Harsh mountain fortress in a harsh winter
戸倉上山田の温泉画街から裏の城山の天辺に木造の櫓が見える： 荒砥城の見晴らし台です。1995年に復元されたこの山城は戦国時代を表現する。
松本城や姫路城は「日本のお城だ！」というイメージがあるかもしれないけど、ああいう平地城は戦国時代の後半もしくは江戸時代の方からのが多い。戦国時代の最中には下から上に何があるか分からないような作りのこういう山城の方が多かった。松本城の様な平地のお城は殿様の力を示す目的があった；荒砥城の様な山城は単純に戦争の為であった。
戦争やら火事やら、もしくは単純の浸食で戦国時代の山城の全部は無くなりました。唯一元の形として存在しているのはこの荒砥城です。従って、荒砥城は太河ドラマのロケ地として使われています。
今回はお客さんに頼まれて、荒砥城を案内しました。冬に登ったのは初めてだったかもしれない；
いつも格好良い荒砥城は雪景色でなお良い絵になっています、
上から見る千曲川と周辺の山々は白くなっていて、なお綺麗でした。
お客さんは「そのころの侍は冬をどうやって越したか」とか、「その時代に一日だけでもいいから戻ってみたい」とかで話が盛り上がりました。
荒砥城はいつもお客さんに紹介しますが、自分も時々行けて良いね。
From down in our onsen town, Togura-Kamiyamada, you can see a wooden lookout tower at the top of Jo-Yama, the hill behind our town. The tower belongs to Arato-jo, a mountain fortress. The compound was rebuilt to match its presumed original configuration in 1995.
Most people typically picture a lowland castle like Matsumoto's or Himeji's when they think of a 'Japanese castle'. Those are more projections of the local lord's power than actual defensive battlements. They date back to the end of the Warring States as well as Edo eras.
During the Warring States era, however, thousands of fortresses like Arato-Jo were constructed on hilltops throughout the country. They were designed strictly for military purposes, with the majority of their structures built low to the ground so as not to be visible from down below.
All of these mountain fortresses have since disappeared, destroyed by fires, battles or simple erosion. Arato-jo is hence the only such fortress existing in a resemblance of it's original shape, and is often used as the backdrop for historical TV shows.
I took a couple of guests up to Arato-jo for a tour. This was my first time to go in the middle of winter. With a touch of snow, the fortress has an even more foreboding feel to it. The view from the top, with the Chikuma River valley below and the surrounding mountains in their winter state, had a surreal feel to it.
The guests and I wondered how it must have been like for the samurai posted here in the winter. One whistfully fantasized about returning to that era and experiencing how it would've been like to live a samurai's life for a day.
Down here at Kamesei, our guests often follow our recommendation and drive or walk up to see Arato-jo. This time I was fortunate to see the fort with my own eyes, in its harsh winter guise.
