Tobayama Castle

Tobayama Castle is generally well signposted but there are some great stone walls around the Honmaru that are not obvious to the casual visitor. I had a good map, but if you walk along the embankments of the Honmaru you should be able to find a trail in the corner near the viewing platform that will

History

Tobayama Castle was located at the confluence of the Tenryu River and Futamata River, which used to flow between Tobayama Castle and Futamata Castle. The modern course of the Futamata River now flows east of the castle.

Tokugawa Ieyasu lost Futamata Castle to Takeda Shingen in 1572 after the Battle of Mikatagahara. In 1575, he built Tobayama Castle and positioned most of his troops here to retake Futamata Castle. During the siege of Futamata Castle in 1575, Ieyasu also placed troops in other forts (toride) built to isolate Futamata Castle: Ninahara Fort (north of Futamata Castle), Bishamondo Fort (east of Futamata Castle), and Wadagashima Fort (west of Futamata Castle). He finally took Futamata Castle after a seven-month siege.

After regaining the castle, Ieyasu's general Horio Yoshiharu became lord of the castle. Tobayama Castle and Futamata Castle were managed as one. Tobayama Castle was improved with the stone walls at this time and used as a fortified palace and extension of Futamata Castle. The castles were abandoned in 1600.

Field Notes

Tobayama Castle is generally well signposted but there are some great stone walls around the Honmaru that are not obvious to the casual visitor. I had a good map, but if you walk along the embankments of the Honmaru you should be able to find a trail in the corner near the viewing platform that will take you down alongside the stone walls. You will also see the stonework marked in blue in the last photo below.

Tobayama Castle is best visited along with Futamata Castle. My recommendation is to start from Futamata Honmachi Station, walk to Futamata Castle and then walk across the embankment along the river to Tobayama Castle. After Tobayama Castle you could walk to Nishikajima Station (2km) and take a different train line (Enshu Line), which provides perfect access to get you to Hamamatsu Castle allowing you to visit all 3 in one day. If you are lucky with timing, there is a bus that stops alongside both Futamata Castle and Tobayama Castle that will also take you directly to Nishikajima Station.

Loading map...

Gallery

Castle Profile
English Name	Tobayama Castle
Japanese Name	鳥羽山城
Founder	Tokugawa Ieyasu
Year Founded	1575
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Futamata Honmachi Sta. (Tenryu Hamanako Line); 15 mins walk
Hours	park, open 24/7
Time Required	75 mins
URL	Castle Website
Location	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture
Coordinates	34.85808, 137.80563
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":34.85808,"lon":137.80563,"icon":"../images/1/1e/Castlemarker.png"}],"imageoverlays":null}
Admin
Added to Jcastle	2012
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2020
Admin Visits	January 12, 2020

1.75

(4 votes)

Loading comments...