Nyunomi Castle

Nyūnomijō was really interesting. I couldn’t find a map to guide me at the time so I was going in blind, but I found an earthworks castle ruin with many impressive features. Nyūnomijō is guarded to the mountainside rear by four horikiri (trenches that cut the ridge) in a row, with dorui (earthen ram

History

Although the castellan of Nyūnomijō is not known to history, the territory was certainly under the suzerainty of the Nishina Clan, Nyūnomijō being a satellite fortification of Kibunejō. See my profile on Azumi Kibune Castle for more information.

Field Notes

Nyūnomijō was really interesting. I couldn’t find a map to guide me at the time so I was going in blind, but I found an earthworks castle ruin with many impressive features. Nyūnomijō is guarded to the mountainside rear by four horikiri (trenches that cut the ridge) in a row, with dorui (earthen ramparts) in between. Along the eastern side beneath the main bailey is a most wonderful Sengoku period mountaintop castle feature known as unejōtatebori, which is a series of tatebori (climbing trenches) arranged in a row one after the other. The shukuruwa (main bailey) is surrounded by dorui. Below the shukuruwa is the second bailey, and between the second bailey and the third bailey is a double trench system. The third bailey complex has many koshikuruwa (sub-baileys) spilling down the mountainside before it in a series of protective “U” shapes. This no-name site proved to be a solid yamajiro and I was quite happy with it. I hiked to the ruins of Nyūnomijō from Aokijō by carefully following a series of ridges. Even though there weren’t trails as such I met with no serious impediments.

Gallery

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  Uenejoutatebori / rows of climbing trenches
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Castle Profile
English Name	Nyuunomi Castle
Japanese Name	丹生子城
Founder	Nishina Clan (probably)
Year Founded	Sengou Period
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Artifacts	Horikiri, Dorui, Tatebori, Kuruwa, Koshikuruwa
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Shinano-Ômachi Station or Minami-Ômachi Station on the Ôito Line; 40 minute walk to trailhead
Hours	24/7 free; mountain
Time Required	40 minutes
Location	Ômachi, Nagano Prefecture
Coordinates	36.47664, 137.87234
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2021
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed
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