Tobiyama Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Tochigi

Set on a river terrace on the left bank of the Kinugawa, about five kilometres east of central Utsunomiya, Tobiyama Castle is a large medieval castle site of some 14 hectares. It was founded at the end of the Kamakura period, around 1293-1298, by Haga Takatoshi, head of the Haga clan (Kiyohara lineage), powerful vassals of the lords of Utsunomiya. For three centuries the stronghold played a key role in the defence and control of the Utsunomiya domain, notably against the Later Hōjō during the Sengoku period. No original buildings survive, but its earthwork defences remain remarkably legible: to the west and north, cliffs about 25 metres high overlook the river, while to the east and south a double line of earthen ramparts and dry moats closes the enclosure. Designated a National Historic Site in 1977, the site has been laid out since 2005 as a historic park, with buildings reconstructed from excavation evidence and an interpretation centre, the Tobiyama Rekishi Taikenkan, which displays the archaeological finds from the site.