Eboshigata Castle

History

Eboshigata Castle has a long and storied history. It was likely built as one of Kusunoki Masashige's seven castles and a satellite castle to Kamiakasaka Castle. Eboshigata Castle controlled a critical point along the Koya Kaida highway between Osaka and Mt Koya as well as nearby roads to Kyoto and Sakai. Following the Onin War, the castle was under the control of the Hatakeyama and was a key base in their conflict with the Miyoshi. The castle fell to Oda Nobunaga in 1575. The castellan under Nobunaga, Kainosho Masafusa, was a Christian daimyo and the castle became an active base for many Christians in the area. The castle was used as a base for Hideyoshi's Kishu campaigns in 1584 and then came under the control of the Nakamura at Kishiwada Castle.

Visit Notes

Some years ago when I visited the Takatsuki Castle and the nearby info center there was an exhibit of the best or most interesting Osaka Castles which featured Eboshigata Castle. Since then I always wanted to see for myself what these trenches and earthworks looked like. They did not disappoint. The center of the castle is basically the Honmaru and Ninomaru baileys surrounded by two or three layers of trenches. Overall the site was a little smaller and more compact than I expected but the layers of trenches and earthworks make for many photogenic angles. The ridge is kind of an S shape with the honmaru in the middle. Along the curve of the western ridge you will also find a couple horikiri trenches and then two further detached baileys, the West Bailey (西出郭) and the Baba Kuruwa (馬場郭) with additional small ones around them. The eastern end has an old kofun but the relatively flat area on this end of the ridge makes me think it may have been used as a detached bailey to watch the eastern side too. In the middle of the curve between the main bailey and west is a large flattened area partway up the mountain which is a municipal pool today but may have been a large bailey for living quarters or troops.

If you walk to/from the Mikkaichicho Station you will also pass through the Mikkaichi-juku a post town along the old Koya Kaido highway. There are several old buildings and rebuilt buildings to give the street some atmosphere of the old post town.

Videos

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Gallery

Baba Kuruwa
West Bailey
Horikiri
Horikiri
Horikiri
Kofun

Castle Profile
English Name	Eboshigata Castle
Japanese Name	烏帽子形城
Founder	Kusunoki Masashige
Year Founded	1332
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Mikkaichicho Station (Nankai Electric, Koya Line), 15 min walk
Visitor Information	mountain park open any time
Time Required	90 mins
Website	https://www.city.kawachinagano.lg.jp/site/history/5512.html
Location	Kawachinagano, Osaka
Coordinates	34° 26' 40.70" N, 135° 33' 52.74" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2023
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2022
Admin Visits	Dec 26, 2022
Friends of JCastle
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