Shigisan Castle

The main part of the castle is probably the north facing side which has countless terraced baileys going down the mountainside along at least 4 ridges that radiate out from the mountaintop. the widest and largest middle ridge held the residence of Matsunaga Hidehisa, called the Matsunaga Yashiki. Th

Field Notes

The main part of the castle is probably the north facing side which has countless terraced baileys going down the mountainside along at least 4 ridges that radiate out from the mountaintop. the widest and largest middle ridge held the residence of Matsunaga Hidehisa, called the Matsunaga Yashiki. This area of the castle is well signposted with clear and easy trails.

Across the small valley is another ridge running parallel all the way down. At the bottom of the ridge point there is a actually a bit of stonework ruins. This is not a stone walled castle and given the location I suspect the stonework is for fortifying it against erosion close to the stream bed. I was pretty happy to find this bit of stonework. Other bloggers and castle explorers have not been able to find it or at least not on their first try! Coming down that ridge from the top is technically off limits, but I didn't know that since I started from the bottom after crossing the valley and stream. Being off limits is unfortunate because it has some huge baileys, nice dorui and kirigishi to excite any mountain castle fan.

The west side entrance of the castle also has an intricate system of baileys, earthworks and a single trench that may have doubled as a road into the castle. Despite it's vast size and mountain location, I found it interesting that there were relatively few of the typical mountain castle structures like trenches or moats (horikiri, tatebori, yokobori) or more earthworks besides the few piled embankments around the edges of some of the baileys. Perhaps that's why it was defeated so easily!

Unfortunately, the site is so forested over that these few modest photos will not do it justice. The castle had a main bailey at the top of the mountain with a small tenshu like yagura that may have inspired Nobunaga to build a similar but much larger tenshu at Azuchi Castle.

Many websites and materials tell you to take a bus to Shigi Sanmon Bus Stop (信貴山門). Shigi Ohashi (市議大橋) is actually closer and will save you time in the end. They also say you should stop at the tourist information center to get a good map before assailing the castle. I was there a little early and waited for them to open, but they had no maps left! The south side of the castle which is where the bus stops is actually the well known Chogosonshiji Temple complex. If you go, plan to spend a full day and visit this splendid temple complex too. If you have a few minutes to burn before the bus arrives grab some of the yomogi yakimochi from the vendor by the info center. They were great!

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Castle Profile
English Name	Shigisan Castle
Japanese Name	信貴山城
Alternate Names	Shigi-jo
Founder	Kizawa Nagamasa
Year Founded	1536
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Local Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access
Hours
Time Required	180 mins
URL	Castle Website
Location	Heguricho, Nara Prefecture
Coordinates	34.61447, 135.6692
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2024
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2024
Admin Visits	March 10, 2024

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