Gifu Castle

Trees and brush around the stone walls of the top have been cleared to make much better views of the stonework and the main keep together. Other than the foundation and some walls around there there is not much remaining stonework around the top of the mountain, but every now and then new discoverie

History

Gifu-jo, originally called Inabayama-jo, is built atop the 338m Mt. Kinka in Gifu prefecture. A castle was first established here by Nikaido Yukimasa in 1201. Saito Dosan became the master of Inabayama-jo In 1539 and renovated it into what you see today. In 1567 Oda Nobunaga invaded Mino and took Inabayama-jo from Saito Yoshitatsu, the grandson of Saito Dosan. Nobunaga moved his headquarters here from Komaki-jo and renamed it Gifu-jo.

During the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) Tokugawa's forces captured Gifu Castle which was then controlled by Nobunaga's grandson Hidenobu. Tokugawa had no need for a mountaintop castle so he had it demolished.

Field Notes

Trees and brush around the stone walls of the top have been cleared to make much better views of the stonework and the main keep together. Other than the foundation and some walls around there there is not much remaining stonework around the top of the mountain, but every now and then new discoveries are being made. On a good day, the views from the top are stunning and simply worth the trip to the top just for the views of the plain. you can easily understand why a castle was built here. With such a commanding view you could feel on top of the world.

The most exciting parts of Gifu Castle however are actually at the base of the mountain. The past several years has seen several discoveries and restorations being made in the area where Nobunaga built a lavish palace. Work continues today so look forward to more developments in the future.

My GPS device was not working well this day so some of the photo locations may be off.

Loading map...

Gallery

Castle Profile
English Name	Gifu Castle
Japanese Name	岐阜城
Alternate Names	Inabayama-jo
Founder	Saito Dosan
Year Founded	1509
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Reconstructed main keep
Designations	Top 100 Castles, Top 100 Mountaintop Castles, Local Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Main Keep Structure	3 levels, 4 floors
Year Reconstructed	1956 (concrete)
Features	main keep, trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Gifu (Tokaida Honsen) or Gifu Hashima (Shinkansen), bus to Gifu Park, ropeway or short hike up the mountain (
Hours
Time Required
URL	Castle Website
Location	Gifu, Gifu Prefecture
Coordinates	35.43391, 136.7819
Loading map... {"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"auto","height":"200px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"Castlemarker.png","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":6,"defzoom":14,"layers":["CartoDB.Positron"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":35.43391,"lon":136.7819,"icon":"../images/1/1e/Castlemarker.png"}],"imageoverlays":null}
Admin
Added to Jcastle	1999
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	1992, 1996, 2019
Admin Visits	July 1992; May 1996; Aug 2, 2019
Friends of JCastle
Shirobito - Gifu Castle
Kojodan - Gifu Castle
Jokaku Horoki - Gifu Castle
Oshiro Meguri Fan - Gifu Castle
Ken's Castle Storage - Gifu Castle

3.30

(27 votes)

Loading comments...