The more you know, the deeper you found it is
The attractiveness of this mountain castle Shinowaki Castle
We are going to introduce the attractiveness of the route heading to the site of Shinowaki Castle.
Entrance
The entrance to Remains of Shinowaki Castle is at the foot of Mt Shinowaki, across the Kokinbashi Bridge from Toshi Memorial Hall to Kurusugawa River. If you look at the guide map, you can see the whole picture of a mountain trail meandering through the mountains. Anyone can use the poles placed here. Most of the mountain roads are paved and easy to walk, but there are some steep slopes, so you can climb more confidently with a pole.
33 Guanyin
33 statues of Guanyin are enshrined in the places of numbers 1 to 33 written on the guide map. They watch over the safety of the road. Most of them are at the turning points of the road, but some are quietly standing off the road. Can you find them all during your trip?
Otemon-dori (Main gate path)
The path where the main gate used to be is still clearly visible. As it’s a little steep, you may want to try this Otemon-dori going down instead of going up. The scenery changes on a round trip, so you can enjoy it more.
Drinking fountain
About 40m down from the Ninomaru trace near the top of the mountain, there was a drinking fountain aside from the mountain trail. At that time, it was very important to secure drinking water on the hillside of the mountain castle. The amount of water currently is not very large. Although the water may run out in summer, you can still see the remnants of the drinking fountain.
Koshikuruwa, Unejotatebori
The biggest highlight of Remains of Shinowaki Castle is, Unejotatebori (A ridge-shaped pit). This vertical moat is a moat made in parallel with the slope of a mountain. This makes it difficult to move laterally on the slope and prevents the invasion of enemies. From the top of the mountain to the foot of Mt Shinowaki, about 30 vertical moats were spreading from the castle, indicating that only a small number of people were needed to defend the castle. When the Asakura forces invaded in 1540, logs and rocks were stored in an area called Koshikuruwa on the hillside. When the enemy attacked, they were dropped from the vertical moat and enemies.
Main gate
After climbing the mountain road while seeing Remains of Shinowaki Castle from the entrance for around 30 minutes, suddenly, you can see the main gate at the peak. The main building was a flat land of about 1,000m2. A tombstone of Lord to, the lord of the castle, can be found near the center. A thick earthwork can also be seen around it. You can actually feel how Shinowaki Castle certainly existed there.
Since Shinowaki Castle is a mountain castle, there is no castle tower. But there are many attractions along the way to Remains of Shinowaki Castle where you can sense its history. It is also a perfect spot for hiking, where you can see flowers and trees in the fresh air and you will definitely want to stop and take a deep breath here.