Kanjōsan Castle

Kanjōsan Castle (感状山城, Kanjōsan-jō) is the remains of a Muromachi period Japanese castle structure located in the city of Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site as one of the Remains of Akamatsu-shi Castles, combining both Shirahata Castle and Okishio Castle, since 1996.

Kanjōsan Castle is located on the 250-meter Mount Kanjōsan, north of the center of Aioi city. The site is in the middle of a narrow valley of the Yanagawa River, north of the former main route of the San'yōdō highway running along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea with the San'in region on the Sea of Japan. This route is now Hyōgo Prefectural Road No. 5, whereas the modern San'yōdō highway and train tracks are located further south.

The first fortification was built at this site sometime in the Kamakura period by the local Uryū clan. In 1333 Akamatsu clan under Akamatsu Norimura (1277-1350) the clan rose to prominence by siding with Emperor Go-Daigo during the Kenmu restoration to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate. Akamatsu Norimura drove the Hōjō clan from Kyoto; however, afterwards he received scant rewards from Emperor Go-Daigo for his efforts, and was even relieved of his title of shugo of Harima Province. Akamatsu Norimura switched his fealty to Ashikaga Takauji and the new Muromachi shogunate. He was given the castle by Ashikaga Takauji as a reward for his rear-guard actions in assisting Takauji's escape from Kyoto to raise an army in Kyushu.

The castle withstood a siege by the armies of Emperor Go-Daigo led by Nitta Yoshisada for over 50 days. The Akamatsu clan became one of the most powerful clans in the Muromachi Shogunate, ruling most of the Sanyo region, but its power became a political threat to the shogunate. In the late Muromachi period. Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori attempted to deprive the clan of much of its territory to increase his own authority. Akamatsu Mitsusuke assassinated Ashikaga Yoshinori at a banquet in Kyoto, but his revolt was ultimately unsuccessful and the clan lost much of its territory. Akamatsu Masanori (1455-1496) recovered one of the imperial regalia held by the Southern Court and was rewarded by the grateful Northern Court with half of Kaga Province, which marked the start of a revival of the clan.

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

Kanjōsan Castle ranks #6,373 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #290 of the 297 mapped in Japan. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Himeji, 23 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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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗