En un regard
Le château en bref
Kazami Castle (風見城) is a small medieval mountain castle located in the Kazami area of the town of Shioya, in the former Shioya District of Shimotsuke Province. It stands on a height locally called "yōgai" (the stronghold), west of Mount Myōjin, and should not be confused with the Tōgo Shrine that crowns that mountain. Tradition attributes its founding to Kazami Tanesige, son of Kimijima Tanetoki, who is said to have taken the name of the place in the early 14th century, at the end of the Kamakura period. The Kazami family later served the Utsunomiya, great lords of Shimotsuke, and several of its members are mentioned in the mid-16th century. The castle lost its purpose when the Utsunomiya were dispossessed in 1597 and was abandoned shortly afterwards. With a single-enclosure plan and no keep, the site preserves a summit platform, transverse ditches that cut it off from the ridge, a lateral ditch or berm, and earthen ramparts. Little documented and with no known protection status, it remains a discreet witness to the network of strongholds held by Utsunomiya vassals in the north of their domain.
