Ichijojiyama Castle: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:24, 20 February 2022

The castle can be approached by several of the hiking routes around Mt. Hiei as part of the "Kyoto Trail" that circumnavigates Kyoto. Unfortunately, it is not near the entrance of any of them so expect a long mountainous walk. The route I took started from Shugakuin Station and went up the Kirarazak

History

This castle was likely built as a "tsume-no-shiro" to Watanabe Castle to protect Kyoto from any force that might try to sneak over Mt. Hiei from the Enryakuji Temple area and attack the city.

The castle was expanded by the Asakura / Asai forces for exactly the same purpose it was built to prevent, their combined siege of Kyoto in 1570. There are very steep trails to get to the castle but the area itself is relatively even ground and could hold many troops for attacks. It may have been paired with Tsubokasayama Castle on the opposite side (Shiga Prefecture) side of Hieizan.

Field Notes

The castle can be approached by several of the hiking routes around Mt. Hiei as part of the "Kyoto Trail" that circumnavigates Kyoto. Unfortunately, it is not near the entrance of any of them so expect a long mountainous walk. The route I took started from Shugakuin Station and went up the Kirarazaka Hiking trail which is the famous Mt. Hiei climbing trail that starts from the Kyoto side of the mountain. Along the way up the mountain, you will run into the Shugakuin Kirarazaka Castle, which is actually a satellite fortification of Ichijoji Castle, protecting the northern side and roughly parallel across the valley from Matsugasaki Castle. From just beyond Kirarazaka Castle, you need to take a small path off the Mt. Hiei climbing trail that goes south along the Kyoto Trail. It is well marked if you watch for it. Another 20 minutes or so walking will bring you to Ichijoji Castle, but it is completely unmarked so you really need a good map and some guesswork to find out where the castle ruins are. I explored around here for awhile until it was starting to get dangerously late in the afternoon for a long walk back to civilization. There are some trenches and possible embankments along one ridge but others marked on the map were unrecognizable on the site today.

On the way back, I first tried to take the shorter side trail down to the Manshuin Temple, but about 1/3 of the way down it was too washed out and slippery that I deemed it too dangerous to go on and walked the long way back around Kirarazaka and Kirarazaka Castle back to Shugakuin Station. By this time it was dark.

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Castle Profile
English Name	Ichijojiyama Castle
Japanese Name	一乗寺山城
Alternate Names	Ichijoji-jo, Ipponsuginishi-jo, Ichijojienryakujiyama-jo (一乗寺延暦寺山城)
Founder	Watanabe clan
Year Founded	15th C. (?)
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features
Visitor Information
Access	Shugakuin Station (Eizan Railway); 90 mins walk
Hours	mountain trails, open any time
Time Required	90 mins
Location	Kyoto, Kyoto
Coordinates	35.05245, 135.81375
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2022
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2021
Admin Visits	October 24, 2021
Friends of JCastle
Kojodan: Ichijojiyama-jo

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@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 |Romaji Name=Ichijojiyama-jo
 |Alternate Names=Ichijoji-jo, Ipponsuginishi-jo, Ichijojienryakujiyama-jo (一乗寺延暦寺山城)
-|Founder=Asakura / Asai clans
+|Founder=Watanabe clan
-|Year Founded=1570
+|Year Founded=15th C. (?)
 |Castle Type=Mountaintop
 |Castle Condition=Ruins only
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 On the way back, I first tried to take the shorter side trail down to the Manshuin Temple, but about 1/3 of the way down it was too washed out and slippery that I deemed it too dangerous to go on and walked the long way back around Kirarazaka and Kirarazaka Castle back to Shugakuin Station. By this time it was dark.
-|History=This castle was likely built by the Asakura / Asai forces for they 1570 siege of Kyoto. There are very steep trails to get to the castle but the area itself is relatively even ground and could hold many troops for attacks. It may have been paired with Tsubokasayama Castle on the opposite side (Shiga Prefecture) side of Hieizan.
+|History=This castle was likely built as a "tsume-no-shiro" to [[Watanabe Castle]] to protect Kyoto from any force that might try to sneak over Mt. Hiei from the Enryakuji Temple area and attack the city.
-??
-"It is not well known, but there were actually several castles spread across Mt. Hieizan that looked down over Kyoto during the Sengoku Period.  Ichijoji Castle was one of the main ones.  it was intended to protect the city from any force that might try to sneak over Mt. Hiei from the Enryakuji Temple area and attack Kyoto. "
+The castle was expanded by the Asakura / Asai forces for exactly the same purpose it was built to prevent, their combined siege of Kyoto in 1570. There are very steep trails to get to the castle but the area itself is relatively even ground and could hold many troops for attacks. It may have been paired with Tsubokasayama Castle on the opposite side (Shiga Prefecture) side of Hieizan.
 |Year Visited=2021
 |AddedJcastle=2022
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 |GPSLocation=35.05245, 135.81375
 |Contributor=Eric
+|FriendsLinks={{FriendsLinks
+|FriendWebsiteName=Kojodan: Ichijojiyama-jo
+|FriendWebsiteURL=https://kojodan.jp/castle/1750/
+}}
 }}