Hiraizumi Date

History

Yanagi-no-gosho ('Palace of Willows') was the fortified palace of the Ōshū-Fujiwara in their capital, Hiraizumi. Yanagi-no-gosho was built by Fujiwara Kiyohira, founder of the Northern Fujiwara dynasty, in 1100. It was renovated in 1170 and destroyed by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1189 during the Ōshū War.

Visit Notes

Yanagi-no-gosho ('Palace of Willows'), also known as the manor hall of the Ōshū-Fujiwara Clan (Hiraizumi-kyokan), is a large scale fortified residence ruin in Hiraizumi Township in historical Iwai County. Ruins include earthworks such as karabori (dry moats) and dorui (earthen embankments). The site is maintained as a park, and wells and the footprints of buildings dot the fields. There is also a restored landscape garden. According to Furinkazan, there are many explanation panels around the site.

Esashi-Fujiwara Village, which is an architectural park and open-air studio / open set to the north of Hiraizumi, has reconstructions of various Heian period structures and buildings from Tōhoku, including the Yanagi-no-gosho. At the park it is referred to as the Seichō ('government office').

This profile was a team effort, with Furinkazan providing the pictures of the site ruins, and ART providing the text, and pictures of the speculative reconstructions at Esashi-Fujiwara Village.

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Gallery

Information panel at the original site about ruins of a bridge
Information panel at the original site about a moat
dry moat
Excavations at the site
information center at the original site
moats and embankments
the pond
emplacement of several buildings
a well
human waste disposal pit
Information panel about the largest building foundations
Reconstructions at Esashi-Fujiwara no Sato

Castle Profile
English Name	Hiraizumi Date
Japanese Name	平泉館
Alternate Names	Yanagi-no-gosho (柳之御所) / Hiraizumi-seichō (平泉政庁) / Ōshū-Fujiwara-shi-yakata (奥州藤原氏館)
Founder	Fujiwara Kiyohira
Year Founded	1100
Castle Type	Fortified Manor
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	UNESCO World Heritage Site, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Artifacts	Karabori, Dorui, &c.
Features	gates, trenches, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Hiraizumi Station on the Tōhoku Line; 10 minute walk
Visitor Information	Reconstruction is at Esashi-Fujiwara Village
Time Required	90 minutes
Location	Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture
Coordinates	38° 59' 37.28" N, 141° 7' 10.78" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2023
Contributor	Furinkazan
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed
Friends of JCastle
Jōkaku Hōrōki
Kojō Seisuiki

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FurinkazanDaimyo

9 months ago

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I visited Hiraizumi in 2015 and a day later the Esashi Fujiwara village. Both are wonderful sites to bewonder. I didn't know until today(21/12/2023), that these sites were on Jcastle. Adam or ART told me about it on the FB page Japanese Castles. At his request I have uploaded several pictures I took at the original site of Yanaginogosho in Hiraizumi. There isn't that much to see, but there are a lot of explanation panels around the site. I uploaded only 3 of those.

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