Motosakura Castle

This site had more to see than I expected. There are some great horikiri dry moats, and the different baileys are well defined. The town is faithfully preserving this historic site. They are continuously doing excavation work and sometimes offer guided tours or lectures. The tours often take differe

History

In 1455, Makuwari Yasutane, a relative of the Chiba, attacked Chiba Castle and defeated the Chiba. Makuwari took the name of Chiba and his son Suketane built this new castle on the shores of Lake Inba Numa. The Chiba built a thriving castle town and continued to rule until the fall of the Hojo in 1590. At that time, the inland sea of Kasumigaura was much much larger than today including Lake Inba Numa and other nearby rivers that either no longer exist or flow differently than at that time. The location on the shore was a vital point for transportation and trade around the sea and along the Shimousa Highway. In the 1500's the Chiba aligned themselves with the very powerful Hojo to help fortify each other's borders from the Satake and the Satomi clans. The Hojo helped Chiba to further fortify the castle, namely by adding the Settai Bailey and Mukai Negoya Bailey. The castle was abandoned when Tokugawa moved to Edo.

Field Notes

This site had more to see than I expected. There are some great horikiri dry moats, and the different baileys are well defined. The town is faithfully preserving this historic site. They are continuously doing excavation work and sometimes offer guided tours or lectures. The tours often take different routes and have different themes. Refer to <a href="http://net-sakura.jimdo.com/本佐倉城/">this website for details</a>. Depending on the book you read it may say it takes anywhere from 10 mins to 25 mins to walk to the castle, but it depends on which part you go to first. The main entrance in the photo above is about 20 mins. The closest bailey, Settai Kuruwa, is 10 mins or less from the station and easy to find if you follow the Japanese signs from the station. Please note that the location of this castle on Google Maps is wrong. The label is (I think) at the outer bailey, Mukai Negoya Kuruwa, not the main part of the castle. I missed that bailey this time but will seek it out again, perhaps on a tour.

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Gallery

main entrance to the castle
Ridge around the number 5 bailey
Inside the main entrance
Inside the main entrance.
Main entrance as seen from above
#4 bailey rises in terraces.
Excavations in the #4 bailey
This path leads to the #4 bailey
Path to the Shiroyama and Okunoyama baileys
Path to the Shiroyama Bailey
Main entrance to the Shiroyama Bailey
Inside the Shiroyama Bailey
buildings marked out in the Shiroyama Bailey
Looking from the Shiroyama
Obikuruwa around the Shiroyama
Around the side of the Okunoyama Bailey
Parts of the #4 bailey and #3 bailey
South entrance
Looking out over the #6 bailey
Settei Bailey entrance
Obi Kuruwa around the Settei Bailey
Deep dry moat between the main castle compound and Settei Bailey
16m deep dry moat around the Settei Bailey
Deep horikiri, dry moat, around the Settei Bailey
Map

Castle Profile
English Name	Motosakura Castle
Japanese Name	本佐倉城
Founder	Chiba Suketane
Year Founded	late 1400's
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Next 100 Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Oosakura Sta. (Keisei Line), walk 10-20 mins
Hours	park is open year round, no fees
Time Required	75 mins
URL	Castle Website
Location	Shisui Town, Chiba Prefecture
Coordinates	35.72783, 140.25993
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2013
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2012
Admin Visits	Dec. 23, 2012

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