Kasama Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

At the summit of Mount Sashiro, a little over 200 metres above sea level, Kasama Castle is a mountain fortress that remained in use until the end of the Edo period. The municipality highlights another unusual feature, its abundance of stone walls, uncommon in the Kantō, especially in the keep enclosure and along the approach route. These masonry walls, badly damaged by the earthquake of March 2011, prompted a study programme that is still under way, combining laser surveys, 3D modelling and excavation. Its most recent contribution has been to question the traditionally accepted medieval origin: for Nukaga Daisuke, of the Kasama Board of Education, the mountain castle may have appeared only after a first residence on the plain, a hypothesis that future excavations will have to settle. At the summit, Sashino Shrine occupies the keep enclosure; its oratory has been linked to a former two-level tower. The Hachimandai tower, for its part, was moved to Shinjō-ji temple, where it is protected by the prefecture. At the foot of the mountain, the former lower residence laid out under the Asano served as the domain's offices until 1871.