Ochiai Fort
Ochiai-toride is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Akechi Township, Ena Municipality. This site has far too many names, but 'Ochiai-toride', 'toride' meaning 'fort', appears to be the most common among castle-bloggers (but Yogo preferances 'Senjōjiki-toride'). Other names include Senjōjiki-tor
History
As hinted at above, there is an inconsistency between Akechi Castle's foundation date of 1247 and the present structure we see today, which is surely from the 16th century. Of course, many castles were rebuilt in the Sengoku period, but some say Ochiai-toride was the original Akechi Castle. I can't ignore the name 'Senjōjiki' and how it conjurs up images of a sprawling residence. The theory also fits with the folklore surrounding the well. Well, if that theory were correct, then the foundation date of Ochiai-toride would be 1247. Regardless, the fort continued to be used even so as a satellite fort of Akechijō, and the garrison commander during Takeda Katsuyori's invasion of Mino in 1574 was Kushihara Tsunekage.
Field Notes
Ochiai-toride is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Akechi Township, Ena Municipality. This site has far too many names, but 'Ochiai-toride', 'toride' meaning 'fort', appears to be the most common among castle-bloggers (but Yogo preferances 'Senjōjiki-toride'). Other names include Senjōjiki-toride, Tara-toride, and Toki-Akechijō. 'Senjōjiki' could mean 'thousand tatami hall' so I quite liked that one. Meanwhile, 'Ochiai' does not seem like an auspicious name for a fort. 'Tara-toride' was one of the names used on-site, along with 'Toki-Akechijō', the latter a construction I didn't favour. In any case, 'Tara-toride' and 'Toki-Akechijō' are names used to link this site with Akechi Mitsuhide's birthplace, which is dubious. The fort ruins are maintained as part of Senjōjiki Park.
Ruins of Ochiai-toride include terraces, baileys, trenches and berms. The park's main attraction for more casual visitors might well be a deep, stone-lined well said in local lore to be the place where the water was drawn for Akechi Mitsuhide's first bath after his birth. So, we must suppose Akechi Mitsuhide was born here.
That said, an important disclaimer here would be that there are multiple locations claimed as the birthplace of Akechi Mitsuhide throughout Mino. Wikipedia says he was born at 'Tara Castle' and thus Ochiai-toride is also called Tara-toride, but the article specifies that 'Tara Castle' is in Kani, so it's probably talking about Akechi-Osayamjō. It's disputed as to whether that site was even a fort (though I think it was, having been there). So, it's stated somewhere that Akechi Mitsuhide was born at 'Tara Castle' but does anybody know for sure where that was? It's a mystery where Akechi Mitsuhide was born. And so we should remain sceptical and require evidence. Historians dispute the theory of Akechi Mitsuhide descending from the Toki branch of the Akechi Clan, so it's all up in the air.
The layout of the fort is of two twin baileys on dual peaks with a flattened 'saddle'-like area between them. Akechi Mitsuhide's well is in the saddle. The northern bailey is more simplistic in structure, and is referred to as the kita-demaru, or 'north outer bailey'. Today it is a look-out area with commanding views of Akechi. The main bailey is surrounded by many terraces and there are some traces of mounds and a tatebori (climbing trench).
Ochiai-toride's simplistic structure compared to that of Akechijō's may lend credence to the theory that Ochiai-toride was the old Akechijō (add 'Akechikojō' to the list of names?), and that the Akechi Clan's original residence was here (or, more accurately, in the valley below the castle-mount). Otherwise or additionally, Ochiai-toride was later a satellite fort of Akechijō. Because the site has been developed as a park, some of its original structure may have been effaced. I was curious as to the extent of the flattened area on the inside of the peaks, and whether this could've contained a manor hall, as per the name 'Senjōjiki'. The path down from the park to the village may have also been a fortified ridge at some point, but now it's hard to tell. Curiously there is a tree here growing very deliberately and obstructively, horizontally across the path.
Gallery
| Castle Profile | |
|---|---|
| English Name | Ochiai Fort |
| Japanese Name | 落合砦 |
| Alternate Names | Ochiaiyama-toride / Senjōjiki-toride / Tara-toride / Toki-Akechijō |
| Founder | Tôyama Kageshige |
| Year Founded | 1247 |
| Castle Type | Mountaintop |
| Castle Condition | Ruins only |
| Historical Period | Pre Edo Period |
| Artifacts | Akechi Mitsuihide's Well (伝) |
| Features | trenches |
| Visitor Information | |
| Access | Akechi Station on the Akechi Railway; or, bus from Mizunami Station on the Chūō Line; 10 min walk to trailhead (alighting from the bus at Shinmachi would be closest). |
| Hours | 24/7 free; park |
| Time Required | 30 mins |
| URL | Castle Website |
| Location | Ena, Gifu Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 35.29925, 137.38726 |
|
|
|
| Admin | |
| Added to Jcastle | 2025 |
| Contributor | ART |
| Admin Year Visited | Viewer Contributed |
| Friends of JCastle | |
| Jōkaku Hōrōki | |
| Oshiro Tabi Nikki | |
| Kyūtarō no Sengoku Shiro Meguri | |
| Yogo | |
