Odani Castle

Japanese: 小谷城 - おだにじょう

A mountain castle ( Yamajiro ) located in Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture (formerly Kohoku Town, Higashi-Azai County). It is a nationally designated historic site and one of the "100 Great Castles of Japan" selected by the Japan Castle Foundation. It was the residence of the Azai clan, a feudal lord in the Sengoku period in northern Omi. Built on the southern ridge of Mt. Otani ( Ibeyama , about 495m above sea level), it was known as a sturdy mountain castle and was later counted as one of the five great mountain castles in Japan. According to the "Azai Sandaiki," it was built by Azai Sukemasa in 1516 (Eisho 13), but various historical sources suggest that it was built in 1523-24 (Taei 3-4). After its construction, the castle was used as the residence of three generations of the Azai clan: Sukemasa, Hisamasa, and Nagamasa. The Azai clan grew as a feudal lord during the Sengoku period while fighting against the Rokkaku clan in southern Omi, and Azai Nagamasa achieved his zenith by marrying Oda Nobunaga's younger sister Oichi no Kata and forming an alliance with the Oda clan. However, as the conflict between Nobunaga and Asakura Yoshikage of Echizen Province intensified, Nobunaga sided with the Asakura clan, which led to armed conflict with the Oda forces (the Genki and Tensho Disturbances). In 1570 (Genki 1), the combined forces of Oda and Tokugawa clashed with the combined forces of Asakura and Azai about 5km south of Odani Castle (the Battle of Anegawa), and although the Oda and Tokugawa forces were victorious, Nobunaga gave up on continuing to capture Odani Castle due to its strength, and instead built a castle (Yokoyama Castle) on the south bank of the Anegawa River and appointed Kinoshita Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) as its commander. After that, the Azai clan's subordinate castles, Sawayama Castle (Hikone City) of Isono Kazumasa and Miyabe Castle (Nagahama City) of Miyabe Keijun, switched sides to the Oda clan one after another, and when Atsuji Sadayuki's Yamamotoyama Castle (Abe Castle , Nagahama City), which was a subsidiary castle of Odani Castle and a defensive base for the castle, switched to the Oda clan through Hideyoshi's strategy, Odani Castle finally fell to the Oda in 1573 (Tensho 1), and Nagamasa and his wife Oichi committed suicide in the castle after sending their three daughters to Nobunaga. After the downfall of the Azai clan, Nobunaga awarded 120,000 koku of land to Hashiba Hideyoshi, who had been a distinguished military figure, in three of the Azai clan's former territories: Ika District, Azai District, and Sakata District. Hideyoshi did not use Odani Castle, which was far from Lake Biwa and inconvenient to get to, as his residence. Instead, in 1575 (Tensho 3), he built a new castle, Nagahama Castle (Nagahama City), in Imahama (later renamed Nagahama), and used it as his residence. As a result, Odani Castle was abandoned. The materials from Odani Castle were used to build Nagahama Castle. Odani Castle was a long castle stretching from north to south with many enclosures on the ridge that continued from Odaniyama. Between the main enclosure and the middle enclosure in the center, there was a moat about 5 to 10 meters deep, which divided the castle into north and south. As mentioned above, after the fall of the castle, the materials were dismantled and used for Nagahama Castle, so the castle ruins no longer look as they did in the past, but part of a large stone wall (about 4 to 5 meters high and 30 meters long) remains near one of the enclosures, Sannomaru. In addition, the remains of dry moats, earthworks, and hard moats remain. At the top of Mt. Otani, there is the ruins of Otake Castle, a subsidiary castle. Take the Kohoku Town Bus from JR Hokuriku Main Line Kawage Station and get off at the Otani Castle Ruins Exit. It is about a 20-minute walk from the trailhead to the Honmaru Kuruwa area.

Source: Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles Information

Japanese:

滋賀県長浜市（旧東浅井郡湖北町）にあった山城(やまじろ)。国指定史跡。日本城郭協会選定による「日本100名城」の一つ。北近江の戦国大名浅井氏の居城。小谷山（伊部山、標高約495m）の南の尾根筋に築かれた城で、堅固な山城として知られ、その後、日本五大山城の一つに数えられた城郭である。『浅井三代記』によれば、1516年（永正13）に浅井亮政(すけまさ)によって築かれたとされているが、さまざまな史料から、1523～24年（大永3～4）築城説が有力になっている。同城は築城後、亮政・久政・長政の浅井氏3代が居城とした。浅井氏は南近江の六角氏と戦いながら戦国大名として成長し、浅井長政は織田信長の妹お市の方を妻に迎えて織田氏と同盟して全盛を築いた。しかし、信長と越前国の朝倉義景の対立が深まると、朝倉氏に与したことから、織田勢との武力対立（元亀・天正の騒乱）に発展した。1570年（元亀1）、小谷城の南約5kmで織田・徳川連合軍と朝倉・浅井連合軍が激突し（姉川の戦い）、織田・徳川勢が勝利したが、信長はその堅固さから小谷城を引き続き攻略することを断念し、姉川南岸に付け城（横山城）を築城して、木下秀吉（のちの豊臣秀吉）を城将とした。その後、浅井氏の属城であった磯野員昌の佐和山城（彦根市）や宮部継潤の宮部城（長浜市）が次々と織田方に寝返り、小谷城の支城で同城の防衛拠点だった阿閉(あつじ)貞征の山本山城（阿閉城、長浜市）が秀吉の調略により、織田氏に転じるに及んで、1573年（天正1）、ついに小谷城は織田方により陥落し、長政と妻のお市の方は3人の娘を信長の許に送った後、城内で自害した。浅井氏滅亡後、信長は軍功のあった羽柴秀吉に浅井氏の旧領のうちの伊香郡・浅井郡・坂田郡の3郡12万石を与えた。秀吉は琵琶湖から遠く交通の便の悪い小谷城を居城とせず、1575年（天正3）に今浜（その後、長浜と改名）に新たに長浜城（長浜市）を築いて居城とした。そのため小谷城は廃城となった。なお、小谷城の資材は長浜城の築城に用いられた。小谷城は小谷山から続く尾根筋に数多くの郭を設けていた南北に長い城郭で、その中心部の本丸と中丸との間には深さ5～10mほどの堀切があり、この堀切で南北に分かれていた。前述したとおり、同城落城後、その資材が解体され長浜城に利用されてしまったため、城跡は往時の姿をとどめていないが、郭の一つの山王丸付近に大石垣の一部（高さ約4～5m、長さ約30m）が現存している。このほか、空掘、土塁、堅堀跡などが残っている。なお、小谷山山頂には支城の大嶽城跡がある。JR北陸本線河毛駅から湖北町タウンバスで小谷城址口下車。本丸曲輪(くるわ)部分までは登山口から徒歩約20分。

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