Tohnoyama Fort

This is possibly the most interesting, well maintained and signposted of the Shizugatake Battlefield forts, but it has become a little more challenging to reach the site, so it might not be as well maintained in the future. There are four ways into the site. You could easily walk the former, now c

History

Tohnoyama Fort anchored the east side of the Hideyoshi's forward defensive line at the Battle of Shizugatake It was positioned across the valley from Dogiyama Fort with an embankment crossing the valley between the two forts. It is even higher in elevation than Shizugatake Fort and had satellite forts towards the base of the mountain at Shobudani Fort and Mizotani Fort. Under Hori Hidemasa this fort also garrisoned the largest number of soldiers outside of Hideyoshi's main encampment at Tagamiyama Castle.

Field Notes

This is possibly the most interesting, well maintained and signposted of the Shizugatake Battlefield forts, but it has become a little more challenging to reach the site, so it might not be as well maintained in the future.

There are four ways into the site. You could easily walk the former, now closed, logging road. It is a bit long and there is now a barrier across the road but you can easily open it. There is also a sign that says 2.3km to the castle, so I assume it means visitors are welcome this way. The second way is to hike up through Shobundai Fort and take the steep ridge up to the fort. The main route into Shobudani Fort is also past this barrier on the left. The third route is a marked trail near the Hachiman Shrine. This is the only one I did not try but the trailhead is well marked with a sign by the road and may be the most proper route.

The route I took was to start from Imaichikami Fort. I hiked the "trail" (itself somewhat confusing in parts) up to Imaichikami Fort. Hike past this site (after visiting of course) to the ridge top to link up with the old logging road. From here I followed the old road mostly downhill to Tonoyama Fort. After visiting Tonoyama Fort I then descended the mountainside through Shobudani Fort.

Tonoyama Fort is often misread as “Higashinoyama,” but the correct reading is “Tohnoyama”, a local dialectal way to read the characters 東野.

Loading map...

Gallery

Castle Profile
English Name	Tohnoyama Fort
Japanese Name	東野山砦
Founder	Hashiba Hideyoshi
Year Founded	1583
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	JR Yogo Sta.; 3.5km to trailhead
Hours	Well signposted and maintained, 40min hike from the base of the mountain
Time Required	60 mins on site
Location	Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	35.55581, 136.20936
Loading map... {"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"auto","height":"200px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"Castlemarker.png","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":6,"defzoom":14,"layers":["CartoDB.Positron"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":35.55581,"lon":136.20936,"icon":"../images/1/1e/Castlemarker.png"}],"imageoverlays":null}
Admin
Added to Jcastle
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited
Admin Visits	April 20, 2025

2.00

(one vote)

Loading comments...