Koteshiro Fort
Koteshiro-toride is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Kasugai Township, Fuefuki Municipality. Although several bloggers have mentioned or listed the site, none that I can find have visited, so I present a dedicated profile here for what may be the site's first such airing among we amateurs and
History
Koteshiro was a satellite fortification of Furujiro in the 14th century. It may have been a noroshidai site later times too.
Field Notes
Koteshiro-toride is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Kasugai Township, Fuefuki Municipality. Although several bloggers have mentioned or listed the site, none that I can find have visited, so I present a dedicated profile here for what may be the site's first such airing among we amateurs and enthusiasts.
Incidentally, this site is difficult to find and dangerous to reach. My hat goes off to the gentleman(?) blogger at Kojōshi-Tanbō whose shoulders I stand on. He identified the location of the site on his blog and described how he failed to reach it from three different routes. As such, I decided my only chance was to climb up above the ridge and then descend to reach the fort site.
In the morning I first climbed to a related fort ruin on the peak of Daizōkyōjiyama, Niijiro ('New Castle'), which is the main fort site in the group of three obscure fort sites including Furujiro ('Old Castle') and Koteshiro ('Branch Castle'). This took over an hour from the trailhead along the direct route up the rocky ridge. From there it takes about an hour (I dawdled to inspect the forest fire damage along the ridge above Daizōkyōjiyama so maybe it needn't take that long) to the next major peak, Fukakusasan ('Deep Grass Mountain'). I descended along a trailless ridge from that peak to find Koteshiro.
Koteshiro contains no obvious fortification ruins but there is a single fascinating structure. A large pile of masonry is found just above a somewhat flat portion of the ridge. This pile of collapsed masonry is hollowed in the middle, forming a pit. My first thought was that it was a far flung kofun (ancient burial mound) as there are other kofun lower down the mountain. However, I could find no burial chamber nor the large stones that would be needed as vaulting for the shaft and entrance. I wondered, instead, if I wasn't looking at the shambolic remains of a furnace or pit used for sending smoke signals and light beacons -- a noroshidai (beacon platform). However, it is for me indeterminable.
I was glad to find something for my trouble. Beneath the fort site is a cedar plantation. A net fence was used to damarcate the private land, but the forest fire a month prior to my trek damaged the net in many places, causing the plastic to curl up, and old trees to collapse onto and flatten it. The winter forest fire began after new year and smouldered for about a month above Mount Daizōkyōji, so parts of the forest in this area are blackened and sooty. I would recommend this off-trial site only to the most romantically inclined.
| Castle Profile | |
|---|---|
| English Name | Koteshiro Fort |
| Japanese Name | 小手城砦 |
| Alternate Names | Koteshiro (小手城・古手城) |
| Founder | Takeda Clan |
| Year Founded | 14th-15th Century |
| Castle Type | Mountaintop |
| Castle Condition | Ruins only |
| Historical Period | Pre Edo Period |
| Artifacts | Noroshidai |
| Features | stone walls |
| Visitor Information | |
| Access | 90min hike from Daizōkyōjiyama |
| Hours | 24/7 free; mountain |
| Time Required | 30 mins |
| URL | Castle Website |
| Location | Fuefuki, Yamanashi Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 35.68011, 138.62214 |
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| Admin | |
| Added to Jcastle | 2025 |
| Contributor | ART |
| Admin Year Visited | Viewer Contributed |
| Friends of JCastle | |
| Kojōshi | |
