Takayama Jin'ya

History

After the Battle of Sekigahara, Kanamori Nagachika was named the first lord of the Takayama Domain. The 6th lord of Takayama, Kanamori Yoritoki was transferred to Kaminoyama in 1692 and the Takayama Domain was placed under direct control of the Tokugawa government. This was done so that the government could directly control the very resource rich Takayama domain which included vast forests and mineral deposits including gold and silver. At this time, the nearby Takayama Castle was decommissioned. In 1695, Kanamori's palace was repurposed for the government offices and the rice storehouse was moved from Takayama Castle to it's present location.

Takayama Jin'ya functioned as the Tokugawa government's offices until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Afterwards it was still used as prefectural government offices until 1969. In 1969 it was named a National Historic site and preserved as the only extant jin'ya anywhere in the country. From 1980-1996 the extant buildings were repaired and several subsidiary buildings were restored to complete the Edo era jin'ya. Except for the rice storehouse (1600) the other extant buildings are from the early 1800's.

This is a jin'ya and technically not a castle. Jin'ya are somewhat fortified government offices. They were built for small domains (generally less than 30,000 koku of rice) where the lord did not have the qualifications to be a "castle lord." These were called "castleless lords" or "jin'ya lords". Jin'ya were also established for domains, like Takayama, that were directly under control of the Tokugawa government. The Jin'ya are often listed along with castles in castle books and materials.

Visit Notes

This site is a must see for castle fans and history fans alike. Strictly speaking it is not a castle, but functioned in a similar capacity. It is the only original nearly complete jin'ya of around 60 similar sites that existed during the Edo Period.
お城ファンや歴史ファンには必見の史跡です。約六十あった陣屋や代官所のなかからここまで現存するのは高山のみです。強いて言えばお城ではありませんが江戸時代にはお城と同じ官僚の機能を持っていました。

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Gallery

Main government office
Main government office
Covered waiting bench and offices
Kitchen and city offices
Outlines of homes.
Onyakusho, official's rooms.
Entrance hall
From the offices to the kitchenette area.
different view of the officials' rooms
Large conference room and the garden
View of the garden
Packed earth floor room
Interrogation room
Straw rice sacks
Rice store house
A room in the storehouse
Rice storehouse and the main building
Guardhouse
Wall to the left of the front gate
Wall running to the right of the front gate
Front gate
View from the front of the jin'ya.

Castle Profile
English Name	Takayama Jin'ya
Japanese Name	高山陣屋
Founder	Tokugawa government
Year Founded	1692
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Features	palace, stone walls, walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access	Takayama Sta. (Takayama line), 10 min walk
Visitor Information	420 yen entrance fee; open 8:45am to 5pm (open until 6pm in August, closes at 4:30 from Nov.-Feb.). Closed 12/29, 12/31, and 1/1; English tours available by reservation
Time Required	60 mins
Website	http://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/English/tourism/takayama/
Location	Takayama, Gifu Prefecture
Coordinates	36° 8' 21.73" N, 137° 15' 28.04" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2014
Admin Year Visited	2013
Admin Visits	Nov 8, 2013

4.00

(9 votes)

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Matthew WardGunshi

11 months ago

Score 0

Checking out the article about Takayama Castle on this site made me wonder if we had seen Takayama-jin'ya as well when we visited 22 years ago. The weird thing is, I had no memory of it, but last night I found an old letter which describes the visit, and then it all came rushing back. Quite a thrill to have a memory suddenly restored, in fairly vivid detail.

And it was a place I had loved: the letter spends more time on describing it than anything else in the town. I think that it may have been hard to remember because I describe it as a 'government office,' which it was of course, but I hadn't mentally connected 'jin'ya' and 'government office.'

Anyway, yes, this is a fantastic site. I'll have to figure out which buildings are surviving historical buildings vs. reconstructions, but it's extremely well done and fascinating. Definitely deserves 5 stars.

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ARTShogun

63 months ago

Score 1

Takayama-jin'ya is one of the best preserved Jin'ya in the country, although about half of the structures are reconstructions built in 1996. Its interconnected halls and structures contain living spaces and offices for Bakufu officials. The impressive genkan (entrance) area is part of the original Edo Period structure. Now hosting displays, one of the largest, oldest, thickest walled earthen storehouses also exists here. Several of the Jin'ya's original structures are actually storehouses; the largest stored rice collected from the peasants as a form of tax, another storehouse contained official documents, and another contained tableware. The genkan, attached hall, Jin'ya offices, legal offices, large conference room, and messenger's room are all original. The front entrance to the jin'ya and attached guardhouse are also original. Other structures are reconstructions, including a three-tier watchtower, which sort of functions as the jin'ya's donjon, a kind of residential bōrōgata tenshu (watchtower-style keep). I was very impressed with the historical authenticity of this site and the town of Takayama. There were many tourists here. I saw tourists from North America and Europe, and Asian countries like China, Korea and Thailand. Information is available in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean and Thai.

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