Nagurumi Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Modest in size, this castle perched on a spur above the Tone owes its fame to a single stroke: its occupation in 1589 by Inomata Kuninori, commander of the Hōjō garrison at Numata. The town of Minakami recalls that the affair served as a pretext for the Odawara campaign led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The context matters: Hideyoshi had banned private wars in the Kantō in 1587, and he had just divided the Numata region, assigning the Sanada a third that included Nagurumi. The town presents the site as a forward base created by Sanada Masayuki in the Tenshō era to capture Numata, while an online guide mentions an earlier establishment by the Nagurumi clan as early as 1492, the Nagurumi-yakata, which Masayuki is said to have taken over in 1578. The place lost its purpose in 1590, once the whole domain had been confirmed to the Sanada, and was abandoned after about a decade of use. This brevity is what makes it interesting: the terrain, protected by cliffs on three sides, still carries in succession the Umadashi, Gaikaku, Sankaku, Nikaku, Honmaru and Sasa-guruwa, linked by dry moats, earthen bridges and a staggered entrance. A stele erected at the top in 1924, with an inscription by Tokutomi Sohō, commemorates the episode, and the visitor centre near the car park welcomes visitors with volunteer guides.