Shirahata Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Hyōgo

Perched on Mount Shirahata, about 440 metres above the Akamatsu district of Kamigōri, Shirahata Castle was the main mountain stronghold of the Akamatsu clan, military governors (shugo) of Harima Province. Its foundation is attributed to Akamatsu Norimura, known as Enshin, during the turmoil that followed the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, most probably in 1335. The castle owes its fame to the resistance of 1336: entrenched on its heights, Enshin is said to have held off Nitta Yoshisada's army for more than fifty days, paving the way for Ashikaga Takauji's victory. A ridge fortress with successive enclosures, the site stretches some 850 metres from north to south. The main enclosure, the second and third enclosures, a so-called riding-ground enclosure and terraces of warrior residences can still be traced, along with the Hikari-no-i well and the Sen-nin otoshi precipice. Several forest trails climb from Akamatsu and Kuraori, and a castle festival is held every year at the foot of the mountain. Together with the castles of Kanjōsan and Oshio, it forms the National Historic Site of the Akamatsu clan castles.