Yamazaki
Marugame Castle
丸亀城
Picture Donated by Raymond W.
| Alternate Name | Kameyama-jo, Horai-jo |
| Founder | Ikoma Chikamasa |
| Year | 1597 |
| Type | Hilltop |
| Structure | 3 levels, 3 stories |
| Condition | Original |
| Rating | ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ |
| Historical Site | National Historic Site |
| Historical Value | Top 100 Castles, Important Cultural Properties |
| Historical Artifacts |
Important Cultural Properties: tenshu, Ote Ichinomon, Ote Ninomon |
| Location | Marugame, Kagawa Pref. |
| Map | Google Map |
| Access | Kagawa Sta. (Yosan Line), 10 minute walk |
| Website | Marugame City |
| Notes | Not personally visited |
| History |
Ikoma Chikamasa, the lord of the Sanuki area originally ruled from Takamatsu Castle. While there, he built and moved to Marugame Castle placing his son in charge of Takamatsu Castle. Marugame Castle was decomissioned as part of the one castle per country law in 1615. Marugame Castle was resurrected in 1641 when Yamazaki Ieharu was granted the small fief of Western Sanuki. He rebuilt the castle into what we see today and developed the surrounding castle town of Marugame. |
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Viewer Comments
(3) | Post CommentI had had lived in Marugame for 11 years of my life. A boy from Hawaii. I lived on a small island named Honjima, which was 35 mins. away by ferry in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea. I visited the castle many times and from Honjima Island you could see the castle in the distance. The climb up to the honmaru was so steep just walking up took all my energy. I think if anyone attacked the castle? The location the castle was built is the best location to control the entire area, Land and Sea. Any ship passing through the inland sea would have been seen and Shiwako Is. Pirates would have raided any ship which did not belong to the controling Lord or Shogun which the Pirates had a treaty with. The channel facing the castle is the narrowest in the entire Seto Inland Sea and the base of the Pirates was on the Island I lived on. The name Hon (main) Jima (Island). The time I spent in Marugame was the best and I visit every 2 or 3 years. It is my second home.
May 21, 2009 at 03:48 PM
I went and visited this castle over the New Year break. This is a very impressive castle. Although there isn’t much left except for the tenshu (keep) and the main gate, the walls more than make up for it. The whole top two-thirds or so of the hill is encased in stone walls. In a way, from a distance, it sort of looks like one of those Mayan pyramids in Mexico. At the foot of the wall to the sannomaru (third bailey), you get the impression that they are even higher than the western honmaru (main bailey) walls at Iga-Ueno Castle, but in reality, they are 5 metres shorter, at only 23 metres tall. If you love castles with lots of stone walls and concentric layers and layers of defences including a flooded moat, this is one Japanese castle that you should visit. Based on the sheer number and the height of some of the walls, this is probably one of the most outstanding castles that I have visited in Japan, rating it above other small original castles like Maruoka and Bitchu-Matsuyama. A fellow castle enthusiast and I spent over 4 hours just walking around the place. It is easily accessible by train and is about 15 minutes on foot from the JR Marugame Station. Using local trains and a JR Seishun-18 ticket, it takes around 4 hours one-way from Kyoto or an hour from Okayama.
January 14, 2009 at 04:26 PM
This castle has very steep and high walls. As for its buildings, not many survive, though it does have an original Tenshu. Not one of the best to visit, though it is worth going to if you're in the area.
March 17, 2008 at 02:59 AM