Takatori Castle

Takatori Castle (高取城, Takatori jō) was a Sengoku to Edo period yamajiro-style Japanese castle located in what is now the town of Takatori, Nara Prefecture, in the Kinki region of Japan. Its ruins been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1953. Takatori Castle was listed as one of Japan's Top 100 Castles by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.

Takatori Castle is a mountain castle built on Mount Takatori, 583 meters above sea level, about four kilometers southeast of the modern urban center of Takatori town. The castle was famous for its 29 white-plastered yagura turrets that are lined up on the mountain. When viewed from the castle town, the song "Tatsumi Takatori, if you look at it, it's not snow, Tosa's castle" was sung. Tōsa is the old name of Takatori. The castle consisted of a series of baileys, and the castle interior area covered about 10,000 square meters; the circumference of the fortifications extended for over three kilometers, and the total area of the entire castle was about 60,000 square meters, and the circumference was about 30 kilometers.

It is the largest Sengoku period mountain castle, and it is counted as one of the three largest mountain castles in Japan, along with Bitchū Matsuyama Castle (Okayama Prefecture) and Iwamura Castle (Gifu Prefecture). Despite the Tokugawa shogunate's edict of " One Castle per Province" in 1615, the castle was largely spared from destruction, and its stone walls and stone ramparts remain to this day.

A fortification was first built on this location by Ochi Kunizumi in 1332. At the time, southern half of Nara basin was governed by Ochi clan, which was in constant conflict with the Tsutsui clan at north half of Nara basin for hegemony over Yamato Province. The Ochi supported the Southern Court in the wars of the Nanboku-chō period, and Takatori Castle was initially a subsidiary castle of Kaibukiyama Castle, the main stronghold of the Ochi. However, due to its size and strategic location, it gradually became the main stronghold by the Sengoku period. In June 1532, the Ikkō-ikki invaded Yamato Province and won a crushing victory over the armed monks of Kofuku-ji, whose remnants sought refuge at Takatori Castle. The castle was placed under siege, but the Ikkō-ikki were defeated by an army from the Tsutsui clan.

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

Takatori Castle ranks #2,310 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #137 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1332, it is older than 61% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 604 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,691 times in the last 60 days, more than 84% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Osaka, 42 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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