Inamura Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Chiba

Inamura Castle occupies the southern tip of a hill, Shiroyama, in the heart of the Tateyama plain at the southern end of the Bōsō Peninsula. This Muromachi-period hill castle was one of the early residences of the Satomi clan, lords of Awa Province: the third head of the line, Satomi Yoshimichi, lived there in the first half of the 16th century. The site is above all associated with the succession crisis known as the "Tenbun no naikō", in which Satomi Yoshitaka eliminated his cousin Yoshitoyo in 1534, after which the castle lost its role. No buildings survive, but the terrain still bears the marks of its military works: a main enclosure bordered on two sides by earthen ramparts about three metres high, flanks cut into artificial scarps, and terraces stepped down the slopes. The size of the enclosure and scarps exceeds that of other contemporary castles on the peninsula. Since 2012 the ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site together with those of Okamoto Castle, under the name "Satomi clan castle sites". Much of the land remains private, and visits follow a signposted route.