Ougidairayama Castle

History

Ōgidairayamajō was the fortified redoubt for the Amari Clan who resided at Amari Manor Hall on the plain below. The castellan was Amari Masatada. This castle site was apparently only identified in the late 20th century. See Amari Yakata for more information.

Visit Notes

Ōgidairayamajō is a yamajiro (mountaintop castle) ruin in Asahi Township, Nirasaki Municipality. The castle is bumpy, and the features are not always easy to make out. Helpfully, though, signs have been installed to denote various parts of the fort. I climbed the mountain without a trail from the northeast. There were a large number of monkeys in the area. They were rushing to and fro’, past me, and there was some strange screaming coming from deep within the forest. Something must’ve been going on. One of their savage monkey courts had perhaps condemned one of their number and tore it to pieces. So I thought... (Multiple castle bloggers mention seeing wild animals at this site, so I add monkeys to the list of sightings).

I found the ruins of the castle starting at the noroshidai (platform for sending smoke signals), and followed the ridge up from there to the main body of the ruins. There are three horikiri (trenches) which bisect the ridge. Baileys are set between them, but there is a third bailey beneath the second, according to a sign there, though to me the terrain seemed far too uneven to be a bailey.

The second bailey sat above the slope and its earthen ramparts stood out, so that this was clearly a castle bailey. Once I broke into the second bailey though I found it strangely hollowed out. Nonetheless it seemed to be protected by dorui (earthen ramparts).

The main bailey is set furthest back and encloses a more level space with some dorui around the edges, particularly to the rear where it is heaped up several meters. The horikiri to the rear of and below the main bailey are highlights.

Gallery

trench / horikiri

Castle Profile
English Name	Ougidairayama Castle
Japanese Name	扇子平山城
Founder	Amari Clan; Amari Masatada
Year Founded	Sengoku Period
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Artifacts	Dorui, Horikiri, Kuruwa, &c
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Nirasaki Station on the Chūō Main Line; Nirasaki Shimin Bus going to the village welfare centre and get off at the Asahi Chūō Kōminkan; walk 10 minutes.
Visitor Information	24/7; free; mountain
Time Required	60 minutes
Location	Nirasaki, Yamanashi Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 40' 57.54" N, 138° 25' 37.78" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2022
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed
Friends of JCastle
Jōkakuzukan
Oshiro Meguri
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