Tamon Castle

Unfortunately, there is very little to see on the castle site itself today beyond an information sign and a large horikiri cutting across the ridge. Most of Tamon Castle lies beneath Nara Wakakusa Junior High School and the imperial tumuli of Empress Ninshō and Emperor Shōmu. That said, the area be

History

In 1559, Matsunaga Hisahide, trusted advisor and lieutenant of Miyoshi Nagayoshi, became the daimyo of Yamato Province. His first base was the renovated mountaintop fortress of Shigisan Castle, but he soon began constructing a new castle that would become his legacy.

Yamato had long lacked a strong, centralized ruler. Powerful temples dominated the plains, while smaller lords held the surrounding mountains and valleys. Hisahide, who had extensive dealings with Nara’s religious institutions during his service under the Miyoshi, directly confronted this balance.

He located his new seat just north of Nara, overlooking Tōdaiji and Kōfukuji. Temple lands, including Myōken-ji and Saion-ji, were removed to make way for the castle, and the mountain itself was renamed Tamonyama, after Tamonten (Bishamonten), the Buddhist guardian of the north. A warrior-protector deity associated with martial authority and the defense of the realm, Bishamonten provided a pointed symbolic framework. Tamon Castle’s location and renaming were deliberate statements.

From Tamon Castle, Hisahide could survey much of the Yamato Basin and control the Kyō-kaidō, the vital route linking Kyoto and Nara. Tamon served as the hub of Hisahide’s castle network. It functioned as a diplomatic and cultural stage, while Shigisan Castle served as the primary military stronghold. Other castles, including Kaseyama Castle and Sawa Castle, secured the frontiers. Hisahide was a noted tea practitioner and collector of tea utensils, and gatherings at Tamon included monks, nobles, and foreign visitors, drawing on cultural and political skills he had cultivated since his early years at Takiyama Castle.

In 1565, the Portuguese Jesuit Luís de Almeida visited Tamon and wrote back to Europe in astonishment. He praised the castle’s gleaming white walls and tiled roofs as “not to be found in all of Christendom.” His letters emphasize that Tamon felt less like a fortress and more like a new kind of urban space. Contemporary records describe lavish residential halls, sliding doors adorned with gold-leaf paintings, gardens, and at least two tea pavilions.

In 1573, after siding against Oda Nobunaga, Tamon Castle was surrendered to Oda control, with Akechi Mitsuhide installed as overseer. Shibata Katsuie and Hosokawa Fujitaka also served briefly as castellans. Nobunaga himself visited in 1574, during which he famously cut the sacred incense log, Ranjatai, which had been brought from Tōdaiji and displayed at Tamon Castle. In 1576, as construction of Azuchi Castle began, Nobunaga ordered the dismantling of Tamon Castle.

Its most famous structure, a four-story yagura, was transferred to Azuchi. Palatial halls were relocated to the Nijō Palace, while stone and building materials were reused by Tsutsui Junkei at Tsutsui Castle. Tamon Castle was absorbed into the emerging Oda framework, and no rival center was permitted to stand alongside Azuchi. Many scholars believe Nobunaga drew inspiration from Tamon, while artisans responsible for roof tiles, painted interiors, and metal fittings were requisitioned for work on Azuchi itself.

Tamon Castle and the Transition to Early Modern Castle Design

Tamon Castle represented a major leap in castle architecture. Muromachi-period castles tended toward military fortification and relatively impermanent construction. Tamon may be considered the first true early modern castle (近世城郭).

Key features included: • A four-story takayagura (tall turret), widely regarded as a prototype of the later main keep (tenshu). Some scholars speculate that a similar structure may have existed earlier at Shigisan Castle. • Extensive use of tiled roofs, unprecedented for castles of the period. Drawing on Nara’s long tradition of temple construction, Hisahide employed local craftsmen to produce tiles specifically for the castle. Excavated examples differ clearly from contemporary temple tiles, indicating adaptation for castle use rather than simple reuse. Hisahide’s correspondence from Kyoto shows close attention to tile production during construction. • Thick earthen walls finished with white plaster (shikkui), enhancing resistance to fire and weather. • Long, row-house-like turrets built atop ramparts. This form became so closely associated with the site that the term Tamon-yagura outlived the castle itself and entered the vocabulary of later castle architecture. • Extensive stone walls, stone foundations for pillars, and stone-lined drainage channels, reinforcing the castle’s intent as a durable, long-term seat of power. • Large palatial halls that established Tamon as more than a military fortification and enabled its role as a center of political and cultural authority.

These architectural elements existed individually in earlier castles and temples, but Tamon Castle was among the first to bring them together deliberately within a single, coherent design, thereby influencing the form and purpose of castles that followed.

Field Notes

Unfortunately, there is very little to see on the castle site itself today beyond an information sign and a large horikiri cutting across the ridge. Most of Tamon Castle lies beneath Nara Wakakusa Junior High School and the imperial tumuli of Empress Ninshō and Emperor Shōmu.

That said, the area below the eastern side of the former castle between the castle and river is quietly interesting. This district may correspond to the residential quarters noted by the Portuguese missionary Luís de Almeida, who described organized living spaces associated with the castle. This neighborhood preserves a number of older houses and Edo-period stone walls (see map photo below). While individual buildings have changed over time, the street layout remains largely intact.

The photos included here also show views from the western hilltop.

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Gallery

Display at Yamato Castle Festival (2025)
Viewed from the neighborhood
River in front of the castle

Castle Profile
English Name	Tamon Castle
Japanese Name	多聞城
Founder	Matsunaga Hisahide
Year Founded	1562
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Kintetsu Nara
Hours
Time Required	30 mins
Location	Nara, Nara Prefecture
Coordinates	34.69437, 135.83143
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2026
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2025
Admin Visits	October 5, 2025

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