Yamanaka Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Shizuoka

Clinging at 580 m to the western slope of the Hakone Pass, beside the old Tōkaidō road, Yamanaka Castle locked the western approach to Odawara, capital of the Later Hōjō. Built in the mid-16th century as a garrison fort with no resident lord, it was heavily strengthened as Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign approached. In spring 1590 (29th day of the 3rd lunar month), some 67,000 men led by Toyotomi Hidetsugu launched the assault: the roughly 4,000 defenders, commanded by Matsuda Yasunaga, were overwhelmed in half a day and the stronghold was then abandoned. Its interest lies in its works made entirely of earth, without a single stone: the compartmentalised moats known as "shoji-bori" and "une-bori", typical of the Hōjō, whose partitions draw a grid recalling the panels of a shōji screen. Excavated by Mishima City from 1973, the site was laid out as a historic park opened in 1981; on clear days its grassy banks offer a view of Mount Fuji. A National Historic Site since 1934, it is one of Japan's 100 Fine Castles.