of which, Iwasaki-yama Mountain, which is 50 hectares in size.

Features

Part of expansive Natural Park

Today, the ruins of Mukai-Haguroyama Castle have been developed as part of the Hakuho-zan Park. The park is an expansive natural park which is 112 hectares in size, including three mountains, Kannon-yama, Haguro-yama, and Iwasaki-yama. The castle ruins are on the Iwasaki-yama Mountain, which is 50 hectares in size. The ruins are also huge and mixed with the park’s other facilities like adventure playgrounds, promenades, and arbors.

The map around the Hakuho-zan Park

Therefore, it may be difficult for visitors to go around all of the ruins without proper instructions. It is recommended to visit the guidance facility called Mukai-Haguro Gallery in advance to get the information of the ruins. Please make sure that the facility is open only on weekends and holidays from mid-April to mid-December. In addition, please check if the ruins are open or not, for example, in cases of bears being found. Anyway, let me introduce the summary of the ruins.

The Mukai-Haguro Gallery

If you enter the park from the north beside the Mukai-Haguro Gallery, you can go on the paved forest road over Kannon-yama and Haguro-yama Mountains to the castle ruins on Iwasaki-yama Mountain in the back even by car. However, please be careful when passing each other because the road is very narrow.

The map around the castle

The forest roag though the park
The diorama of the castle ruins, exhibited by the Mukai-Haguro Gallery, the red line shows the forest road

Large Third Enclosure

If you manage to find the administration building of the park on the right, it is around the Third Enclosure of the castle. The enclosure is spacious which was said to be used as a riding ground for horses. Its thick earthen walls and deep dry moats are still there. There are also the Northern Enclosure and the ruins of Moriuji Ashina’s residence across the road.

Around the administration building
The Third Enclosure
The earthen walls of the Third Enclosure
The dry moats of the Third Enclosure

Next, you can go up the road and you will find Ochayaba (meaning the Tea House) Enclosure on the left, which is a viewing spot. It is said that Moriuji held tea ceremonies there.

The Tea House Enclosure
A view from the enclosure

Second Enclosure as Center of Castle

If you go further and turn right along the road, while seeing Benten Enclosure on the left, you will be between the Second Enclosure on the right and the Main Enclosure on the left. In fact, the road at the spot is the bottom of the former ditch dividing them.

Going on the forest road
The Benten Enclosure
The former ditch between the Main and Second Enclosures
The left ridge is the Main Enclosure and the right one is the Second Enclosure, according to the diorama

The Second Enclosure is on the top of a ridge which was thought to have been the center of the castle as it was larger and has a better view than the Main Enclosure. In addition, the Waterwell Enclosure is just below it. You can climb to the top and understand these points while seeing a great view of the Aizu Basin and Wakamatsu (the former Kurokawa) Castle

Climbing to the top of the Second Enclosure
The top of the Second Enclosure
A view from the enclosure
You can see Wakamatsu Castle in the view

If you climb down and walk around the enclosure, you will see the essence of the castle. It is mostly soil-made structures all around. For example, the enclosure is surrounded by earthen walls and dry moats which are partially supported by stone mounds. The entrance of the enclosure consists of alternating earthen walls which also use large stones. However, these stones mostly collapsed. The original path through the castle is also made looking like another dry moat.

The earthen walls and dry moats surrounding the Second Enclosure
The dry moats are partially supported by the stone mounds
The ruins of the entrance to the enclosure
There are some large stones lying around, which were probably used for the entrance
The ruins of the original path

To be continued in “Mukai-Haguroyama Castle Part3”
Back to “Mukai-Haguroyama Castle Part1”

111.Mukai-Haguroyama Castle Part1

Moriuji Ashina. who became a great warlord, retired, transferred the headship of the family to his son and started the construction of a new castle as his retreat, which would be Mukai-Haguroyama Castle.

Location and History

Origin of Castle’s name

Mukai-Haguroyama Castle was located in the Aizu area of the modern day Fukushima Prefecture. Regarding castles and ruins, the area is much more known for Wakamatsu Castle which was the home base of the Aizu Domain during the Edo Period. However, the castle had been called Kurokawa Castle when the Ashina Clan owned it and the clan had a much larger Mukai-Haguroyama Castle than Kurokawa Castle at that time. The mountain that Mukai-Haguroyama Castle was built on was originally called Iwasaki Mountain, so the castle was first called Iwasaki Castle as well. Alternatively, the mountain was called Mukai-Haguroyama Mountain, which means the mountain opposite of Haguroyama Mountain. These two mountains actually look like they are standing in a row, so the castle was eventually called Mukai-Haguroyama Castle sometime later.

Wakamatsu Castle seen from Odayama Castle Ruins
Mukai-Haguroyama (or Iwasaki) Mountain on the left and Haguroyama Mountain on the right, seen from Odayama Castle Ruins

Ashina Clan settles in Aizu area

The Ashina Clan originally came from the Sawara Clan, a branch family of the Miura Clan, which was a senior vassal family of the Kamakura Shogunate in the early Middle Ages, which was based in Miura Peninsula of Sagami Province (now Kanagawa Pref.). After Yoritomo Minamoto, the founder of the shogunate invaded the Tohoku Region in 1189, the Sawara Clan got a territory in the Aizu area for their contributions. Some of the clan settled in the area and renamed their family names, such as the Inawashiro, Kitada, and Shingu Clans. In the early 14th Century when the Ashikaga Shogunate was established, the Ashina Clan, another branch family of the Sawara Clan, was active in the Tohoku Region including the Aizu area, who called itself “the Aizu Governor”. As a result, the clan moved their home base from Ashina in Miura Peninsula to the Aizu area and built a new hall called Otakaki-no-tate in the middle of the century, which would later be known as Kurokawa Castle.

The location of the castle and the birthplace of the Ashina Clan

However, the Ashina Clan was not able to govern the area easily because the other relatives of the Sawara Clan and other local clans did not obey the Ashina Clan just with its authority. The Ashina Clan needed to force them to obey the clan by force, otherwise it had to defeat them. For example, the Ashina Clan battled and defeated the Kitada and Shingu Clans. All of which, including the Ashina Clan, came from the same Sawara Clan. Another relative, the Inawashiro Clan became a senior vassal of the Ashina Clan after they fought with each other. The Ashina Clan also needed to prevent great lords outside the Aizu Area, such as the Date, Nikaido, and Satake Clans from invasion of the area. The lords of the Ashina Clan usually lived in Kurokawa Castle in the plain Aizu Basin. They also built Odayama Castle on Odayama Mountain beside the basin, about 1.5km away from Kurokawa Castle, as a final place for emergencies. Such a combination can also be seen in the cases of other clans over the whole country during the Sengoku Period. Odayama Castle was also used as their ancestors’ graveyard.

The relief map around Kurokawa Castle

The ruins of Odayama Castle (its Main Gate)
The ruins of the Ashina Clan’s graveyard

Moriuji Ashina builds Mukai-Haguroyama Castle as his Retreat

The Ashina Clan’s power reached its peak when Moriuji Ashina, the lord of the clan at that time, reigned in the middle of the 16th Century. His government of the Aizu area became stable and he also had diplomatic relationships with other great warlords in Japan, like Kenshin Uesugi, Shingen Takeda, and Masamune Date, which meant he became a great warlord as well. What he did next was retire and transfer the headship of the family to his son and start the construction of a new castle in 1861 as his retreat and the replacement for Odayama Castle, about 5km away from Kurokawa Castle in the south, which would be Mukai-Haguroyama Castle. However, the castle was too large for the retreat and the replacement, in fact, Moriuji still had the real power of the clan and the castle looked like a new home base for the clan. The construction lasted for 8 years until 1568, which resulted in one of the largest mountain castles in the Tohoku Region. The castle was built using soil, which was a typical method of building castles in eastern Japan, and had uncountable enclosures protected by structures using and processing natural terrain, such as deep dry moats, thick earthen walls and artificial vertical cliffs.

The portrait of Moriuji Ashina, from the database of Historiographical Institute, the University of Tokyo (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The imaginary drawing of Mukai-Haguroyama Castle, from the signboard at the site

Castle is abandoned after being followed by Several Loads

The Ashina Clan’s power decreased after Moriuji died in 1580 as his successors died young. Because of that, the clan and its senior vassals had to accommodate their new lord from a great warlord outside to maintain their territory. The candidates were ones from the Satake Clan and the Date Clan. As a result, they concluded that the successor would come from the Satake Clan, named Yoshihiro Ashina in 1587. However, this event caused a split in the clan, into the faction in power and the other supporting Date. In 1589, Masamune Date started to invade Ashina’s territory. Yoshihiro tried to repel the invasion, but many of his senior vassals, including the relative Inawashiro Clan, supported the Date’s side or left him. He was defeated by Masamune in the battle of Suriagehara and escaped form the Aizu area to his parents’ home. This battle resulted in Kurokawa Castle, the home base of the Ashina Clan being captured by Masamune and the clan’s destruction.

The portrait of Masamune Date, owned by Sendai City Museum, (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Mukai-Haguroyama Castle was followed by Masamune Ujisato Gamo, and Kagekatsu Uesugi like they used Kurokawa Castle (renamed to Wakamatsu Castle). This was because they still needed to use it as a final castle for emergencies like a battle. However, the castle was eventually abandoned after Kagekatsu was transferred to Yonezawa Castle in 1601 due to the defeat in the decisive battle in 1600 against Ieyasu Tokugawa who would be the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

The portrait of Ujisato Gamo, owned by Aizu Wakamatsu Library (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The portrait of Kagekatsu Uesugi, owned by Uesugi Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The ruins of Mukai-Haguroyama Castle

To be continued in “Mukai-Haguroyama Part2”