Chihaya Castle

Chihaya Castle (千早城, Chihaya-jō) is a late Kamakura period Japanese castle located in the village of Chihayaakasaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1934.

Chihaya Castle is located at a ridge extending from Mount Kongō on the border of Kawachi Province with the Yoshino region of Yamato Province. It overlooks a narrow valley and is approximately five kilometers upstream from Akasaka Castle, which was the main base of the Kusunoki clan. In 1331, when Emperor Go-Daigo attempted to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate in the Genkō War, he relied on Prince Moriyoshi and a local lord from the Chihaya-Akasaka area, Kusunoki Masashige to raise an army. However, this first attempt failed, and Emperor Go-Daigo was captured and exiled to the Oki Islands. Kusunoki Masashige faked his death at the Siege of Akasaka and escaped into the deep mountains of his own territory where he constructed Kami-Akasaka Castle and Chihaya Castle.

The place selected for Chihaya Castle was very defensible: a narrow ridge with an elevation of 150 meters with steep cliffs, protected on both sides by rivers. The only access was by a climb of 500 steep and narrow stairs and the surrounding topography was not conductive to siege operations. Moveable bridges were among the fortress' chief defensive measures, alongside its wooden walls, earthwork defenses, and strategic location on Mt. Kongō. The fortress was surrounded with felled trees and boulders, which could be rolled down the mountain on an approaching army, and screens of brush were used to help protect from arrows.

The castle itself consisted of five enclosures spread 200 meters along the ridge, protected by dry moats. The main enclosure measured around 100 by 20 meters and may have had a yagura tower in one corner. Although the castle was small, it could house several hundred men.

In 1333, Kusunoki Masashige emerged from hiding, attacking shogunate positions in Kii province, Osaka and then the Rokuhara tandai offices in Kyoto, The Kamakura shogunate sent a large army against him, which took Kami-Akasaka Castle after a siege of two weeks and then attacked Chihaya Castle. Per the medieval chronicle Taiheiki, the greatly outnumbered defenders put up a strong defense, forcing the attackers to abandon direct assault and to resort to a siege.

Text adapted from “Chihaya Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Chihaya Castle ranks #1,748 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #109 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1332, it is older than 61% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,356 times in the last 60 days, more than 77% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Osaka, 34 km away. It is one of the 71 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Kansai. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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