Uda Matsuyama Castle
|English Name||Uda Matsuyama Castle|
|Year Founded||Late 14th C.|
|Castle Condition||Ruins only|
|Designations||National Historic Site|
|Historical Period|| Pre Edo Period
|Access||Haibara Sta. (Kintetsu Osaka Line), 20 min bus to Nishiyama Bus Stop, 5 min walk; or Ouda Bus Stop (last stop), 15 min walk.|
|Visitor Information||mountain trails open any time.|
|Time Required||120 mins|
|Location||Uda, Nara Pref., Nara Prefecture|
|GPSLocation||34° 28' 52", 135° 56' 15"|
|Visits||December 24, 2016|
This is a really fascinating site to visit. The hourly bus from the station makes it easy to visit. The climb is fairly short and easy. The site is well maintained and the top offers some nice views along with the castle ruins. It looks like there are still some areas that could be excavated too. The castle town below also has a nice atmosphere that is a nationally registered historic buildings district.
The castle originated with fortifications by the Akiyama clan during the Nanboku-cho Period. With the rise of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the area came under Hideyoshi's control. Hideyoshi appointed his brother Hidenaga as the local lord in 1585. Several people were appointed castellan between 1585 and 1595 when it became Taga Hidetane. Hidetane sided with the Western Forces at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. His forces attacked Ohtsu Castle so they were not at the main battle. After Sekigahara the castle was taken by the Tokugawa and Hidetane was replaced with Fukushima Takaharu. Fukushima changed the castle name from Akiyama Castle to Matsuyama Castle and the Uda Matsuyama Domain was established. However, at the Siege of Osaka, Fukushima Takaharu was suspected of being an informant or spy for the Toyotomi forces so he was replaced by Oda Nobukatsu (second son of Nobunaga). Nobukatsu thoroughly destroyed the castle and built a jin'ya simply for administrative purposes for the domain. In 1695, the fifth generation Oda, Oda Nobuyasu had has holdings reduced and was moved to Tanba Kaibara. The Uda Matsuyama domain was eliminated at this time.