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Oka Castle : A Study of Japanese Bibliography

This is all about Oka 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 : Oka Castle Ruins

LocationTakeda City, Ōita Prefecture
Also known asGagyū Castle, Bungo Takeda Castle
Type of castleMountaintop
Mountain's nameMt. Tenjinyama
Elevation325m 
ConditionRuins only 
Designation National Historic Sites
Year built1185
Abolished1871
Castle lordOgata Koreyoshi
Refurbishment lordNakagawa Hideshige
Portrait of Nakagawa Hideshige from Wikipedia
Family Crest of Nakagawa Clan from "Bukan Complete Works" (produced by CODH) adapted from "Classical Japanese National Data Set" (Kokubunken Collection)

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.

Oka Castle admission

admission fee : 300yen (over high school students) 150yen (junior high and elementary school students)
admission time : am9-pm5
closing period : Decenber 31- January 3 reference official site (japanese)

Oka Castle Google Map

Oka Castle Images 

In Sengoku War Period , the Shimazu Army, aiming for the dominance of the Kyūshū district, invaded in Bungo aroud 1586. Shiga Chikatsugu, the lord of the castle, kept against their attacks so that Shimazu army was repulsed.
Nakagawa Hideshige entered the castle in 1594 . After that, Nakagawa family served as a lord for generations until the castle was abandoned in the Meiji era. It was greatly renovated on behalf of Nakagawa, with the Honmaru as the center, the Sannomaru and Nishinomaru were prepared. In addition, a tall stone wall was set up, and a third-floor yagura(turrets) was built as a substitute for the main keep.
Honmaru ruins
Entering the Meiji era, the building was demolished, only high stone wall survives. But it is enough to see where many tourists visit to see the beautiful magnificent stone wall on the mountain.
Statue of Taki Rentarō

A famous Japanese composer from the Meiji era, the widely known song of masterpiece "Kōjō no Tsuki" (a scenery under the moon at desolated castle) is said to have been created on the theme of Oka Castle.

Portrait of Taki Rentarō from Wikipedia

Link : Japanese seven most great stone wall

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

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