Ena, the hometown of the Toyama clan ~ JUN, 2025 ~

Naegi Castle is known as the best mountain castle in Japan, and was the residence of the Toyama clan of Naegi Domain, which had a fief of over 10,000 koku. It is difficult to maintain a castle with an economic power of only 10,000 koku, but the lord of the castle, the Naegi Toyama clan, is a descendant of a prestigious family that was appointed as the land steward of Toyama-sho in Ena County as a reward for meritorious service by Minamoto no Yoritomo, and they passed down the castle that they inherited from their ancestors to future generations. Many retainers were dispatched throughout the country by the Kamakura Shogunate, but it is extremely rare for a family to continue as ruler in their original post and survive the Meiji Restoration, and in terms of my understanding, the only ones that come to mind are the Satsuma Shimazu family and this Toyama family.

The summit of Mt. Takamoriyama (432m) on the right bank of the Kiso River is covered with a number of huge rocks (granite), but stone walls have been built to cover them and form the castle tower. Below you can see the river terraces created by the Kiso River and its tributaries, and you can see traces of erosion over hundreds of thousands of years. This area is rich in rocks and crystals, and there is a "stone museum" and a large fault line, so it is a great place for geology and history buffs as you can trace the history of the severe crustal movements that accompanied the formation of the Japanese archipelago. The red bridge under construction is for the Linear Shinkansen, and although the train window is full of tunnels, you may be able to see the Kiso River and the mountain castle for a moment.

Ena County was newly established during the Nara period, and the Shokaji Temple Ruins, which was built around that time, was probably a large temple related to the county office, and many of the building's foundation stones remain. The Mino provincial capital was located in Tarui Town, west of Ogaki, and was far away, but it was a key transportation hub on the ancient Tosando and later Nakasendo roads leading to Shinano, and the area had a well-developed network of post towns.

The original surname of the Toyama clan was Kato. When Yoritomo raised his army, Kato Kagekado attacked and defeated Yamaki Kanetaka's mansion by his orders. Kagetaka's eldest son, Kagetomo, was given Toyama Manor and took the surname Toyama. He built a castle in Iwamura, which marked the beginning of the Toyama clan. His descendants split into several families and established their bases in Ena County.

During the Jōkyū War, Kagetomo executed Ichijō Nobuyoshi, a nobleman who fought on the side of Emperor Gotoba and was captured. At Iwamura Shrine under Iwamura Castle, there is a stone monument that reads "Nobuyoshi's final resting place."

In the Muromachi period, the Toki clan became the shugo of Mino, and the Toyama clan was granted security of their territory as local lords operating in Ena County, but in the Sengoku period, they began to suffer from pressure from the Takeda clan, who had conquered Shinano. In 1570, Akiyama Torashige, who played a part in Takeda Shingen's western advance strategy, started the war, but the Toyama clan, who ruled Ena, played a leading role in the Oda clan's front line, and with the Takeda army's invasion, they were forced to surrender their castles (Iwamura Castle and others) and territories, and to rely on Tokugawa Ieyasu and leave Ena. After Toyama Kageyuki, the head of Iwamura Castle, died of an illness, Nobunaga's aunt and legal wife, Otsuya, became the "female lord of the castle," but after surrendering, she became Torashige's wife, and it is a famous story that she was crucified when Nobunaga recaptured it three years later. I climbed Iwamura Castle 13 years ago. This castle used to be the main castle of the Toyama main family, but during the Edo period was occupied by small domains of fudai daimyo such as the Ogyu Matsudaira and Niwa families, and remained there until the Meiji Restoration.

The only surviving members of the Toyama clan were the branch families, the Naegi Toyama clan and the Akechi Toyama clan. The Naegi Toyama clan became the small feudal lord mentioned above, while the Akechi Toyama clan became a hatamoto with a stipend of 6,500 koku and set up their camp at the site of Akechi Castle.

The Akechi Toyama clan is a clan with extremely deep ties to Akechi Mitsuhide. Although much about Mitsuhide's background is still unclear, this place (Akechi) is one of the most likely birthplaces of Mitsuhide, and his mausoleum is located at Ryugo-ji Temple. This explains the relationship between Mitsuhide and the Akechi Toyama clan of the Toki Akechi clan, with the interpretation that Mitsuhide's uncle Mitsuyasu succeeded the Akechi Toyama clan (adopted?), or that Mitsuyasu and Toyama Kageyuki were the same person. The main Toki family had already been destroyed by Saito Dosan, and it is easy to imagine how Mitsuhide's family was later absorbed into the Toyama clan as Nobunaga took control of Mino.

When you think of Toyama, many people probably think of "Kin-san" (Toyama Kagemoto), who was from a branch of the Akechi Toyama family and became the Minamimachi magistrate. Many famous actors have played Kin-san, but for me, Nakamura Umenosuke's performance is the most memorable. It seems that the real Kagemoto did not behave well until he inherited the family business, but it is not clear whether the tattoo he showed when he took off one of his shirts was a snowstorm of cherry blossoms. Incidentally, Kagemoto's father was Kagekuni, who was adopted from the Nagai family, and he is not related by blood to the Toyama family.

I wondered why there was a Ryoma Shrine in such a place, but it seems that it was built because the ancestor of the Sakamoto family was Mitsuhide's son-in-law, Akechi Hidemitsu. There is an anecdote that after Mitsuhide's death, Hidemitsu was hidden by Chosokabe Motochika of Tosa, but whether this is true or not, I enjoyed visiting the shrine.

There are small graves from the Kamakura period lined up in a field on the outskirts of Magome-juku. It is said to be the site of Homyo-ji Temple, which existed during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. This temple was built by Minamoto no Yoshinaka's sister, Kikuhime, to pray for Yoshinaka's soul, and her grave is said to be inside the temple. The next post station after Magome is Shinshu Tsumago, and Yoshinaka's base in Kiso is also nearby.

In Ena, the post towns of Oi, Nakatsugawa, Ochiai, and Magome are lined up along the Kiso River, and each retains its own charming streetscape. Although the Nakasendo was hilly and had many difficult spots, it was used more than the Tokaido for alternate attendance and travel between imperial families and nobles. The Tokaido avoided many factors that increased travel expenses, such as checkpoints, large unbridged rivers, and sea routes. In his woodblock print of Oi-juku on the Nakasendo, Utagawa Hiroshige depicted two travelers on horseback along a snowy road.

Apparently it was modeled after the view from Jinbeizaka Hill as you leave Oijuku and head towards Nakatsugawa. Does it look similar?