| Founder | Shiba (Mogami) Kaneyori |  |
| Year | 1356 | |
| Type | Flatland | |
| Condition | Other Buildings | |
| Alternate Name | Kasumiga-jo | |
| Reconstructed | 1993 (wood) | |
| Admin's Rating | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ | |
| Historical Site | National Historic Site | |
| Historical Value | Top 100 Castles | |
| Location | Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture | |
| Map | Google Map | |
| Access | Yamagata Station (Yamagata Shinkansen), 1km walk | |
| Website | Yamagata City Tourist Information | |
| Visited | September 12, 2003 | |
| Notes | If you enter through the main reconstructed East Gate, make sure you go out the back and visit the reconstruction of the honmaru and leave via the South Gate. This castle was well worth the visit for the beautiful reconstruction of the East Gate and for the ongoing archaeological excavation and reconstruction of the honmaru. | |
| History |
The castle originally established by Shiba Kaneyori at Yamagata is said to have been about the size of the honmaru of the later Yamagata castle. Shiba later took the name of the surrounding area and changed his name to Mogami. Mogami's ancestor Mogami Yoshiaki reconstructed the castle into a much larger fortres in 1592. He added the ninomaru and sannomaru, but there was never a large main keep that you see at other castles. It did however have three 2 story and one 3 story yagura. While Mogami Yoshiaki went to the Battle of Sekigahara with Tokugawa Ieyasu, it is said that Uesugi Kagekatsu's general Naoe Kanetsugu went to attack Yamagata Castle but he could find it as it was buried in thick fog. Thereafter, the castle was also known as kasumigajo, the castle in the haze. At his peak after the battle of Sekigahara Yoshiaki controlled land yielding 570,000 koku. Yoshiaki died in 1614 and his successor Iechika died shortly thereafter in 1617. His sucessor Yoshitoshi was reduced to 300,000 koku and later moved to Mikawa. Over time the importance of Yamagata Castle to the Tokugawa rule over Eastern Japan declined, and with it the size of territory controlled by the lord of Yamagat Castle was also reduced. Yamagata Castle is well known today for the authentic wooden econstruction of the East Gate. As you can see from the above picture, this is a masugata style gate. The 2 tamon yagura, high stone walled moat, and the walls surrounding the top make it most impregnable. |
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2 Viewer Comments
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Kris
on
My Page
September 01, 2012 at 10:36 PM
I was really impressed by the reconstructions at Yamagata and all the work that seems to be going into new ones. They are really enthusiastic about this site – at the moment work is underway to reconstruct the floor plans of the honmaru – the reconstruction work in picture six has largely been completed and there is now a bridge there, and a viewing platform to let you take really good pictures of the bridge. Even though the site incorporates sports facilities and a museum it is still very accessible and enjoyable and easy to walk the entire circumference of the moat and see all the gates. You can even go down and walk alongside the moat on some sides or along the top. The stone walls made from the river stones are really pretty and they have a good open air display on the creation of ishigaki as well. We ran out of time for the museums but did get to see inside the East gate. The statue of Mogami is quite rare in Japan because it realistically shows a horse rearing up two legs – it also makes it kind of tricky to get a decent snap of the statue and castle. Also, not a castle at all, but the Bunshokan museum in the old Prefectural Diet is a gorgeous old building that looks like a slice of Europe.
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Frank T.
on
My Page
November 28, 2011 at 12:01 AM
I have been here a few times over the last several years, and there always seems to be something going on and something new. What's nice is they're doing things the right way--as authentically as possible. If I get the chance to stop by next year, it will be interesting to see what's new.
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