The setting of the Momotaro legend and a popular hiking course! A guide to all of "Kinojo Castle"

Okayama Prefecture Official Tourism Site

• Table of contents
• What kind of castle is Kinojo Castle? (Location)
• What kind of castle is Kinojo Castle? (Structure)
• The history of Kinojo Castle is full of mysteries
• Start exploring
• Mt. Kinjo Visitor Center
• The learning plaza (observation deck) offers a spectacular view
• The restored West Gate
• Restored rammed earthworks
• Paving stone remains that can only be seen at "Demon Castle"
• Six water gates inside the castle
• Head to the South Gate ruins while enjoying the beautiful view of the south side
• Exploring the east side while taking in the spectacular views
• Walking through the greenery to the North Gate
• We arrived at the goal, the corner tower!
• Maintaining the vast castle grounds is also difficult
• Conclusion

What kind of castle is Kinojo Castle? (Location)

This ancient mountain castle was built on the southern edge of the Kibi Highlands at an altitude of 400-600 meters, in a location with a spectacular view of the Soja Hirano. It occupies a vast site of approximately 30 hectares, making it extremely large for an ancient mountain castle.

What kind of castle is Kinojo Castle? (Structure)

The castle is located on a mountain shaped like an upside-down mortar, with steep slopes but a flat summit. Around the 8th or 9th station, where the gentle slope of the mountain changes to a steep one, a strong earthen rampart runs for 2.8km, interspersed with high Ishigaki at key points. In the valley, there is a water gate made of Ishigaki for drainage, and there are four gates for entrance and exit. Inside, it is thought that there were buildings, warehouses, a water source, a signal tower, a blacksmith's workshop and more.

Kinojo Castle

Okusaka, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture 719-1101

The history of Kinojo Castle is full of mysteries

The history of Kinojo Castle is shrouded in mystery, as there are no records of it in historical texts such as the Nihon Shoki. However, recent excavation findings have revealed that it was likely built in the latter half of the 7th century. After a major defeat at Baekgang in Korea in 663, the Yamato court feared an invasion by the allied forces of Tang and Silla, and built mountain castles in northern Kyushu and along the Setouchi coast for defense, and it is thought that Kinojo Castle was one of these. In other words, it was a castle built as a national project.

Start exploring

Now it's time to set out to explore Kinojo Castle. You can only drive as far as the parking lot next to the visitor center. From here, you'll need to walk around. There are walking paths inside the castle, but we recommend wearing sneakers or other comfortable clothing (trekking poles would be even better).

Mt. Kinjo Visitor Center

The Kinoshiroyama Visitor Center is a guidance facility that uses videos, panels, and models to introduce Kinoshiroyama in an easy-to-understand way. It is recommended to first get some background information about Kinojo Castle Castle here, as this will make your exploration more enjoyable. You can get your 100 Famous Castles stamp here (on closed days, you can get it stamped at the Soja City Buried Cultural Property Learning Center. *Only when the center is open). Also, there are no restrooms inside the castle, so be sure to use the restroom here before setting off.

[Kishiroyama Visitor Center]

Address: 1101-2 Kuroo, Soja Soja City, Okayama Prefecture Prefecture

TEL: 0866-99-8566

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (last entry at 16:30)

Closed: Mondays *If Monday is a national holiday, the following weekday will be closed, and the New Year holidays (December 29th to January 3rd)

Parking: Approximately 70 cars

Mt. Kinjo Visitor Center | Okayama Tourism Web

Soja City Kinojo mountain Visitor Center

719-1105 1101-2 Kuroo, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture

The learning plaza (observation deck) offers a spectacular view

From the visitor center, take the gentle path to the right at the fork in the road and you'll arrive at the learning plaza in about 5 minutes. "Kinojo Castle" is the only ancient castle in Japan that has had its defensive facilities, such as castle gates, wooden fences, earthworks and Ishigaki, restored, making it a valuable place where you can see what the castle looked like back then. It has not simply been restored based on imagination, but has been restored as faithfully as possible, based on excavation surveys and as much research as possible. Directly ahead is a spectacular view of the Kibi Plain.

The restored West Gate

The West Gate is the largest gate in the castle, with a width of 12m, and was restored after excavations revealed it to be in good condition. Its imposing presence overwhelms visitors. The views from here are particularly beautiful, making it a spectacular spot for sunsets and Asahi. There is a barrier-free walking path from the visitor center to the West Gate, making it the only ancient mountain castle that is accessible to wheelchair users.

Restored rammed earthworks

Going through the west gate, you can get a good view of the restored castle walls. The earthworks of Kinojo Castle are made using a method called "rammed earthworks." They are not simply piled up with soil; rather, a small amount of soil is piled up and then compacted using feet or tools, and then a small amount of soil is piled on top of that, and compacted again, and this process is repeated to create a very strong earthwork. This rammed earthwork surrounded the castle endlessly. Near the west gate, this rammed earthwork has been restored using traditional construction methods. Looking up at the nearly vertical earthworks is very impressive.

Paving stone remains that can only be seen at "Demon Castle"

Stone paving can be seen on both the inside and outside of the rammed earthen ramparts. These stone paving remains are unique among ancient mountain castles, and are a valuable sight not found in other castles discovered in Japan for the first time. Be careful when walking on the stone paving as it is easy to trip.

Six water gates inside the castle

If you go down along the rammed earthwork, you will come to the first sluice gate, sluice gate no. 0, just before the wooden stairs. At Kinojo Castle, six sluice gates with drainage functions have been installed in the valley to prevent rainwater and other water from accumulating inside the castle. The basic structure is made of Ishigaki on the lower half and rammed earth embankment on the upper half. Next, climb the wooden stairs and head further Higashi. After walking Higashi along the promenade for about 10 minutes, you will reach sluice gate no. 1, and a little further on, sluice gate no. 2 (pictured above). sluice gate no. 2 is in good condition and is the only place where you can get a good look at the structure of Kinojo Castle's sluice gates.

Head to the South Gate ruins while enjoying the beautiful view of the south side

It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the second floodgate to the remains of the south gate. From the south side of this road, you can see the city of Okayama and other beautiful sights. The south gate is a large gate of the same scale and specifications as the west gate, and the remains of its pillars have been well-maintained to make them easy to see.

Exploring the east side while taking in the spectacular views

From the South Gate, continue along the road further east. From the protruding area between the third and fourth water gates, you can see another spectacular view of Oni Kinojo Castle, the folding screen Ishigaki. The view that unfolds below is also amazing!

The impressive monolith at the East Gate blocks entry

The East Gate is smaller than the West and South Gates, but as you enter from outside the castle, there are fan-shaped Ishigaki on both sides of the gate, and a large natural rock lies in front of it, as if blocking entry. This gate was the first gate to be excavated at "Oni no Shiro" and was formerly known as the remains of the First Castle Gate. From here to the folding screen Ishigaki, it's a slightly rough path with many ups and downs. Let's make one more effort to reach the lunch spot!

Lunch time at the folding screen Ishigaki

The Byobu-ori Ishigaki is a protruding section with high Ishigaki, and it is a place with a great view. There is also a stone monument marking the remains of Kinojo Castle. In terms of the journey, we are about halfway there. The lunch we had while admiring the magnificent view was exceptionally delicious!

Walking through the greenery to the North Gate

From the folding screen Ishigaki, a relatively gentle and easy path continues. Along the way, you will see remains of earthworks and other structures before arriving at the north gate in about 15 minutes. The north gate was also renovated after the excavation survey. There is a drainage ditch running through the middle of the gate passage, which is a unique structure that is unique to "Kinojo Castle."

Remains of the warehouse and administration building in the center of the castle

Continuing on from the North Gate, there is a path that descends to the left. If you follow this, you will soon reach the group of stone-built buildings on the right. Here, the foundation stones of the administration building and the remains of the warehouses have been restored after excavation. A little further down, a group of warehouses that are thought to have been used to store food have been excavated and restored. As an aside, nearly 20 years ago, when I attended an on-site briefing for the excavation of these stone-built buildings, the outline of the round pillar that had been on top of the foundation stone immediately after it was unearthed was still clearly visible (it is no longer visible), and I remember feeling a sense of ancient romance. Now, let's make a U-turn from here and head to the remains of the corner tower, our goal.

We arrived at the goal, the corner tower!

We arrived at the corner tower. This completes the tour of Kinojo Castle. Right next to it is the west gate, where we started. This corner tower is also a rare defensive facility found only at Kinojo Castle. The top image was taken from the top of the corner tower. This time, we took our time to tour all of Kinojo Castle's highlights, enjoying a packed lunch along the way, and completed the tour in about three hours. Experienced hikers will likely complete the tour in about 70 minutes.

Maintaining the vast castle grounds is also difficult

During our visit, repair work was taking place on the castle wall east of the West Gate, so we were given special permission to take a look inside. Maintaining the restored sections is also a difficult task. Over the years, wind and rain have caused deterioration and damage to the earthworks, which is the same now as it was then. Repair work is carried out each time this happens, and in order to ensure the scenery and the safety of visitors, the relevant agencies of Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, and the national government work together with local businesses to carry out maintenance work.

When I went back after the repair work was completed, I found that a beautiful rammed earthwork had been completed, with many layers of earth piled up. When I spoke to the contractor, he said, "The area that was repaired this time was about 7m wide, but it's hard to imagine that this earthwork stretched 2.8km around when the castle was built." Looking at the well-maintained earthworks with this in mind, the grandeur of "Oni no Kinojo Castle" really comes across.

Conclusion

This time, we explored the entire grounds of Kinojo Castle Castle, which is extremely popular as a hiking course offering magnificent views of the ancient Kibi Province below, while also enjoying the historical site. Around the west gate, the only part that has been restored, we were able to get a close-up look at what it was like back then, and it was a fun trip filled with the romance of ancient times, as we realized we were walking on paving stones that were made 1,300 years ago. Why not visit Oni no Shiro, the land of the Momotaro legend?

Kinojo Castle

Okusaka, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture 719-1101