Shizuhara South 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, but it is also theorized that he simply fortified an even older castle. 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 from July of that year. The castle was defeated by Akechi Mitsuhide in October of 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. Google Maps labels them as Shirotaniyama Shizuhara Castle (the north castle) and Shizuhara Castle (the south castle) 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 with terraced baileys along three ridges but little to no stonework and no moats. There is a foundation around what's probably an entrance in the main bailey and one of the side baileys has some stonework but that may have simply been a retaining wall. 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.

To reach the south castle you could simply scale the ridge from base of the south castle. There is no clearly marked trail and even coming down that way was a little tricky to find the right path but it is a quick and short way into the castle. If you've some this far anyway, you might as well climb the ridge from the west side of the Shizuhara Shrine, visit the Shizuhara North Castle and come down the opposite (east side) ridge to reach Shizuhara South Castle. However, be forewarned that while the trail up the ridge to the North Castle is relatively clean and easy to follow, the ridge down to the south castle is not. It is not clearly marked and there are many trees fallen over the trail that you will need to climb over/under or around. Feel free to use my Yamap Trail for Shizuhara Castle if it will help.

See Shizuhara South Castle for more details.

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Gallery

North Castle left peak, South Castle right peak

Castle Profile
English Name	Shizuhara South Castle
Japanese Name	静原城（南城）
Founder	Miyoshi Nagayoshi
Year Founded	1555
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Ichihara Station (Eiden Line), bus to Shizuhara
Hours	Mountain trails, open any time
Time Required	120 mins
Location	Kyoto, Kyoto
Coordinates	35.11851, 135.78801
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2025
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2025
Admin Visits	January 5, 2025
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3.00

(one vote)

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