Sasayama Castle: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:46, 17 May 2025

This is a fascinating castle. It's a simple stout stronghold with tall thick stone walls and an ominous presence that dominates the whole plain. The main keep was never built but it just shows how the main keep is really just for show, not for military purposes. Sasayama Castle's purpose was to con

History

From the top of Mt. Takashiro to the Southeast of Sasayama Castle the Hatano ruled over the Tanba area from Yagami Castle. Yagami Castle fell to attacks by Akechi Mitsuhide in 1579. In 1608 Tokugawa Ieyasu's son Matsudaira Yasushige became lord of Yagami Castle. The following year, Ieyasu started the construction of Sasayama Castle while dismantling Yagami Castle as part of his plan to better control the western lords and fortify Osaka Castle. The castle was designed by Todo Takatora and completed in less than a year.

Field Notes

This is a fascinating castle. It's a simple stout stronghold with tall thick stone walls and an ominous presence that dominates the whole plain. The main keep was never built but it just shows how the main keep is really just for show, not for military purposes. Sasayama Castle's purpose was to control the Western lords and fortify the roads to Osaka.

The castle is also well preserved. The palace unfortunately burned down in 1944, but it was rebuilt (1996-2000) using original photos and with reference to the Ninomaru Palace at Nijo Castle. They may be often overlooked, but Sasayama Castle should also be noted for the 2 umadashi style gates that fortify the main compounds of the castle to the northeast and southwest. Since this is one of the tenkabushin castles (large scale construction projects of the Edo Bakufu) it was built by multiple lords and you can find many of their marks, or kokuin, in the stone walls. See the separate Sasayama Castle Kokuin album below.

Besides the castle, Sasayama is an interesting little town that retains the charm of a rustic castle town including a samurai quarter with some former samurai homes (only the Ama Residence is open to the public) and a variety of local shops and specialties. See the Anma Residence page and the Sasayama Castle Samurai District pages for more details.

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Gallery

NE Umadashi Gate
NE Umadashi Gate
NE Umadashi Gate
SW Umadashi Gate
SW Umadashi Gate

More Galleries and Feature Pages

Samurai District

(16 photos)

Sasayama Castle Kokuin

(38 photos)

Castle Profile
English Name	Sasayama Castle
Japanese Name	篠山城
Alternate Names	Kiriga-jo
Founder	Tokugawa Ieyasu
Year Founded	1609
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Top 100 Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Year Reconstructed	2000 (Osyoin Palace)
Features	palace, samurai homes, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access	Sasayama-guchi Station (Fukuchiyama Line), 30 min bus, 5 min walk
Hours	Open 9am-5pm; 400 yen; Closed Monday (except National Holidays, when closed Tuesday), closed Dec 25-Jan 1
Time Required	210 mins (including samurai home)
URL	Castle Website
Location	Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture
Coordinates	35.07341, 135.21757
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2004
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2018, 2024
Admin Visits	December 20, 2018; November 7, 2024

3.09

(11 votes)

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 |English Name=Sasayama Castle
 |Japanese Name=篠山城
-|Romaji Name=sasayama-jo
+|Romaji Name=Sasayama-jo
-|Alternate Names=Kirigajo
+|Alternate Names=Kiriga-jo
 |Founder=Tokugawa Ieyasu
 |Year Founded=1609
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 |Historical Period=Edo Period
 |Year Reconstructed=2000 (Osyoin Palace)
-|Features=palace, samurai homes, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls
+|Features=palace, samurai homes, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls, castle town
-|Access=Sasayama-guchi Station (Fukuchiyama Line), bus
+|Access=Sasayama-guchi Station (Fukuchiyama Line), 30 min bus, 5 min walk
-|Website=http://www.city.sasayama.hyogo.jp/osyoin/
+|Visitor Information=Open 9am-5pm; 400 yen; Closed Monday (except National Holidays, when closed Tuesday), closed Dec 25-Jan 1
+|Time Required=210 mins (including samurai home)
+|Website=https://visit.sasayama.jp/en/2017/09/01/83/
 |City=Sasayama
 |Prefecture=Hyogo Prefecture
-|Notes=All photos and text donated by Kenji Yamamoto
+|Notes=This is a fascinating castle. It's a simple stout stronghold with tall thick stone walls and an ominous presence that dominates the whole plain. The main keep was never built but it just shows how the main keep is really just for show, not for military purposes.  Sasayama Castle's purpose was to control the Western lords and fortify the roads to Osaka.
-|History=From the top of Mt. Takashiro to the Southeast of Sasayama Castle the Hatano ruled over the Tanba area from Yagami Castle. Yagami Castle fell to attacks by Akechi Mitsuhide in 1579. In 1608 Tokugawa Ieyasu's son Matsudaira Yasushige became lord of Yagami Castle. The following year, Ieyasu initiated the construction of Sasayama Castle while dismantling Yagami Castle as part of his plan to better control Osaka Castle, the Toyotomi and the other lords of Western Japan. The castle was designed by Todo Takatora and completed in only six months. It is famous for having an intact gate type called umadashi.
-Eventually, all the structures of this castle were destroyed and in 1944 the Oshoin Palace was burned in a fire. The palace was reconstructed from original pictures and also by making reference to the Ninomaru Palace at Nijo Castle. You can see many of these original pictures and the reconstruction progress on [http://www.city.sasayama.hyogo.jp/osyoin/konja00.html the website].Sasayama sits in a basin surrounded by mountains on all sides. When visiting this location it is easy to get caught up in the castle and castle town in such an isolated atmosphere of mountains. Even though there are almost no structures reamining of the castle today one can easily imagine what it was like surrounded by the atmosphere of this castle and castle town. There is also a museum and samurai home to tell the story of samurai in this area.
+The castle is also well preserved. The palace unfortunately burned down in 1944, but it was rebuilt (1996-2000) using original photos and with reference to the Ninomaru Palace at [[Nijo Castle]]. They may be often overlooked, but Sasayama Castle should also be noted for the 2 umadashi style gates that fortify the main compounds of the castle to the northeast and southwest.  Since this is one of the ''tenkabushin'' castles (large scale construction projects of the Edo Bakufu) it was built by multiple lords and you can find many of their marks, or kokuin, in the stone walls. See the separate [[Sasayama Castle Kokuin]] album below.
-This area is famous for a kind of black bean and wild boar meat. These Tanba area beans are large and sweet with an excellent flavor. They also have bread among many other dishes made from these beans. There are few tourists during the off season though there tend to be many for Cherry Blossoms in the spring and the Summer Festival.
+Besides the castle, Sasayama is an interesting little town that retains the charm of a rustic castle town including a samurai quarter with some former samurai homes (only the Ama Residence is open to the public) and a variety of local shops and specialties. See the [[Anma Residence]] page and the [[Sasayama Castle Samurai District]] pages for more details.
-|Year Visited=2018
+|History=From the top of Mt. Takashiro to the Southeast of Sasayama Castle the Hatano ruled over the Tanba area from Yagami Castle. Yagami Castle fell to attacks by Akechi Mitsuhide in 1579. In 1608 Tokugawa Ieyasu's son Matsudaira Yasushige became lord of Yagami Castle. The following year, Ieyasu started the construction of Sasayama Castle while dismantling Yagami Castle as part of his plan to better control the western lords and fortify Osaka Castle. The castle was designed by Todo Takatora and completed in less than a year.
+|Year Visited=2018, 2024
 |AddedJcastle=2004
-|Visits=December 20, 2018
+|Visits=December 20, 2018; November 7, 2024
 |GPSLocation=35.07341, 135.21757
-|rating_average=2.56
+|Contributor=Eric
-|castleElev=209
-|ekiLatLng=35.056195,135.177493
-|ekiElev=197
-|elevChange=12
-|kamon=mituaoi.jpg
-|kamonFam=Matsudaira
-|adminRating=3
-|oldID=19
 }}