Yakami Castle

Sasayama, Japan, Japan

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Yakami Castle (also called Yagami Castle) is a ruined Sengoku‑period mountain castle in what is now Tamba‑Sasayama City, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, located on Mount Takashiro (Takashiro‑yama) about 400 meters above sea level to the southeast of the city center.

It was built in 1508 as the original stronghold of the Hatano clan, who ruled Tanba Province, and together with Kuroi Castle and Yagi Castle became one of the largest castles in the province, serving as the Hatano’s main base for over half a century. The castle fell to Akechi Mitsuhide’s forces in 1579, but in 1608 the Tokugawa shogunate allowed Matsudaira Yasushige (possibly Tokugawa Ieyasu’s illegitimate son) to take control of Yakami Castle; the following year.

Leyasu ordered the castle dismantled and Matsudaira relocated to nearby Sasayama, where the new, grandly planned Sasayama Castle was built in less than a year under the design of Todo Takatora to better control western lords and secure the roads to Osaka. Today, the site is designated a National Historic Site (since 2005) and, although no main keep or major buildings remain, visitors can see the rough outlines of baileys along the mountain ridge, scattered stone‑wall remnants, and terraced earthworks that follow the steep slopes, all set within a quiet, wooded area that offers a clear example of a large medieval mountain castle layout and a direct link to the transition from regional power to early Edo‑period shogunate control.