Hachigata Castle

Hachigata Castle is located in Yorii, Saitama Prefecture. It was built on a cliff where the Ara River bends sharply, and is one of the finest hill-plain castles in Kantō. The castle used the Ara River's natural defenses on three sides and protected only the south with large earthen ramparts and dry moats. Its layout functioned as the northernmost front-line fortress in the Later Hōjō's control of Kantō.

The castle is said to have been built by Nagao Kageharu in the 8th year of Bunmei (1476), but it became famous during the rule of Hōjō Ujikuni, son of Hōjō Ujiyasu. Ujikuni improved and expanded Hachigata Castle as the base for controlling northwestern Kantō, and developed the castle town. Earthen ramparts, dry moats, and other remains from the Later Hōjō period survive within the castle, and the site occupies an important place in the study of Sengoku-period castles in Kantō.

In the Odawara Campaign of the 18th year of Tenshō (1590), launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hachigata Castle withstood an approximately one-month siege by the combined forces of Maeda Toshiie and Uesugi Kagekatsu, estimated at 35,000 men. The garrison numbered about 3,000, and this defense is regarded as historical evidence of the strong defensive capability of the Hōjō side. In the end, Ujikuni surrendered the castle on condition that the garrison's lives be spared. After the war, he was placed in the custody of Maeda Toshiie and died in Kanazawa in Kaga Province in the 2nd year of Keichō (1597).

Today, the site is maintained as the Hachigata Castle History Museum and the Hachigata Castle Site Park, and its extensive grounds, designated as a nationally protected historic site, can be explored on foot. The Hachigata Castle ruins, where the majestic natural scenery along the Ara River coexists with Sengoku-period remains, are a popular historic destination among castle enthusiasts in Kantō.