Fukigabora Castle
Fukiǵaborajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Ômori Township, Kani Municipality. Ruins include dorui (earthen ramparts), horikiri (trenches through the ridge), kuruwa (baileys) and yokobori (lateral trenches along the hillside). I sort of got tricked into visiting this overgrown, perplexin
History
The history of Fukiǵaborajō is unclear. The site is generally explained as a satellite fortification of Ômorijō, which is half a kilometer away on the other side of the valley. Ômorijō belonged to the Okumura Clan. However, there are various theories. Such as that this site, Fukiǵaborajō, is 'Ômorikojō', an earlier antecedent of Ômorijō. Or, that the Mori Clan built it after sacking Ômorijō. Or that it was an encampment during the siege of Ômorijō by the Mori Clan. I favour the satellite fortification theory because it has some superficial similarities to Ômorijō, meaning it would not have been built by another clan. It also wasn't an earlier fort because, at least in my view, it appears incomplete, implying it was built after Ômorijō.
Field Notes
Fukiǵaborajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Ômori Township, Kani Municipality. Ruins include dorui (earthen ramparts), horikiri (trenches through the ridge), kuruwa (baileys) and yokobori (lateral trenches along the hillside). I sort of got tricked into visiting this overgrown, perplexing ruin. Official materials for neighbouring Ômorijō, including the signpost at said castle where I went first, mention this site and even provide maps, so I thought it would be easier to navigate. However, after an inviting trail with cut-back bamboo grass, the mount suddenly becomes very densely thicketed and uninviting. It seems the site was once better maintained.
Although difficult to see through the vegetation, there is a bailey with dorui around and a horikiri to the rear. On the north side is a yokobori. However, beyond this where the hilltop broadens out across a creek (where a family had fires going as part of some camp, so I scurried past unseen on the ridge above like some kind of disreputable Bigfoot), the earthworks are scattered and do not form clear enclosures. The topmost bailey has some prominent dorui, but without trenches below and instead just a bumpy mountain ridge beyond. Was this fort never completed?
| Castle Profile | |
|---|---|
| English Name | Fukigabora Castle |
| Japanese Name | 吹ヶ洞城 |
| Founder | Unknown |
| Year Founded | Unknown |
| Castle Type | Mountaintop |
| Castle Condition | Ruins only |
| Historical Period | Pre Edo Period |
| Artifacts | Horikiri, Dorui, Kuruwa |
| Features | trenches |
| Visitor Information | |
| Access | Shimogiri Station on the Taita Line; 25 min walk to trailhead to northwest |
| Hours | 24/7 free; mountain |
| Time Required | 35 mins |
| Location | Kani, Gifu Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 35.40003, 137.07815 |
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| Admin | |
| Added to Jcastle | 2025 |
| Contributor | ART |
| Admin Year Visited | Viewer Contributed |
| Friends of JCastle | |
| Umoreta Kojō | |
| Yogo | |
| Kyūtarō no Sengoku Shiro Meguri | |
