Katsumata Castle (勝間田城 Katsumata-jō) was a yamajiro (山城), a hilltop fortification built on the vast Makinohara Plateau (牧ノ原台地) in central Shizuoka Prefecture. The site appears quiet today, with only traces of earthworks, but for several centuries it stood at the centre of a local polity shaped by the fortunes of the Katsumata clan (勝間田氏), who held this region for roughly three hundred and forty years, from the last decades of the Heian period into the middle of the Muromachi age. Their earliest appearance in written history is found in the Hōgen monogatari (保元物語), a reminder that the family emerged during an era when the old court order was giving way to the rule of the warrior houses.
By the early Kamakura period , Katsumata Narichika (勝間田成長) had entered the ranks of the bakufu gokenin, tying the family directly to the political centre at Kamakura. His descendants maintained this scholarly and cultural presence as well: Katsumata Nagakiyo (勝間田長清), active in the late Kamakura years, is credited with compiling the Fuboku wakashū (夫木和歌集), a major private waka anthology that reflects the literary circles of the fourteenth century. Their involvement in national affairs becomes clearer during the turbulent Genkō War (元弘の乱) of 1331, when members of the clan fought on opposing sides in the sieges of Akasaka Castle (赤坂城) and Chihaya Castle (千早城). The fact that relatives stood among both attackers and defenders shows how divided loyalties ran during the final collapse of the Kamakura bakufu.
As the Muromachi period entered its middle decades, the Katsumata remained tied to the Ashikaga government and were drawn into the shogunate's military campaigns. Contemporary accounts note their presence in the fighting of 1399, remembered as the Ōei War (応永の乱 ), and again in 1439 during the Eikyō War (永享の乱). Both episodes grew out of long-standing tensions between the authority claimed by the shogunate in Kyoto and the ambitions of powerful regional families, and the Katsumata's involvement shows that they were regarded as reliable members of the forces the shogun could call directly into the field. Their long service suggests that the clan remained well connected, using its position on the Makinohara Plateau to guard the routes linking Suruga with Tōtōmi and the coastal artery of the Tōkaidō (東海道), while maintaining close ties to the Imagawa administration based at Sunpu.
Katsumata Castle's placement on the plateau reflected the practical thinking of medieval warfare. The broad, elevated terrain offered natural lines of defence and expansive views over the surrounding countryside. Like most yamajiro, it relied on earth ramparts, dry moats, and wooden palisades adapted to the landscape rather than on stone fortifications, which would only become commonplace in later centuries. The castle functioned as both a local administrative seat and a point of refuge, linking the Katsumata estates to wider military networks across Suruga.
The clan's long history in the region came to an abrupt end after the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, which destabilised authority across the country. Seizing the opportunity created by the turmoil, Imagawa Yoshitada (今川義忠, 1436–1476) launched an invasion into Tōtōmi. In 1476, during this campaign, Katsumata Castle fell to his forces. The defeat broke the clan's territorial base, and the family scattered. A later tradition claims that some survivors resettled around what is now Gotemba City, carrying with them memories of the plateau where their ancestors had lived for generations.
With the fall of the Imagawa after the death of Imagawa Yoshimoto (今川義元, 1519–1560) at Okehazama in the fifth month of 1560, the broader political landscape of Suruga shifted again. Still, by then, the Katsumata had already lost their home stronghold. Today, the calm ridges and terraces of the Makinohara Plateau still preserve the outline of the castle's enclosures, offering a glimpse into the layered military, cultural and political world that shaped this part of Suruga from the late Heian period to the age of warring states.
The castle made skilful use of the Makinohara Plateau, where the land had been shaped and cut back by the surrounding rivers. Its enclosures were laid out along the ridge, following the natural rise and fall of the terrain, and the remains of the earthen ramparts and horikiri trenches have survived in notably good condition.
Aerial photographs taken from the Geographical Survey Institute maps. The location of the enclosures is estimated.
The site is not easy to find. If you leave Prefectural Road 233 and follow the small sign pointing towards the Katsumata Castle ruins, you turn into a narrow side road. After a short drive, you reach the spot shown in the photograph, with the parking area on the right-hand side.
You then follow a paved track that climbs steadily through the tea fields for a while, with the slopes opening up around you as you go.
This is the point where the ascent to the castle begins — the tojō-guchi (登城口), the entrance to the old approach.
Near the entrance to the old approach, you can still make out traces of a koguchi, the defended gateway that once controlled access to the castle.
➣ ① San-no-kuruwa (三の曲輪)
This area marks the third enclosure, the san-no-kuruwa, where the ridge broadens slightly before rising toward the inner compounds.
➣ ② Ni-no-kuruwa (二の曲輪)
The second enclosure, the ni-no-kuruwa, lies further along the ridge. Around its edges, you can still see the line of the earthen rampart that once ringed the compound.
The second enclosure is relatively spacious, and traces of twelve separate buildings have been identified there. Among them are foundations built on dressed stones, something not often found in a medieval hilltop fort. These stone bases suggest that at least part of the compound was used for storage, where sturdier construction would have helped protect supplies and equipment from the damp winds that sweep across the plateau.
The main enclosure lies beyond the small valley, set on the opposite rise of the ridge. From the second enclosure, you can see how the ground dips away before climbing again toward what would once have been the heart of the castle.
➣ Eastern ridge enclosure (東尾根曲輪)
The eastern ridge enclosure stands as an outlying work on the far side of the main compound. It functioned as a demaru, a forward position that watched over the approaches from the east and added another layer of defence to the main enclosure.
Beyond the enclosure, a horikiri trench has been cut straight through the ridge, blocking any easy advance along its crest. This deep notch in the terrain forced anyone approaching from that direction to halt and find a way across, giving the defenders time and height to their advantage.
➣ ③ Hon-kuruwa (本曲輪)
The main enclosure, the hon-kuruwa, occupies a smaller space than the second enclosure. An earthen rampart rings it, and within that raised boundary stands a small shrine, a quiet reminder of the people who once lived and served on this ridge.
➣ ④ Southern enclosure (南曲輪)
The southern enclosure, set along the ridge beyond the main compound, is another of the castle's outer platforms, extending its line of defence toward the plateau's gentler slopes.
Between the southern enclosure and the koshi-kuruwa that sits below it, a horikiri trench cuts sharply across the ridge. The gap is deep and narrow, and you can see how it once blocked movement along the slope, forcing anyone approaching to break their stride and climb out of the cut before reaching the next platform.
The path continues from there, narrowing as it threads along the ridge. It feels a little uncertain underfoot, but I kept going, thinking there might be a tsume-no-shiro, a final redoubt or emergency refuge, further ahead.
However, the slope grew steeper by degrees, and before long, the path all but disappeared under a tangle of undergrowth that rose to chest height. More than once, I felt the urge to turn back, but I kept telling myself to try just a little farther, pushing on through the brush in the hope that the ridge might open up again.
What I finally reached was… well, the only word for it is unexpected.
The rather dramatic conclusion is → see below
.
It may sound like something from a recent television programme, and I apologise for the suspenseful tone. The shock I felt at that moment was entirely real.
Date of visit: 23 August 2014
By the early Kamakura period , Katsumata Narichika (勝間田成長) had entered the ranks of the bakufu gokenin, tying the family directly to the political centre at Kamakura. His descendants maintained this scholarly and cultural presence as well: Katsumata Nagakiyo (勝間田長清), active in the late Kamakura years, is credited with compiling the Fuboku wakashū (夫木和歌集), a major private waka anthology that reflects the literary circles of the fourteenth century. Their involvement in national affairs becomes clearer during the turbulent Genkō War (元弘の乱) of 1331, when members of the clan fought on opposing sides in the sieges of Akasaka Castle (赤坂城) and Chihaya Castle (千早城). The fact that relatives stood among both attackers and defenders shows how divided loyalties ran during the final collapse of the Kamakura bakufu.
As the Muromachi period entered its middle decades, the Katsumata remained tied to the Ashikaga government and were drawn into the shogunate's military campaigns. Contemporary accounts note their presence in the fighting of 1399, remembered as the Ōei War (応永の乱 ), and again in 1439 during the Eikyō War (永享の乱). Both episodes grew out of long-standing tensions between the authority claimed by the shogunate in Kyoto and the ambitions of powerful regional families, and the Katsumata's involvement shows that they were regarded as reliable members of the forces the shogun could call directly into the field. Their long service suggests that the clan remained well connected, using its position on the Makinohara Plateau to guard the routes linking Suruga with Tōtōmi and the coastal artery of the Tōkaidō (東海道), while maintaining close ties to the Imagawa administration based at Sunpu.
Katsumata Castle's placement on the plateau reflected the practical thinking of medieval warfare. The broad, elevated terrain offered natural lines of defence and expansive views over the surrounding countryside. Like most yamajiro, it relied on earth ramparts, dry moats, and wooden palisades adapted to the landscape rather than on stone fortifications, which would only become commonplace in later centuries. The castle functioned as both a local administrative seat and a point of refuge, linking the Katsumata estates to wider military networks across Suruga.
The clan's long history in the region came to an abrupt end after the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, which destabilised authority across the country. Seizing the opportunity created by the turmoil, Imagawa Yoshitada (今川義忠, 1436–1476) launched an invasion into Tōtōmi. In 1476, during this campaign, Katsumata Castle fell to his forces. The defeat broke the clan's territorial base, and the family scattered. A later tradition claims that some survivors resettled around what is now Gotemba City, carrying with them memories of the plateau where their ancestors had lived for generations.
With the fall of the Imagawa after the death of Imagawa Yoshimoto (今川義元, 1519–1560) at Okehazama in the fifth month of 1560, the broader political landscape of Suruga shifted again. Still, by then, the Katsumata had already lost their home stronghold. Today, the calm ridges and terraces of the Makinohara Plateau still preserve the outline of the castle's enclosures, offering a glimpse into the layered military, cultural and political world that shaped this part of Suruga from the late Heian period to the age of warring states.
The castle made skilful use of the Makinohara Plateau, where the land had been shaped and cut back by the surrounding rivers. Its enclosures were laid out along the ridge, following the natural rise and fall of the terrain, and the remains of the earthen ramparts and horikiri trenches have survived in notably good condition.
Aerial photographs taken from the Geographical Survey Institute maps. The location of the enclosures is estimated.
The site is not easy to find. If you leave Prefectural Road 233 and follow the small sign pointing towards the Katsumata Castle ruins, you turn into a narrow side road. After a short drive, you reach the spot shown in the photograph, with the parking area on the right-hand side.
You then follow a paved track that climbs steadily through the tea fields for a while, with the slopes opening up around you as you go.
This is the point where the ascent to the castle begins — the tojō-guchi (登城口), the entrance to the old approach.
Near the entrance to the old approach, you can still make out traces of a koguchi, the defended gateway that once controlled access to the castle.
➣ ① San-no-kuruwa (三の曲輪)
This area marks the third enclosure, the san-no-kuruwa, where the ridge broadens slightly before rising toward the inner compounds.
➣ ② Ni-no-kuruwa (二の曲輪)
The second enclosure, the ni-no-kuruwa, lies further along the ridge. Around its edges, you can still see the line of the earthen rampart that once ringed the compound.
The second enclosure is relatively spacious, and traces of twelve separate buildings have been identified there. Among them are foundations built on dressed stones, something not often found in a medieval hilltop fort. These stone bases suggest that at least part of the compound was used for storage, where sturdier construction would have helped protect supplies and equipment from the damp winds that sweep across the plateau.
The main enclosure lies beyond the small valley, set on the opposite rise of the ridge. From the second enclosure, you can see how the ground dips away before climbing again toward what would once have been the heart of the castle.
➣ Eastern ridge enclosure (東尾根曲輪)
The eastern ridge enclosure stands as an outlying work on the far side of the main compound. It functioned as a demaru, a forward position that watched over the approaches from the east and added another layer of defence to the main enclosure.
Beyond the enclosure, a horikiri trench has been cut straight through the ridge, blocking any easy advance along its crest. This deep notch in the terrain forced anyone approaching from that direction to halt and find a way across, giving the defenders time and height to their advantage.
➣ ③ Hon-kuruwa (本曲輪)
The main enclosure, the hon-kuruwa, occupies a smaller space than the second enclosure. An earthen rampart rings it, and within that raised boundary stands a small shrine, a quiet reminder of the people who once lived and served on this ridge.
➣ ④ Southern enclosure (南曲輪)
The southern enclosure, set along the ridge beyond the main compound, is another of the castle's outer platforms, extending its line of defence toward the plateau's gentler slopes.
Between the southern enclosure and the koshi-kuruwa that sits below it, a horikiri trench cuts sharply across the ridge. The gap is deep and narrow, and you can see how it once blocked movement along the slope, forcing anyone approaching to break their stride and climb out of the cut before reaching the next platform.
The path continues from there, narrowing as it threads along the ridge. It feels a little uncertain underfoot, but I kept going, thinking there might be a tsume-no-shiro, a final redoubt or emergency refuge, further ahead.
However, the slope grew steeper by degrees, and before long, the path all but disappeared under a tangle of undergrowth that rose to chest height. More than once, I felt the urge to turn back, but I kept telling myself to try just a little farther, pushing on through the brush in the hope that the ridge might open up again.
What I finally reached was… well, the only word for it is unexpected.
The rather dramatic conclusion is → see below
.It may sound like something from a recent television programme, and I apologise for the suspenseful tone. The shock I felt at that moment was entirely real.
Date of visit: 23 August 2014
Access:
- Address: Katsuta, Makinohara, Shizuoka 421-0406
- Access: From the Sagara–Makinohara Interchange on the Tōmei Expressway, it is about 6 kilometres via Prefectural Road 233.
- Parking: Katsumata Castle Ruins car park (free; the point marked "P" on the map above).
- Other sights: Suwahara Castle - Ryugenzan Castle.
