Shizuhara North Castle

There are two castles associated as Shizuhara Castle on this mountain, which I'm splitting into the Shizuhara North Castle and Shizuhara South Castle. It is not a very well known nor well studied castle which is unfortunate because the ruins are absolutely worth visiting. The two castles are frequen

History

Shizuhara Castle was built in 1555 when Miyoshi Nagayoshi solidified power among the smaller villages around Kyoto. The Yamamoto Clan, powerful local landholders in the Iwakura area north of Kyoto, acted as castellan. When relations between Oda Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshiaki deteriorated in 1573, Yamamoto Sanehisa holed up in Shizuhara Castle. The castle was defeated by Akechi Mitsuhide in 1573 and likely abandoned at that time. See also Shizuhara (South) Castle for more details.

Field Notes

There are two castles associated as Shizuhara Castle on this mountain, which I'm splitting into the Shizuhara North Castle and Shizuhara South Castle. It is not a very well known nor well studied castle which is unfortunate because the ruins are absolutely worth visiting. The two castles are frequently put together as one "Shizuhara Castle" which I think is a mistake and may give rise to misconceptions about it. The Kyoto Castle Survey splits them as the North Bailey Grouping and South Bailey Grouping under a single entry and the Jokaku Horoki site clearly splits them into two, which I will do as well. This is a situation where trekking out to these sites, observing the land and castle structures with your own eyes and making your own theories is critical. The North Castle is at the mountain peak and has little to no stonework. It is comprised of terraced baileys on three ridges with embankments surrounding key baileys but no moats nor significant stone walls. The South Castle is much farther away than you might imagine from maps. It is clearly on a separate uprising near the bottom of the ridge. The South Castle has extensive stonework, some tatebori vertical moats and a very large horikiri trench on the uphill side of the slope cutting it off from the North Castle and possibly defending it from an attack that may come from that side. I think it's clear that this is a different and later castle. See Shizuhara South Castle for more details.

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Castle Profile
English Name	Shizuhara (North) Castle
Japanese Name	静原城（北城）
Founder	Miyoshi Nagayoshi
Year Founded	1555
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access
Hours	Mountain trails, open any time
Time Required
Location	Kyoto, Kyoto
Coordinates
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2025
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2025
Admin Visits	January 5, 2025
Friends of JCastle
Kojodan
Jokaku Horoki
Shirobito
Yamajiro Sanka

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