Yamagata Castle

If you enter through the main reconstructed East Gate, make sure you go out the back and visit the reconstruction of the honmaru and leave via the South Gate. This castle was well worth the visit for the beautiful reconstruction of the East Gate and for the ongoing archaeological excavation and reco

History

The castle originally established by Shiba Kaneyori at Yamagata is said to have been about the size of the honmaru of the later Yamagata castle. Shiba later took the name of the surrounding area and changed his name to Mogami. Mogami's ancestor Mogami Yoshiaki reconstructed the castle into a much larger fortres in 1592. He added the ninomaru and sannomaru, but there was never a large main keep that you see at other castles. It did however have three 2 story and one 3 story yagura.

While Mogami Yoshiaki went to the Battle of Sekigahara with Tokugawa Ieyasu, it is said that Uesugi Kagekatsu's general Naoe Kanetsugu went to attack Yamagata Castle but he could find it as it was buried in thick fog. Thereafter, the castle was also known as kasumigajo, the castle in the haze.

At his peak after the battle of Sekigahara Yoshiaki controlled land yielding 570,000 koku. Yoshiaki died in 1614 and his successor Iechika died shortly thereafter in 1617. His sucessor Yoshitoshi was reduced to 300,000 koku and later moved to Mikawa. Over time the importance of Yamagata Castle to the Tokugawa rule over Eastern Japan declined, and with it the size of territory controlled by the lord of Yamagat Castle was also reduced.

Yamagata Castle is well known today for the authentic wooden reconstruction of the East Gate. As you can see from the above picture, this is a masugata style gate. The 2 tamon yagura, high stone walled moat, and the walls surrounding the top make it most impregnable.

Field Notes

If you enter through the main reconstructed East Gate, make sure you go out the back and visit the reconstruction of the honmaru and leave via the South Gate. This castle was well worth the visit for the beautiful reconstruction of the East Gate and for the ongoing archaeological excavation and reconstruction of the honmaru.

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Gallery

East Main Gate
Ninomaru Moat outside the East Main Gate
Moat outside the East Main Gate
East Main Gate masugata
Yaguramon Gate of the East Main gate
Yaguramon Gate of the East Main gate
Yaguramon Gate of the East Main gate
Walls of the East Main Gate masugata
Inside the East Main Gate
Inside the East Main Gate
Honmaru moat and gate
Honmaru Gate
Honmaru Gate
Honmaru Gate
Honmaru Gate
Koraimon of the Honmaru Masugata
Honmaru Masugata Gate
South Gate stone walls
South Gate stone walls
South Gate
East Ninomaru moat
Ninomaru East Embankment
Ninomaru East Embankment
Ninomaru East Embankment and Moat
Ninomaru East Embankment
North Gate stone walls
North Gate stone walls
North Gate stone walls
North Gate stone walls
North Gate stone walls
West Gate stone walls and moat
West Gate stone walls
West Gate stone walls and moat
West Gate
West Gate stone walls
West Gate stone walls
West Gate
West Gate. It looks like a double masugata.
Kokuin of the North Gate stone walls
Part of the Honmaru still under survey

Castle Profile
English Name	Yamagata Castle
Japanese Name	山形城
Alternate Names	Kasumiga-jo, Kajo
Founder	Shiba (Mogami) Kaneyori
Year Founded	1356
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Top 100 Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Features	gates, turrets, bridges, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Yamagata Station (Yamagata Shinkansen), 1km walk
Hours
Time Required
URL	Castle Website
Location	Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
Coordinates	38.2555, 140.32761
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2003
Admin Year Visited	2003, 2017
Admin Visits	September 12, 2003; November 2, 2017

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