Kamaha Castle

This was possibly my highlight for 2022 castle visits. It combined a great hike, great views, outstanding weather, fall colors, lots to explore, stone walls and just a little bit of danger. First, the castle is somewhat difficult to get to since it is a 1 hr walk just to the hiking entrance from whi

Field Notes

This was possibly my highlight for 2022 castle visits. It combined a great hike, great views, outstanding weather, fall colors, lots to explore, stone walls and just a little bit of danger. First, the castle is somewhat difficult to get to since it is a 1 hr walk just to the hiking entrance from which it's another hour hike to the start of the castle. There are infrequent busses from Maibara Station to the Banba-juku. You could also rent a bicycle at the station or take a taxi. Plan accordingly.

Kamaha Castle runs across three ridges with fantastic views of the surrounding domains including up to Lake Biwa and Hikone Castle. Kamaha Castle was once famous for its white limestone stone walls that could be seen shining from far away. Most of those walls have since crumbled but there are four main places where ishigaki stone walls can be seen today: main bailey walls, two gates and one "great stone wall" (a section of stonework 4 meters high and about 30m long). Scattered throughout the castle you will also find small bits of stonework along the sides of walls and under your foot buried in leaves. Significantly more stonework has been discovered through several studies but it was all reburied. You can see some photos of what was uncovered at the Kamaha History Museum near the trailhead.

The south ridge is a very narrow ridge with seven horikiri cut into the bedrock. This course is labelled for "advanced hikers". It was not so difficult but good shoes and caution are recommended. The stones were quite slippery in the autumn morning covered with moss and leaves and you may need to navigate some fallen trees along the narrow ridge. The central area is comprised of a main bailey and 2 sub baileys, also labelled as the south baileys. More interestingly however is the north ridge of the castle with 7 stepped baileys. The furthest bailey has a commanding view and is where a large, main keep sized, yagura once stood.

The western ridge is a treacherous downslope also recommended for advanced hikers. I would not dare it without good shoes and a trekking pole to help keep balance and prevent sliding down the slopes. This is another set of 8 small baileys in steps down the ridge with a few large horikiri in between. The most fascinating feature here is a set of about five successive tatebori (畝状竪堀) around the fifth and sixth bailey. They are signposted but they are a bit tricky to find because they are farther down the slope than the map would have you believe.

Loading map...

Gallery

Site of the large yagura
Large stone wall
Large stone wall
end of a complex water system to carry water into the castle

Castle Profile
English Name	Kamaha Castle
Japanese Name	鎌刃城
Alternate Names	Kamagawa-jo
Founder	Hori clan
Year Founded	early 1500's
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Next 100 Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Maibara Sta (Tokaido Line), 20 min bus (infrequent, plan accordingly)
Hours	mountain, open any time
Time Required	300 minutes (round trip hiking from entrance)
URL	Castle Website
Location	Maibara, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	35.29703, 136.31539
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":35.29703,"lon":136.31539,"icon":"../images/1/1e/Castlemarker.png"}],"imageoverlays":null}
Admin
Added to Jcastle	2023
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2022

4.00

(2 votes)

Loading comments...