Nirayama Castle

History

When Hojo Soun defeated Ashikaga Chachamaru in 1493 he built Nirayama Castle and moved his base here from Kokokuji Castle. Hojo Soun kept Nirayama as his home castle throughout all his campaigns. Besides the main castle, it was also protected by 4 forts on nearby hills. Along with Yamanaka Castle and Ashigara Castle, Nirayama Castle formed an important part of the western fortification network of Odawara Castle. In 1590, when Hideyoshi began his attack against Odawara he sent over 40,000 troops under Oda Nobukatsu to take Nirayama Castle. The 3600 defenders under Hojo Ujinori outlasted the attack for 3 months before surrendering about the same time that Odawara fell. After the fall of the Hojo, Tokugawa Ieyasu's retainer Naito Nobunari moved into Nirayama Castle until he was transferred to Sunpu Castle in 1601. Nirayama Castle was abandoned permanently at this time.

Visit Notes

If you visit Yamanaka Castle and want to visit another castle, this is a very easy trip from Mishima station since you'll be there already. There is not too much to see so you should also visit the <a href="http://www.egawatei.com">Egawa Residence</a> to make it worth your time. I actually wanted to visit here for awhile since Egawa proposed the Shinagawa Battery Islands. There are some maps, photos and artifacts of the battery islands in one of the storehouses and in the museum.

I was a bit disappointed with the castle ruins. For a well known castle there are almost no signs on the site identifying parts of the castle. The people at the Egawa museum and the tourism center also could not give me any information or maps on how to get to the forts that existed on the surrounding hills. It looks like they've been cutting back the trees around the Honmaru and Ninomaru areas of the castle so I hope they develop this site more.

山中城のついでに他のお城へ行きたければ、韮山城は近くて行きやすいです。城跡そのものは遺構が少ないですが、江川邸は見る価値があります。江川英龍が品川台場を提案した人なのでずっと行きたかったです。台場の設計図や写真などが展示してあります。城跡は少しがっかりしました。有名なお城だったのに現地での地図、説明、看板などがほとんどなくて何をみているかわかりません。近くの砦へも行きたかったですが、地図もないそして観光案内所と資料館の係員は何も知りませんでした。しかも観光案内所では韮山城について聞いたら、「お城はありませんよ」まで言われて、江川邸へ行くように勧められました。ところで、韮山城の本丸と二の丸では最近伐採したように見えるのでこれからもっと開発してくれるのを期待しています。

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Gallery

Looking to the Honmaru from the South Bailey
Honmaru bailey
Entrance to the honmaru bailey
horikiri
Looking towards Honmaru from South Bailey
location of a salt storehouse
South Bailey
Horikiri and entrance to the honmaru
Ninomaru bailey
Horikiri
Path up to the Ninomaru
Gongen Bailey
horikiri
horikiri
castle pond
boat landing
map
Entrance to the Egawa Residence
Egawa Residence
Behind the 12m ceiling
West Warehouse
rice storehouses
Inside the left storehouse.
Inside the right storehouse
Back side of the house
Horiki No. 4
Horikiri No. 5
Castle Mount from below. The resevoir was formerly a swamp.

Castle Profile
English Name	Nirayama Castle
Japanese Name	韮山城
Founder	Hojo Soun
Year Founded	1493
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Top 100 Mountaintop Castles
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	samurai homes, trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Nirayama Sta. (Izu Hakone Railway), 30min walk
Visitor Information	Egawa Residence: open 9am-430pm (Weds until 3pm); closed 12/31-1/1; 300yen for the house 400yen for house and museum
Time Required	40 mins for the castle, 2 hrs including the Egawa residence
Website	http://www.sengoku-shizuoka.com/castle/3103012/index.php
Location	Izunokuni, Shizuoka Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 3' 11.63" N, 138° 57' 18.61" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2012
Admin Year Visited	2012
Admin Visits	Nov. 10, 2012

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ARTShogun

27 months ago

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Great site. I loved the large trenches, number up until no. 5 if i recall. I also visited the Egawa-toride. One of the forts around this castle. I was reading some review on google - but the chap seemed to know what he was talking about - that said Nirayama wasn't the center of this fort network, but that Tengatakejou was on the summit. Anyway, there are a bunch more forts around the mountain, forming a big network. Egawa-toride also has a big trench.

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