Onigajo Castle

This is a long steep hike, but the trail is clear and well marked making it a good hike. Some older maps only show castle ruins right around the mountain top and main enclosure where there are great views and some stonework ruins around it but the further back along the trail there are also some rui

History

Onigajo is associated with the Akai clan whose home castle was Kuroi Castle, but the lord of the castle may have been Akai or Naito. Onigajo was likely a satellite fortification intended to watch over the entirety of the huge Fukuchiyama plain. The large elevation difference between the plain and the castle itself made for a formidable fortification. When Naito Tadayuki surrendered to Akechi Mitsuhide's forces at Kameyama Castle (Tanba) in 1575, some of the Naito defected and fled to Onigajo. The castle fell to Akechi Mitsuhide in 1579.

Field Notes

This is a long steep hike, but the trail is clear and well marked making it a good hike. Some older maps only show castle ruins right around the mountain top and main enclosure where there are great views and some stonework ruins around it but the further back along the trail there are also some ruins that I've only seen in a newer map in XXX-amazon link. There are two clear koguchi entrances along the trail with dorui earthen embankments, the nearer of which has some stonework remains. Even further back just before the first koguchi there is a series of terraced baileys too. The morning was great weather but the extreme contrast between bright sky and deep shadows in many photos was a challenge to work with.

This trail starts from Kannonji Temple and splits off a popular hiking trail to Mt. Chogatake, which might have had another satellite castle or fortification. My original plan was to go out here too but despite the clear weather in these photos, the afternoon rain clouds were rolling in as I came down the mountainside. The problem with this site is that it is not reasonably accessible by public transportation. The best you can do is a 5km uphill walk from gujo station. I started from here but called for a taxi to get me to the site. Despite giving detailed directions of exactly where I wanted to go, the driver tried to take me to a forestry road that leads to a different trail that was supposedly much closer to the mountaintop (that he had taken in his school days) and would result in much less climbing. Unfortunately, that trail does not seem to exist anymore or the forestry road is no longer there. Anyway, he felt bad about wasting my time and told me to call them when I was done for a free ride back to Fukuchiyama Station afterwards instead. I had planned to walk back to gujo station (line), but appreciated the ride given the changing weather conditions.

This is another where history writeups in blogs are unreliable. I often see a date of 1575 for it falling to Akechi Mitsuhide but that is unlikely. Mitsuhide did not reach Fukuchiyama until the second Tanba Campaign in 1578-1579.

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Gallery

koguchi

Castle Profile
English Name	Onigajo Castle
Japanese Name	鬼ヶ城
Founder	Akai Clan
Year Founded	Muromachi period
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Reconstructed main keep
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Gujo Station (Line), 5km walk; Fukuchiyama Station, Taxi
Hours	Mountain trails, open any time
Time Required	180 mins
Location	Fukuchiyama, Kyoto
Coordinates	35.34203, 135.14213
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2025
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2024
Admin Visits	October 21, 2024
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