Ogurayama Castle

The castle site is in Ogura Park, which is a 15 minute walk from Minoshi Station.　From afar, it looks like a nice reconstructed castle however, when you visit, you'll find the actual structure is an open-air lookout tower that just has a mock-castle roof. There is a nice view, but the expectations t

History

Ogurayamajō was built as a seat of retirement for Kanamori Nagachika, Lord of Hida-Takayama Domain. This was in 1605. Nagachika died in 1608 and the castle became the seat of the small Kōzuchi Domain, ruled by Kanamori Nagamitsu, Nagachika's son. In 1611, Kōzuchi-han became part of Owari-han and Ogurayamajō was abandoned, but its lower terraces were re-purposed from 1782 when it became a daikansho ('Daikan' refers to an Edo period local governor, sometimes called "magistrate" in English). So the site sort of functioned as a downscaled castle throughout the Edo period. A town developed during this time which is well preserved today, famous for its traditional urban architecture incorporating udatsu (one could call them "roof walls").

Field Notes

The castle site is in Ogura Park, which is a 15 minute walk from Minoshi Station.　From afar, it looks like a nice reconstructed castle however, when you visit, you'll find the actual structure is an open-air lookout tower that just has a mock-castle roof. There is a nice view, but the expectations that it sets from a distance make it quite a disappointment. There are also some stone walls and earthworks from the original castle.

Update to profile and gallery by ART (2020):

Ogurayamajō is a hirayamajiro (hilltop castle) ruin in Mino Municipality. The site features ishigaki (stone-piled ramparts) and mock castle structures, including walls and the "corner yagura", which is actually a stage with a castle-shaped husk around it. From afar it seems as though there may be another castle structure at the top of the hill, but this is in fact an observation platform with a vaguely castle-shaped rooftop, but is otherwise not remotely castle-like, which is a disappointment since a map of the park depicts it as a castle turret! Some might call this deception...

The towers are pretty awful and have very strong mogi (fake) vibes. The ishigaki is in a dubious state but is probably worth visiting for those castle enthusiasts who want to visit every castle with significant ishigaki remaining. The ishigaki demarcates terracing at the base of the mountain. The first two terraces' ishigaki ramparts are dubiously recreated or restored with concrete, but the ishigaki on the third, where the mock turret sits, looks older. There's very little on the mountain itself, apart from some bailey spaces, as the mountain redoubt was used very little, and most of the site's functions were confined to the lower terraces throughout the Edo period.

The hillside is covered in strange little huts which were once food vendors and bars, presumably used during the warmer months and during cherry blossom season, but it seems like they may have all been abandoned for years. These shacks have been in place since at least the 1930s, surprisingly, and I like the idea of the townsfolk spending cool nights and spring days here on the hillside strewn with lanterns and lush with greenery.

Ogurayamajō's most redeeming feature is that the surrounding town, which could be described as the jōkamachi (castle town) of the castle, has a preserved distict of Edo Period townhouses, the Udatsu no agaru machinami, including the Imai Redisence, which is open to the public to tour.

Update: added relocated bell to gallery (2024):

At the ruins of Ogurayamajō, if you go up to the topmost terrace there are stone-piled ramparts and the stairway to the main bailey. On the ramparts to the right of the stairs is a mogi yagura (sham turret). Originally there was nothing there but dobei (parapet walls). However, on the left side, where now there is dobei, there used to be a three-tiered yagura with a bell inside. That bell was moved to a temple in Ibigawa Township, Ibi County, called Shōrinji, where it now hangs in the temple's belfry.

Gallery

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  Bell from Ogurayamajō now at Shōrinji in Ibigawa
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  Sham turret

Castle Profile
English Name	Ogurayama Castle
Japanese Name	小倉山城
Founder	Kanamori Nagachika
Year Founded	1601
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Local Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Artifacts	Mogi-yagura and (concrete) dobei; ishigaki
Features	turrets, stone walls, walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access	Umeyama Sta (Nagaragawa Rail Etsumi-NanLine), 15 min walk
Hours	24/7 free; mountain
Time Required	50 mins
URL	Castle Website
Location	Mino, Gifu Prefecture
Coordinates	35.55059, 136.9109
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2015
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed
Friends of JCastle
Jōkaku Hōrōki

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