Kyoto Castles Update

I've been sitting on this one for awhile trying to finish updating my stock of Kyoto castles before posting an update but then I visit some more castles and it keeps getting put off. Now that we're into the rainy season, it's a good time to clean out the updates from the previous castle season. That

Kyoto Castle Update

2022/06/26

I've been sitting on this one for awhile trying to finish updating my stock of Kyoto castles before posting an update but then I visit some more castles and it keeps getting put off. Now that we're into the rainy season, it's a good time to clean out the updates from the previous castle season. That being said, I still have one big piece about the stone walls of Nijo Castle to do someday but I'm still working on some research for that one. Stay tuned... :)

The castles in this update are mostly new, but I've also added some photos to Nijo Castle for a limited exhibition of the Nishimon Gate and evening event and a couple other photos. There is also a new album of photos for the Odoi part of Kitano Tenmangu which was also open for a special autumn exhibit. It's too bad because this is one the best Odoi parts.

Most people think of Kyoto as a real life Disneyland full of tranquil temples and idyllic gardens, where cute little jizo statues play among the moss or stoic rock gardens make you contemplate the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. In a sense, Kyoto is all that, but as the political center for hundreds of years, it was also the focus of many conflicts. From the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) when the Ashikaga established their Shogunate in Kyoto until Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital to Tokyo, was an especially conflict heavy time around Kyoto. The Onin War wrought terrible destruction on Kyoto. The weakness of the Ashikaga at this point triggered the Sengoku Period and controlling Kyoto became a key objective as Oda Nobunaga set his eyes on higher ambitions too. By the time, Hideyoshi had stabilized the country the area directly outside of central Kyoto was largely abandoned.

All these conflicts gave rise to (you guessed it!) lots of castles. After all, that's why you're here, right? According to a recent Kyoto Newspaper article 159 castle sites from this period have been identified just inside the current city limits. This includes 55 mountaintop castles scattered around the ring of mountains encircling Kyoto.

戦国時代の京都は城と要害だらけだった　京都市内に城館跡159ヵ所 "Sengoku Period Kyoto was littered with castles, 159 in the city limits" Feb 7, 2022

=New Castle

With the exception of Yagi Castle and Yamashina Honganji the new castles I've added are along the Higashiyama mountain area, also known as the "36 Peaks of Higashiyama" (東山三十六連峰). This string of mountains divides Kyoto from Shiga and Lake Biwa. There were three main passes over these mountains that were used for both commerce and for the movement of military troops. As such there were also castles and outposts built along these trails at different times. These passes are outlined below with some of the key castles along the routes. Those not linked to a castle profile will be my next targets once the weeds die back in the autumn.

Higashiyama Passes

Shiratori-goe Pass* (Ichijojiyama Castle, Enryakuji Ichijoji Castle, Tsubokasayama Castle (Shiga)) is the northernmost of the main passes and connects the Ichijoji area of Kyoto to Sakamoto on the Shiga side. It was also used as a staging area for the Asakura/Asai attacks on Kyoto.

Yamanaka-goe Pass* (Kitashirakawa Castle, Yamanaka Castle, Usayama Castle (Shiga)) is the next and probably easiest of the three main passes to cross. From the Kyoto side the Hieizan Driveway follows the Yamanaka-goe to the Hieidaira Plain.

Nyoi-goe Pass* (Nakao Castle (Yamashiro)Nakao Castle, Nyoigatake Castle, Haiyama Castle) is the southernmost and connects Otsu to Kitashirakawa as well . It has a nice full hiking trail from Miidera on the Shiga side to Ginkakuji on the Kyoto side.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the castles of Kyoto City, it is just the beginning of what is sure to be many more thematic updates as my research leads me into new thematic topics.