Kami-Akasaka Castle

Kami-Akasaka Castle
上赤坂城
Chihayaakasaka, Osaka-fu, Japan
Site of Kami-Akasaka castle
Kami-Akasaka Castle Show map of Osaka Prefecture Kami-Akasaka Castle Show map of Japan
Coordinates	34°26′52.8″N 135°37′50.9″E / 34.448000°N 135.630806°E / 34.448000; 135.630806
Type	Yamajiro-style Japanese castle
Site information
Condition	ruins
Site history
Built	1331
Built by	Kusunoki Masashige
In use	1331-1360
Materials	Wood, stone
National Historic Site of Japan

Kami-Akasaka Castle (上赤坂城, Kami-Akasaka-jō) is a late

Kami-Akasaka Castle is located at a ridge extending from Mount Kongō on the border of Kawachi Province with the Yoshino region of Yamato Province. It was the center of a defensive position which included many smaller fortifications on surrounding hills. Shimo-Akasaka Castle is located at a lower level opposite a small river. In 1331, when Emperor Go-Daigo attempted to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate in the Genkō War, he relied on Prince Moriyoshi and a local lord from the Chihaya-Akasaka area, Kusunoki Masashige to raise an army. However, this first attempt failed, and Emperor Go-Daigo was captured and exiled to the Oki Islands and Kusunoki Masashige faked his death at the Siege of Akasaka and escaped into the deep mountains of his own territory where he constructed Kami-Akasaka Castle and Chihaya Castle.^[4]

The castle was consisted of several enclosures protected by dry moats, spread over the mountain and formed a letter "H" connecting two peaks and the intervening saddle. From the entry to the inner enclosures was a narrow path with several gates. In early 1333, Kusunoki Masashige joined forces with Prince Moriyoshi and recovered Shimo-Akasaka Castle and resumed his offense against the shogunate. The shogunate responded with a large army which laid siege to Kami-Akasaka Castle, which was defended by Kusunoki Masashige's brother Kusunoki Masasue. The castle fell after two weeks, once the shogunate army had managed to break the water supply to the defenders.^[4]

After the

• 
  Site of Honmaru
• 
  Ni-no-kido
• 
  San-no-kido
• 
  View from the castle

See also

• List of Historic Sites of Japan (Osaka)

References

• De Lange, William (2021). An Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles. Groningen: Toyo Press. pp. 600 pages.
  ISBN 978-9492722300
  .
• Frederic, Louis (2002). "Chihaya-jō." Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Sansom, George (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334-1615." Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp123–4
• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
• Motoo, Hinago (1986). Japanese Castles. Tokyo: Kodansha. pp. 200 pages.
  ISBN 0-87011-766-1
  .

• Media related to Kamiakasakajyo at Wikimedia Commons