Takayama Castle Ruins

Takayama Castle Ruins are the remains of the castle that ruled Hida Province, on Shiroyama, a forested hill 686.6 meters above sea level on the southeast side of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture. The castle was demolished in 1695, and its site is now part of Shiroyama Park. Entry is free.

Little stands today beyond stone walls and foundation stones under the trees. The ruins are a Gifu Prefecture Historic Site, and the hill is also protected as a natural monument for its wild birds. A 1956 survey recorded 80 bird species here, unusual for a spot so close to a town.

History of Takayama Castle

Kanamori Nagachika served Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu in turn. He took Hida for Hideyoshi in 1585. He began building Takayama Castle in 1588. The main and second baileys were finished by 1600, and his son Kanamori Arishige added the third bailey, completing the castle in 1603 after about 16 years of work.

The keep held dozens of rooms, including a bath and a tea room that looked out over the town, which suggests it was used to receive guests. The town laid out below the castle became the merchant district now preserved as Sanmachi.

Six generations of the Kanamori family held the castle. In 1692 the shogunate moved them to a domain in what is now Yamagata Prefecture and took direct control of Hida. The Maeda clan of Kanazawa guarded the castle for three years, and in 1695 the shogunate ordered it torn down completely.

What remains of Takayama Castle

• Main bailey (honmaru): the summit clearing, with more than a dozen foundation stones from the keep.

• Stone walls: part of the southeast corner wall and the base of the drum tower.

• Rear gate of the main bailey: traces of the karamete gate.

• Second bailey (ninomaru): a wide open space with a small pond left from the old water supply.

• Third bailey moat: the moat of the outer enclosure at the foot of the hill.

Some castle buildings were moved rather than destroyed. The long storehouse at the Takayama Jinya government office is thought to be the castle's old rice store, and the main hall of Hokke-ji Temple is also believed to come from the castle.

The prefecture's castle site listing gives the full list of remains, in Japanese.

How to get to Takayama Castle Ruins

From JR Takayama Station, the walk to Shiroyama Park takes about 30 minutes. Most people walk east through the old town, then climb the trail from the park entrance to the summit. Above the park entrance the paths are unpaved forest trails.

The ruins are also the southern end of the Higashiyama Walking Course, about 4 km of temples and shrines starting at Unryu-ji. For more on the trails and lookouts below the summit, see Shiroyama Park in Takayama.

A local guide can link the castle story to the streets it created. An Edo-period old town walk covers the merchant quarter, Nakabashi Bridge and Hida Kokubun-ji Temple in about an hour.