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Takayama, the history of the town
The man who built Hida Takayama
It is said that Kanamori Nagachika is the man who laid the foundation of Hida Takayama.
During the Sengoku period, Nagachika served Oda Nobunaga and played an active role in the campaign to capture the Saito clan. He later became a vassal of Shibata Katsuie, but after Katsuie was defeated he followed Hashiba Hideyoshi and was given the Hida Province in 1585.
In the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he fought on the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu on the Eastern side, and after the war he became the lord of Hida Takayama. He then built Takayama Castle.
At the same time as building the castle, Nagachika also created a castle town in a grid pattern modelled after Kyoto, and built temples and shrines. This is why Takayama is now known as "Little Kyoto of Hida."
Nagachika passed away in 1608 at the age of 85, but the Kanamori family ruled Hida Takayama for 107 years and six generations.
Nagachika in particular was well versed in the art of tea, having studied it under Sen no Rikyu and others, and is known as a wise military commander who combined the arts with martial arts.
Kanamori Nagachika adapted to the rulers of the time, from Nobunaga to Hideyoshi to Ieyasu, and lived a long life of 85 years without misjudging the trends of the times. It can be said that Takayama would not have become a town steeped in culture without the influence of the Kanamori family.
Takayama Castle, a famous castle that no longer exists
Takayama Castle was a flatland castle built on a mountain 686.6 meters above sea level, and was also known as Gagyuyama Castle. Unlike the usual concept of a castle where the main castle is the castle tower, its unique structure, which resembles a teahouse combined with a turret, once made it one of the "Three Great Castles of Japan." The old palace-style castle structure with a non-practical watchtower-type two-tiered, three-story castle tower is thought to have been influenced by Oda Nobunaga's Azuchi Castle. There is also a theory that the place name Takayama comes from this castle.
In 1585, Kanamori Nagachika attacked the former lord, the Miki clan, and took possession of the castle. Construction began the following year, and in 1590, it took a total of 16 years to complete.
When the Kanamori family was transferred to another domain in 1692, Takayama Castle came under the jurisdiction of the Maeda family of Kaga. However, maintaining the castle required huge expenses, and the castle was under constant surveillance by the Hida Takayama magistrate, which was an unprofitable task, so the Maeda family applied to the shogunate to demolish Takayama Castle, and in 1695, permission was granted and the castle was demolished. Thus, the remains of the Kanamori family, the first and last feudal lord of Hida since the Tensho era, disappeared, and the shogunate's Tenryo period began.
Today, all that remains of Takayama Castle are the Ninomaru and other baileys, moats, stone walls, earthworks, and other structures.
It is said that when Takayama Castle was being built, Kanamori Nagachika invited a master carpenter from Kyoto. This construction marked a turning point for the architectural techniques of Hida Takayama, a region already known for its high architectural standards and home to master craftsmen known as "Hida no Takumi," to be fused with the architectural techniques of Kyoto, the latest culture at the time, and this led to a dramatic improvement in the architectural techniques of Hida Takayama.
