Hachioji Castle was a kind of fort castle built on Mt. Fukasawa (near current Takao town, Hachioji city) in the 1580s, which was during Japanese Warring State Period. A Samurai lord
Ujiteru Hojo built it.
Hojo family had been a powerful Samurai lord family until the 16th century. Their main castle was Odawara Castle, which was located in current Odawara City, Kanagawa prefecture (The castle was rebuilt and it is a popular tourist spot now). Ujiteru's oldest brother took over the main castle and Ujiteru was protecting the north part of their territory.
As you can see the photo of a diorama around Hachioji Castle on the left hand side photo, the whole mountain was used for the castle, therefore the location was naturally impregnable. Ujiteru
believed his castle was safe against enemies. However, just few years later it
fell in only one day during Ujiteru's absence. Most of Ujiteru's people died at the defeat and the castle buildings were completely destroyed.
Perhaps because of the tragic fact, the place is also known as a ghosts' spot now. However, it is said that the rumors of ghosts started to spread after modern times, especially while a collage was located near the castle. Generally speaking, young kids tend to like such a scary story and they probably took a part to spread the rumors of ghosts.
Actual surroundings of Hachioji Castle is beautiful nature and there is no ghostly atmosphere. There is even a nice guidance center built several years ago as shown in the upper right hand side photo. What's more, there is a very old shrine called "Hachioji Shirne" near the main Bailey of the castle on top of Mt. Fukasawa and apparently this shrine's name was the origin of the place name "Hachioji". So Hachioji Castle Ruins is really an important historical spot for Hachioji.
No comments:
Post a Comment