Takanashi Clan Fortified Residence

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Nagano

In the north of the Nagano Basin, in Nakano, the fortified residence of the Takanashi is the best-preserved example in the Hokushin area of a square yakata, the lowland manor of medieval regional lords. It was not a mountain fortress: it was where the clan lived and governed, while the hilltop castles of Kamogamine and Kamagamine, about one kilometre to the east, served as refuges in case of attack. The enclosure measures about 130 by 100 metres and is still surrounded on all four sides by earthen ramparts some ten metres wide and a V-shaped moat. Excavations uncovered a gate, a dozen buildings and a small stone garden only a few metres across, the only known garden associated with a residence of this type in the prefecture. Occupied for roughly two and a half centuries, the site was abandoned in 1598, when the Takanashi followed Uesugi Kagekatsu to Aizu. Laid out as a historical park, it has been a National Historic Site since 2007.