Kagamiyama Fort

Kagamiyama-toride is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Hadanashi Township, Okazaki Municipality. Ruins include baileys, trenches and other earthworks. There are some cleared areas I took for baileys. One had dorui (earthen ramparts) banked up on one side. There was what looked to be a terrac

History

Kagamiyama-toride was built as a satellite fortification of Hadanashijō in the valley below in the 14th century. It was likely used as a fortified look-out and emergency redoubt. See Hadanashijō for more information.

Field Notes

Kagamiyama-toride is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Hadanashi Township, Okazaki Municipality. Ruins include baileys, trenches and other earthworks.

There are some cleared areas I took for baileys. One had dorui (earthen ramparts) banked up on one side. There was what looked to be a terraced dry moat above this bailey. The bottom of each half-man height terrace was lined with stones. This site seems old, and the layout was difficult to make sense of.

Just to be thorough I climbed up past the site of the ruins and came across what appeared to be a large boulder split cleanly in half, as though some bodhisattva had cleft it in twain with a fiery sword. It occured to me that these smooth rock faces might have been interpreted as mirrors, giving the castle-mount its name. The peak is above these boulders. I couldn't go to the very top because it was too overgrown, but I came across what seemed like stretch of dorui guarding the approach to the peak .

Gallery

• 

  Embankment-like formation at end of bailey
• 

  One of several lines of rocks in trench; dorui to rear
• 

  Mirror Rock...
• 

  Dorui

Castle Profile
English Name	Kagamiyama Fort
Japanese Name	鏡山砦
Founder	Ao Clan
Year Founded	14th Century
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Artifacts	Dorui, Karabori, Kuruwa, &c.
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Nearest station is Miai Station on the Meitetsu-Nagoya Line
Hours	24/7 free; mountain
Time Required	30 minutes
Location	Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture
Coordinates	34.94697, 137.24182
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2024
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed
Friends of JCastle
Jōkaku Shashin Kiroku
Shiseki Tanbōki
Aichi Shiro

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