Mariko Castle

Mariko-juku was a well known post town at this point of the old Tokaido Road. Today, there is a bit of a touristy crafts center here and behind it is the start of the trail up to the castle.

History

It's not known exactly when the castle was built but it was around at least during the time of the Imagawa, and possibly earlier as it sits at an important point to watch over the Tokaido Road. Historical records of Mariko Castle dry up until it appears in 1568 when Takeda Shingen stationed troops here to secure the province of Suruga. In 1581, Mariko Castle was surrendered to the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu in his attacks on Takatenjin Castle. Tokugawa maintained the castle until he moved to Edo and it was abandoned. Mariko Castle is considered to be a very intelligently designed castle utilizing all the best defensive structures available to mountaintop castles of this time. The site today is heavily wooded and no doubt much eroded over the last 400 years but you can still see many of those structures today and there are signs (in Japanese) pointing out many of them.

The picture above is what is known as a kuichigai guchi. The two moats are offset so that the route between them is like an S shape.

Field Notes

Mariko-juku was a well known post town at this point of the old Tokaido Road. Today, there is a bit of a touristy crafts center here and behind it is the start of the trail up to the castle.

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Gallery

Outside bailey, soto kuruwa
Part of the trail to the top
land bridge
Ote Bailey
vertical moats, tatebori
North Bailey
arthen embankment
dry moat cut vertically along the side
Empty moat around the HOnmaru bailey
Honmaru Bailey
One entrance to the Honmaru bailey
view from the trail
Map

Castle Profile
English Name	Mariko Castle
Japanese Name	丸子城
Founder	Imagawa clan
Year Founded	1394-1428
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Top 100 Mountaintop Castles
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Shizuoka Sta. (Tokaido main line), bus 20 mins, walk 10 min
Hours
Time Required
URL	Castle Website
Location	Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture
Coordinates	34.95103, 138.32813
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2011
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2011
Admin Visits	June 3, 2011

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