Omihachiman's Three Famous Castles ~ MAY,2025 ~

From Hachimanyama Castle, built by Toyotomi Hidetsugu, you can see Kannonji Castle and Azuchi Castle in the direction of the eastern shore of Lake Biwa. In a straight line, it is 5-6 km to Azuchi Castle and 7-8 km to Kannonji Castle, so it is right between them. For castle fans, it is not only an efficient way to visit the famous castles of the country, but it is also a town where you can vividly feel the flow of time from ancient, medieval, and early modern times. Since I climbed Azuchi Castle about ten years ago, I decided to climb Kannonji Castle and Hachimanyama Castle this time.

You can climb Kannonji Castle via the grounds of Kannonshoji Temple. This old temple was founded by Prince Shotoku and is the 32nd temple of the Thirty-Three Kannon Temples of the Western Provinces, but it was at the mercy of the rise and fall of the Rokkaku clan. Rokkaku Sadayori and Yoshikata (Jotei) expanded the castle along the ridgeline during the Tenbun to Eiroku era (early to late 16th century), and the temple grounds were incorporated into it, so the temple was temporarily moved to the foot of the mountain. It was once burned down during Nobunaga's attack, but was restored back to the top of the mountain during the Keicho era. However, recently (1993), the main hall was burned down again due to an accidental fire, and the principal image and temple treasures were lost during that time. Fire prevention measures for cultural properties are important everywhere, but it is especially important to be careful on a mountain like this, where fire trucks cannot easily access it.

The Sasaki clan is said to be the Uda Genji clan, whose ancestor was Prince Masanobu, the third son of Prince Atsumi, the eighth son of Emperor Uda, who became a commoner and took the name Minamoto no Masanobu. You may have heard of it somewhere, but Toru Masuoka played the role in last year's taiga drama "Hikaru Kimi e".

His daughter, Rinshi, played by Kuroki Haru, became Michinaga's wife and the founder of the Sekkanke family.

The family of Masanobu later split into two families, one that became aristocrats and the other that settled in the manor as samurai, with the latter moving to Sasaki Manor in Gamo County, Omi Province and taking the surname Sasaki. Sasaki Shrine, which enshrines the guardian deity of the Sasaki clan, was established within the manor at that time and has remained there ever since.

During the Hogen and Heiji Rebellions, the head of the family, Sasaki Hideyoshi, acted alongside Minamoto no Yoshitomo, but after his defeat in the Heiji Rebellion, he supported Yoritomo and became his retainer. Later, during the Jōkyū Rebellion, the family split into two factions, one for the retired Emperor Go-Toba and the other for the shogunate, and the family that sided with the shogunate prospered, becoming known as the Izumo Genji. Although they certainly owed a debt of gratitude to Yoritomo, the Sasaki family, which had been active as a distinguished samurai family since the mid-Heian period, also had a high sense of pride, and were seen as the basara daimyo Sasaki Doyo (played by Jinnai Takanori in the NHK drama "Taiheiki"), and the father and son Rokkaku Jotei and Yoshiharu, who resisted Nobunaga's invasion to the end, and did not easily succumb to either the Ashikaga shogunate or the ruler of Japan, Nobunaga. The Amago clan, the rulers of Sanin during the Sengoku period, were a branch of the Sasaki Kyogoku clan, and I would like to trace their footsteps when I travel the Sanin region in the future.

Although Nobunaga has a strong image as an enemy of Buddhism, he founded Jogan-in Temple on the site of the Sasaki clan's family temple (Jion-ji Temple) and left the tower gate from the Jion-ji Temple era intact.

There is a memorial tower for Nobunaga at Saikoji Temple, and it apparently contains his jawbone, from which some of his bones were taken three years after the Honnoji Incident.

It was around this time (1585, Tensho 13) that Toyotomi Hidetsugu was granted 430,000 koku of land in Omihachiman, and as his father-in-law Hideyoshi became the regent, his ability as a ruler was put to the test as his successor. Hidetsugu only stayed in the area for five years before moving to Kiyosu, but he built Hachimanyama Castle, constructed the Hachiman moat, and attracted merchants from Azuchi Castle, developing the town of Omihachiman. To climb Hachimanyama Castle, it is convenient to take the ropeway that starts from the side of Himure Hachiman Shrine, and you can get a panoramic view of the city.

Hidetsugu later became the regent and moved his residence to Jurakudai, but only four years passed between the birth of Hideyori and his falling out of Hideyoshi's favor, and his suicide at Mount Koya. It is well known that Hidetsugu's wives, concubines and children were all executed at Sanjogawara, but Hidetsugu's mother, Nisshuu-ni (Hideyoshi's sister), became a nun and built Zuiryu-ji Temple to pray for the souls of Hidetsugu and his family. The temple had been in Kyoto since the Edo period, but in 1961 it was moved to the site of the main citadel of Hachimanyama Castle. I thought it was a very elegant move to move Hidetsugu's family temple to this place, where he was entrusted with a large estate for the first time and where he worked on building the castle and town. Incidentally, Hidetsugu's younger brother Hidekatsu's daughter (Sadako) married the regent Kujo Yukiie, and their descendants are connected to the current Imperial family.

Omihachiman was established as a castle town with 430,000 koku of rice, but after Hidetsugu's rule, Kyogoku Takatsugu entered Hachimanyama Castle as a minor feudal lord with 28,000 koku of rice. After Hidetsugu's downfall, the castle was demolished and Takatsugu moved to Otsu. Thanks to Hidetsugu's legacy of Hachiman moat and its urban functions, Omihachiman continued to thrive as a major transit point for goods on Lake Biwa. It seems that there was consideration of filling in the moat during the period of high economic growth, but thanks to the enthusiasm of the local people, it was cleaned up and removed, and the town now offers a picturesque view.

I stopped by Kyorinbo, which appears in the book, "Hidden Village" (by Masako Shirasu). It is written that the garden was designed by Enshu Kobori and uses an ancient burial mound, but after Masako visited, it became an abandoned temple and fell into disrepair for a time, but it seems to have been restored about 30 years ago. Unfortunately, it is only open on weekends, so I will leave that as homework for next time. Let's plan a "hidden village tour" separately.

At the foot of Kannonji Castle is the Hyōtanyama Kofun, built in the 4th century. It is the largest keyhole-shaped tumulus in Shiga Prefecture, and is surrounded by residential areas, making it a great place for a short stroll. There is also Oiso Shrine, which houses Oisomori, a shrine that has long been a focus of poetry, and it is clear that the area has been a center of politics and rituals since ancient times. As I stop here and there, the sun always sets earlier than expectation. We still need to go there to understand the 2,000 years that have passed.