Marugame Castle : A Study of Japanese Bibliography

This is all about Marugame Castle Ruins you want to know.
Every information you get on this site will be from a credible source based on Japanese history (books for reference).

"Kojō ezu(picture in Edo Period)" from 国立国会図書館

Collected by the Inagaki family, the Toba Daimyō from the mid-Edo period to the Meiji Restoration, as materials for military studies. There are about 350 illustrations, but there is no uniformity because only illustrations of castles, illustrations including castle towns, and old battlefield illustrations are mixed.

Another typical example of a castle picture in the Edo period is "The Shōhō Shiroezu", picture of the castle and castle town that the Edo Shogunate ordered the daimyō to create and submit,aggregating military information such as the buildings inside the castle, the height of the stone wall, the width of the moat and the water depth, etc., it also details the location and shape of the castle town and the mountain river.

Profile : Marugame Castle Ruins


Location	Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture
Also known as	Kameyama Castle, Hōrai Castle
Type of castle	Hilltop
Mountain's name	Mt.Kameyama
Elevation	66m
Condition	Original main keep
Designation	National Important Cultural Properties
Year built	1597
Abolished	1871
Castle lord	Nara Motoyasu
Refurbishment lord	Ikoma Chikamasa

Portrait of Ikoma Chikamasa from **Wikipedia**

Family Crest of Ikoma Clan from **"Wikipedia"**

The family crest was originally created from the pattern that the emperor and the royal family put on the kimono, and the pattern was made into a fixed pattern, and the one attached to his own oxcart is said to be the beginning of the family crest. The warlords drew large crests on the flag-fingers, used to distinguish enemy views on the battlefield, and used by the generals to determine which warlords were active and how much.

Marugame Castle admission

admission fee : 200yen (Adult) 100yen(Non Adult)
admission time : am9-pm4:30
closing period : open everyday reference official site (japanese)

Marugame Castle Google Map

Marugame Castle Images　

Famous for a high stone wall and small main keep.

The castle was built over a seven-year period by Kuroda Nagamasa, the first lord of the Fukuoka clan, who received 520,000 levels from the Tokugawa family for his achievements in the Battle of Sekigahara.

It is an impressive main keep that rises above the stone walls, but is about 15 meters high on the double structure-third floor, the smallest castle tower remaining since the Edo period.

The stone wall is very characteristic, called a "fan slope", which starts with a gentle but rough wilderness and a well-rounded masonry foundation, and has a unique curvature so that the top is vertical. It is piled up four times from the foot of the mountain to the summit. The total 60ｍ height is the highest in Japan , and the highest part of the Sannomaru stone wall is 22 meters by itself.

One of the charms of Marugame Castle is how close you can feel to all the magnificent walls.

Link-1 : Original Main Keep

【west japan】Bicchūmatsuyama Castle 【west japan】Matsue Castle 【west japan】Himeji Castle 【west japan】Hikone Castle 【central japan】Inuyama Castle 【central japan】Matsumoto Castle 【central japan】Maruoka Castle 【north japan】Hirosaki Castle 【west japan】Kōchi Castle 【west japan】Uwajima Castle 【west japan】Matsuyama Castle 【west japan】Marugame Castle

Link-2 : Japanese seven most great stone wall

【north japan】Kanazawa Castle 【west japan】Takatori Castle 【west japan】Takeda Castle 【west japan】Oka Castle 【west japan】Kumamoto Castle 【central japan】 Iwamura Castle 【west japan】marugame Castle