Inuyama Castle - Castle Town and Relocated Gates

This gallery shows some pictures of the townscape beneath Inuyama Castle, and where to find the relocated gates from the castle spread throughout town. After Inuyamajō was decommissioned many of its gates were auctioned off for re-use and ended up at temples in north-eastern Aichi Prefecture. In o

Inuyama Castle - Castle Town and Relocated Gates

犬山城下町と移築された城門

This gallery shows some pictures of the townscape beneath Inuyama Castle, and where to find the relocated gates from the castle spread throughout town.

After Inuyamajō was decommissioned many of its gates were auctioned off for re-use and ended up at temples in north-eastern Aichi Prefecture. In order of my visiting, the gates and associated temples are as follows:

1. Jōrenji　浄蓮寺　－ This Yakuimon type gate is said to have been relocated from the Matsu no Maru (Pine Bailey) of the castle in 1868.

2. Unzenji　運善寺　－ This Kōraimon type gate (a common style of gate to find at castles) was relocated from Inuyama Castle in 1868 but was also damaged by fire around that time and repaired by the temple, changing its appearance. However, a renovation in the Heisei Period saw it restored to the original form.

3. Senjuin　専修院　－This Kōraimon gate was relocated to Senjuin in Ōmachi in 1878, and was the Yaraimon (矢来門) gate at Inuyamajō.

4. Tokurinji　徳林寺　－This Yakuimon was relocated to Tokurinji in Ōmachi in 1876. It was the first Kuromon (Black Gate) at Inuyamajō and thought to be the castle’s oldest Yakuimon style gate.

5. Zuisenji　瑞泉寺　－Located close to Inuyamajō in Inuyama, Zuisenji’s main gate formerly functioned as a rear gate on the east side of the castle, near the Yagen Moat. One legend holds that this gate was in fact originally constructed at Mino-Kanayamajō before being moved to Inuyamajō (this may be related to the debunked theory that the tenshu was also originally built there).

6. Jōmanji　常満寺　－Also in Inuyama, Jōmanji’s Sanmon was formerly the back gate of Inuyamajō’s Pine Bailey. Last year Jōmanji’s main hall and other structures were charred to pieces in a fire, but luckily this gate survived. Entering through it I came to an empty lot with burnt trees.

Info and gallery contributed by ART.