Futoh'yama Castle

Futôyamajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) you can go to if you have some time between changing trains at Maibara (Maibara is a small town but its station is an important railway connection). That’s what I did anyway. It takes less than ten minutes to walk from the station to Yutani-jinja where t

History

Futôyamajō was constructed, it is thought, in 1471 during the conflict between Saitō Myōchin and the local Maibara Clan. The castle fell under the dominion of the hegemonic Rokkaku Clan, governors of Ōmi Province. In 1552 Kyōgoku Takahiro ordered the Imai Clan to assault Futôyamajō but the castle withstood this attack. In 1562, Azai Nagamasa conquered Futôyamajō and placed Nakajima Sōzaemon in charge. In 1572 Oda Nobunaga ordered an attack on Futôyamajō from Sawayamajō; Sōzaemon fled from Futôyamajō and it was destroyed and thereafter abandoned.

Field Notes

Futôyamajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) you can go to if you have some time between changing trains at Maibara (Maibara is a small town but its station is an important railway connection). That’s what I did anyway. It takes less than ten minutes to walk from the station to Yutani-jinja where the trail to the castle ruin can be found.

The ruins of Futôyamajō consist of the north castle and south castle. The trail leads to a trench between the two. The ruins each contain the remains of dorui (earthen ramparts), kuruwa (baileys) and hori (trenches). The north ruin contains a yaguradai (turret platform). Though inspecting the ruins necessarily requires re-tracing all of one’s steps, it doesn’t take long to walk throughout the whole site.

Update (2025):

I passingly revisited the ruins of Futôyamajō, not something one often does for yamajiro, their being on mountains, but this was because I wanted to hike to Kamahajō via its satellite fort of Shōbudakejō. This took me longer than using roads to enter Banba valley, but it was more fun to hike than traipse on asphalt for an hour. Shōbudake is south of Futôyamajō and it takes about forty-five to fifty-five minutes to go between. I mostly only covered the souther portion of Futôyamajō going through, but I also discovered a suspected trench to the south which I did not venture far enough to find during my first visit.

I've added pictures of the rear trench and earthen bridge complex.

Gallery

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  Rear dobashi (earthen bridge) and trenches
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  Tatebori (climbing trench) at rear of site
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  Castle mount from below
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  Site layout
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  Bailey surrounded by dorui (earthen ramparts)
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Castle Profile
English Name	Futohyama Castle
Japanese Name	太尾山城
Founder	Saitō Myōchin
Year Founded	1471
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Local Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Artifacts	Kuruwa, Horikiri, Dorui
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Maibara Station; 5 minute walk to trail head
Hours	24/7 free; mountain
Time Required	50 mins
Location	Maibara, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	35.3147, 136.29874
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2020
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed

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