Yakami Castle

Yakami Castle (八上城, Yakami-jō) was a Sengoku period Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Tamba-Sasayama Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2005. The castle was one of the largest in Tanba Province, along with Kuroi Castle and Yagi Castle. It was the original base of power for the Hatano clan.

Yagami Castle is located on 400-meter Most Tashiroyama to the southeast of the modern city center of Tamba-Sasayama in former Tanba Province. Tanba is very mountainous, but due to its proximity to the capital at Kyoto, it was regarded as having high strategic values. Settlement was mostly in four mountain basis, Hikami and Sasayama in what is now Hyōgo and Fukuchiyama and Kameoka in what is now Kyoto Prefecture. During the Muromachi period, the shugo of the province was the Hosokawa clan, who ruled through their deputy, the Naito clan. However, following the Onin War, the Hosokawa clan was greatly weakened and divided by internal conflicts, and many small local chieftains seized power over areas of the province.

One of these was the Hatano clan, whose chieftain, Hatano Tanemichi was a talented general who seized the Sasayama basin from the Naito clan and built Yagami Castle as his stronghold in 1508.

His son Hatano Harumichi lost Yagami castle to Matsunaga Hisahide in 1557, but Harumichi’s son Hatano Hideharu, recovered it in 1566, with the support of Akai Naomasa, the "Red Demon of Tanba" of Kuroi Castle in neighboring Hikami basin. The Hatano clan gradually expanded Yagami castle into a large fortress. The castle itself consisted of ten connected enclosures spread northeast and northwest on 200 meters of ridges at the mid-way point on the slopes of the mountain. Only the central area was protected by stone walls. In the surrounding hills were numerous outlying fortifications to protect the approaches to the main castle.

In 1568, Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto, but was unable to immediately turn his attention to further conquests to the west due to war with the Takeda clan of Kai Province. Many of the lords of Tanba, including the Hatano, pledged fealty to Nobunaga, but the Akai clan was an exception. During this period, Akai Naomasa greatly expanded his power, aggressively counterattacking against the Yamana clan in Tajima Province.

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

Yakami Castle ranks #3,933 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #199 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1508, it is older than 45% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,317 times in the last 60 days, more than 78% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Kobe, 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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