Uenoyama Castle (Sagami)
Uenoyamajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) site in the Midori Ward of Sagamihara Municipality, Kanagawa Prefecture. Other castle explorers said they parked beneath the stairway to the small shrine which inhabits the site, but when we went there was a spanking new ‘no parking’ sign there. Fortuito
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History
Uenoyamajō was likely a satellite fortification of Tsukui Castle built by the Hōjō Clan around 1560 to guard the borderlands between Kai (Takeda territory) and Sagami. The castellans were the Noro Clan.
Field Notes
Uenoyamajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) site in the Midori Ward of Sagamihara Municipality, Kanagawa Prefecture. Other castle explorers said they parked beneath the stairway to the small shrine which inhabits the site, but when we went there was a spanking new ‘no parking’ sign there. Fortuitously a local old couple let us park in their driveway. They proved to be very knowledgeable about the locale, and the old lady was nice enough to give me copies of maps for Uenoyamajō and Tsukuijō which had been originally produced for a lecture on those sites by Professor Senda. The old man indicated a segment of mounded earth in his orchards which, we thought, formed part of a wall for the castle’s kyokan (residential area), known to have been built there. Come to think of it, it wouldn’t surprise me if these people, knowing so much about the castle, weren’t descendants of its castellans.
Uenoyamajō itself has several small baileys in tiers to the north, and some more to the south, though the southern area was very overgrown and I didn’t penetrate far into it. The main bailey complex is in the middle. The main bailey, which has an obikuruwa (belt bailey) beneath it, is largely surrounded by dorui (earthen ramparts). There was a hole in the dorui, a burrow of some animal. When I put my hand to it there seemed to be warmth emanating from therein, and so I supposed a creature was hiding in there. Other features of this earthworks fort ruin include tatebori (climbing moats), horikiri (trenches), and gate complex ruins.
Gallery
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| Castle Profile | |
|---|---|
| English Name | Sagami Uenoyama Castle |
| Japanese Name | 相模上ノ山城 |
| Founder | Noro Clan |
| Year Founded | 1560 |
| Castle Type | Mountaintop |
| Castle Condition | Ruins only |
| Historical Period | Pre Edo Period |
| Artifacts | Dorui, Kuruwa, Hori |
| Features | trenches |
| Visitor Information | |
| Access | Nearest Station is Sagamiko Station on the Chūō East Line |
| Hours | 24/7 free; mountain |
| Time Required | 30 minutes |
| Location | Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 35.58559, 139.2175 |
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| Admin | |
| Added to Jcastle | 2023 |
| Contributor | ART |
| Admin Year Visited | Viewer Contributed |
| Friends of JCastle | |
| Shiro to Kosenjō | |
| Shirotabi | |
| Jōkakuzukan | |
| Yogo | |
