Nasu Kanda Castle

I actually missed the bus from Mumo Castle back to Karasuyama Station so I walked the roughly 5km to get hereinstead of waiting 2.5 hrs for the next one. It's a fairly easy road if you happen to be stuck between busses. The same bus that goes to Mumo Castle stops right in front of Nasu Kanda Castle

History

The early history of the castle is mostly unknown with different theories buried in local stories. It was probably built in the early 1100's by the Nasu clan. The 6th generation lord moved to Inazumi Castle and Kanda castle was supposedly abandoned. While the main fortification of the Nasu clan may have moved, it is likely that this castle was in use until the Sengoku Period by other members or the family or other high ranking retainers.

Field Notes

I actually missed the bus from Mumo Castle back to Karasuyama Station so I walked the roughly 5km to get hereinstead of waiting 2.5 hrs for the next one. It's a fairly easy road if you happen to be stuck between busses. The same bus that goes to Mumo Castle stops right in front of Nasu Kanda Castle so you can visit both on the same line, but the busses run few and very between. Otherwise it's a fairly minor castle ruin but it is also one of the very few fortified single bailey type castles from this time period with any ruins remaining today.

Loading map...

Gallery

Castle entrance
Moat and embankment
Moat and embankment
Top of the embankment
earthen embankments
large bailey in the middle
entrance
Earthen embankment
Atop the earthen embankment.
entrance and embankment
Entrance
Entrance
Center bailey
Bailey and embankment
Map

Castle Profile
English Name	Nasu Kanda Castle
Japanese Name	那須神田城
Founder	Nasu clan
Year Founded	11-12th C.
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Karasuyama Sta. (Karasuyama Line), bus
Hours
Time Required	30
URL	Castle Website
Location	Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture
Coordinates	36.75187, 140.12715
Loading map... {"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"auto","height":"200px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"Castlemarker.png","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":6,"defzoom":14,"layers":["CartoDB.Positron"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":36.75187,"lon":140.12715,"icon":"../images/1/1e/Castlemarker.png"}],"imageoverlays":null}
Admin
Added to Jcastle	2015
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2015
Admin Visits	April 16, 2015

1.00

(2 votes)

Loading comments...