Shigematsu Castle
Shigematsujō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Mito Township, Toyokawa Municipality. Ruins consist of earthworks such as dorui (earthen ramparts), baileys and yokobori / horikiri (trenches). The structure of the fort is of a main bailey with terraced sub-baileys below it on two sides. Thi
History
Shigematsujō was possibly first constructed in 1193 as it is said to have been used as the castle of Minamoto Noriyori when he was the governor of Mikawa Province; however, Noriyori only became governor in June, and two months later he was executed on conspiracy charges by the shōgun, his brother, Minamoto Yoritomo. In any case, the ruins we see today clearly date to a later era.
In the Muromachi period, Shigematsujō was the castle of Hosokawa Katsuhisa; he was defeated by Imagawa Yoshitada and the castle fell. In 1560, Shigematsujō was held by a vassal of the Imagawa claled Maki Kazoe, but he was killed that year at the battle of Okehazama which the Imagawa lost to Oda forces. It is speculated that Shigematsujō was then used as a branch castle by the Nagasawa-Matsudaira but its ultimate fate is unknown.
Field Notes
Shigematsujō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Mito Township, Toyokawa Municipality. Ruins consist of earthworks such as dorui (earthen ramparts), baileys and yokobori / horikiri (trenches). The structure of the fort is of a main bailey with terraced sub-baileys below it on two sides.
This site has a couple of distinctions. Firstly, although there are the remains of trenches, these are much less prominent than the dorui. The rear dorui above the main bailey is tall and thick, and it seems that, due to the trench below not being very deep, rather than piling up the dorui by excavating a trench, the dorui was formed by carving into the mountain itself to create a bailey. The second bailey is terraced with the carved mountainside to its back and dorui around its elevated sides. The third bailey has a stubby section of dorui around its northern edge.
Another prominent feature of this site is the huge, gaping hole in the surface of the third bailey. This dark opening with sheer sides carved into the rock is a well. It's wide and deep, and the surrounding terrain slopes into it. It would be very easy to "do a Timmy" with this one, so I was unusually careful, though I nonetheless still could not resist getting close enough to look in over the edge and snap a photo.
| Castle Profile | |
|---|---|
| English Name | Shigematsu Castle |
| Japanese Name | 茂松城 |
| Founder | Minamoto Noriyori; Hosokawa Katsuhisa |
| Year Founded | 1193; Muromachi Period |
| Castle Type | Mountaintop |
| Castle Condition | Ruins only |
| Designations | Local Historic Site |
| Historical Period | Pre Edo Period |
| Artifacts | Dorui, Horikiri, Kuruwa, &c. |
| Features | trenches |
| Visitor Information | |
| Access | Aichi-Mito Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line; 35 min walk; hiking trial is opposite Mito HS |
| Hours | 24/7 free; mountain |
| Time Required | 50 mins |
| Location | Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 34.83229, 137.31673 |
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| Admin | |
| Added to Jcastle | 2025 |
| Contributor | ART |
| Admin Year Visited | Viewer Contributed |
| Friends of JCastle | |
| Jōkaku Hōrōki | |
| Yogo | |
| Umoreta Kojō | |
| Shiseki Tanbōki | |
| Jōseki Meguri Bibiroku | |
| Jōkaku Shashin Kiroku | |
