Somayama Castle

Japanese: 杣山城 - そまやまじょう

This medieval mountain castle ( Yamajiro ) was located in Minami Echizen Town (formerly Nanjo Town), Nanjo County, Fukui Prefecture. The castle was built in the steep rocky mountains of Somayama (492m above sea level) in the southeastern part of the former Nanjo Town. The main citadel was located halfway up Somayama, and a secondary castle was located at the top of the mountain. Legend has it that the castle originated when Minamoto no Yorichika built a castle there in the early Kamakura period. In the mid-Kamakura period, Uryu Mamoru rebuilt it as his castle, and thereafter it became the castle of the Uryu clan. In the early Nanboku-cho period, the Uryu clan, who were based in Somayama Castle, belonged to the Southern Court, and it became one of the castle bases for the Southern Court in Echizen Province. In 1336 (Kenmu 3, Engen 1), when Ashikaga Takauji went to Kyoto, Nitta Yoshisada, who followed Emperor Godaigo, fled the capital accompanied by Prince Tsuneyoshi and Prince Takayoshi and entered Kanegasaki Castle (Tsuruga City). When Kanegasaki Castle was surrounded by a large army led by Shiba Takatsune, the guardian of Echizen Province, on the Ashikaga side (Northern Court side), and its supply route was cut off, Yoshisada escaped from Kanegasaki Castle and entered Somayama Castle, and used this castle as a base to regroup and oppose the Ashikaga clan. Yoshisada headed to the rescue of Kanegasaki Castle, but was killed in battle near Kashimagari in Tsuruga City, and Kanegasaki Castle also fell. Somayama Castle was then attacked by the Ashikaga side and fell, and Masuzawa Kai no Kami Yutoku, a retainer of Shiba Takatsune on the Northern Court side, entered the castle. Masuzawa Kainokami later came into conflict with the Asakura clan, who were the shugodai (military governor), and in 1470 (Bunmei 2), after Asakura Takakage defeated the Shiba side (Masuzawa Kainokami) in the Battle of Hinogawa, Somayama Castle became a subordinate castle of the Asakura clan, and his vassal Kawai Munekiyo entered the castle and made it his residence. Later, in 1514 (Eisho 11), the Ikko Ikki forces of Echizen who were fighting back against the Asakura clan barricaded themselves in the castle, but overall it became a subordinate castle of the Asakura clan. After the Asakura clan was destroyed by Oda Nobunaga, the Ikko Ikki forces barricaded themselves in the castle again, but it fell during Nobunaga's subjugation of Echizen, and was subsequently abandoned. In the mountains, there is Himeana, where Nitta Yoshisada's concubine, Nioto Naishi, is said to have hid when the Ashikaga forces attacked Somayama, and at the top of the mountain, there is Ukekakeiwa, where legend has it that the wife and ladies-in-waiting of the castle lord, Uryu Tamotsu, jumped into the sea upon hearing the news of his death in battle. Take a taxi or walk from Nanjo Station on the JR Hokuriku Main Line. Somayama has well-maintained hiking trails, with three trailheads leading to the top.

Source: Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles Information

Japanese:

福井県南条郡南越前町（旧南条町）にあった中世の山城(やまじろ)。旧南条町の南東部、岩石がそそり立つ峻険な杣山（標高492m）の山中に築かれていた城である。杣山の中腹に本丸が置かれ、山頂部には、その詰城があった。鎌倉時代初期に源頼親が城郭を築いたことを起源とするという伝承がある。鎌倉時代中期には瓜生衛が居城として再築し、以後、瓜生氏の居城となった。南北朝時代初期、杣山城を本拠とした瓜生氏は南朝方に属したことから、越前国における南朝方の拠点の城の一つとなった。1336年（建武3・延元1）、足利尊氏が上洛すると、後醍醐天皇に従った新田義貞は、恒良親王、尊良親王を奉じて都を逃れ金ケ崎城（敦賀市）に入城した。その金ヶ崎城が足利方（北朝方）の越前国守護斯波高経らの大軍に包囲され糧道を断たれると、義貞は金ヶ崎城を脱出して杣山城に入り、この城を拠点に体勢を立て直し、足利氏に対抗した。義貞は金ヶ崎城の救援に向かったが、敦賀市樫曲付近にて戦死し、金ヶ崎城も落城。続いて、杣山城も足利方の攻撃を受けて落城し、北朝方の斯波高経の家老であった増沢甲斐守祐徳が入城した。増沢甲斐守はその後、守護代の朝倉氏と反目し、1470年（文明2）に、朝倉孝景が日野川の合戦で斯波方（増沢甲斐守）を破った後、杣山城は朝倉氏の属城となり、家臣の河合宗清が入城し、居城とした。その後、1514年（永正11）に、朝倉氏に反攻する越前の一向一揆勢が立て籠もるということもあったが、総じて朝倉氏の属城となった。織田信長により朝倉氏が滅ぼされた後、一向一揆勢が再び立て籠もったが、信長の越前平定の際に落城し、その後、廃城となった。山中には、足利方が杣山を攻めた際、新田義貞の内室の匂当内侍が身を隠したといわれる姫穴や、山頂部には城主の瓜生保の戦死の知らせを聞いた夫人や女房たちが身を投げたとという伝承が残る袿掛岩がある。JR北陸本線南条駅からタクシーまたは徒歩。杣山はハイキングコースが整備され、山頂に至る登山口が3ヵ所ある。

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