Gion Castle (Oyama)

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Tochigi

Gion Castle, also known as Oyama Castle, stands on a terrace overlooking the left bank of the Omoi River in the heart of the city of Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture. Tradition attributes its founding to Oyama Masamitsu in the mid-12th century, but the site became above all the main residence of the Oyama clan, military governors (shugo) of Shimotsuke Province, after the gradual abandonment of neighbouring Washi Castle. Scene of fighting during Oyama Yoshimasa's revolt in the late 14th century, it was later enlarged by the Hōjō of the Sengoku era, who made it a forward base toward northern Kantō, then entrusted to Honda Masazumi after 1600, before being abandoned in 1619. Three large enclosures aligned along the river, separated by deep dry moats and earthen ramparts, can still be traced. The site, now laid out as Shiroyama Park and the Oyama Goten Plaza and popular for its cherry trees, forms, together with Washi and Nakakuki castles, the National Historic Site of the Oyama Clan Castle Ruins.