Yato Castle

Yato Castle (谷戸城, Yato-jō) was a Heian period yamashiro-style Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Hokuto, Yamanashi prefecture. It was the primary fortress of the warlord Henmi Kiyomitsu, ancestor of the Takeda clan. The site has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1993.[1]

Yato Castle
谷戸城
Hokuto, Yamanashi, Japan
Yato Castle
Yato Castle
Coordinates35°51′25″N 138°23′10″E
Typeyamashiro-style Japanese castle
Site information
Controlled byTakeda clan
ConditionRuins
Site history
Builtlate Heian period
Built byHenmi Kiyomitsu
In uselate Sengoku period

Background

Yato Castle is located on a ridge extending from Mount Yatsugatake in former Oibumi Village.

In the late Heian period, Minamoto no Yoshikiyo and his son, Kiyomitsu, relocated to Kai Province from Hitachi Province. Yoshikiyo developed the area surrounding Yato castle as "Takeda shōen" and Kiyomitsu took the surname of "Henmi" after the location where he built a fortified residence, which was later called Yato Castle. He died at this castle in 1199, and his descendants became the Takeda clan, of which the famous Takeda Shingen was the 16th generation descendant of Kiyomitsu's younger son. Yato Castle disappears from historical records after Kiyomitsu's death; however, due to its strategic location on a road to Shinano Province, it is likely that some form of fortification survived. After the fall of the Takeda clan, the site was used by the forces of the Odawara Hōjō in their struggle for supremacy over the Tokugawa clan for the province. The remnants of a bailey with moats and earthen ramparts dates from this period.

The site was excavated by a Yamanashi University archeology research team in 1976, and again in 1982. In 2007, "Yato Castle Furusato History Hall" was opened next to the site to display excavated artifacts.

The castle site is a 45 minute walk from Kai-Koizumi Station or a 60 minute walk from Nagasaka Station.

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See also

References
  • Motoo, Hinago (1986). Japanese Castles. Tokyo: Kodansha. p. 200 pages. ISBN 0-87011-766-1.

Notes
  1. "谷戸城跡". Cultural Heritage Online (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
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