Castles in Japan: Sunomata Ichiya Castle

Sunomata Castle is found in Ogaki City in Gifu Prefecture. According to legend, this castle is said to have been built overnight under the command of Kinoshita Tokichiro (later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) while Oda Nobunaga was pressing the siege of Inabayama Castle in mid-1500s. This is why at present, it is now referred to as Sunomata Ichiya Castle ("Ichiya" meaning "overnight").

View of Sunomata Castle from the bridge

Getting to this castle is a true adventure for me. That morning, I went to Sekigahara to visit the historical sites of the Battle of Sekighara in 1600. Unfortunately, it was raining so hard when I arrived in Sekigahara, which was contrary to the forecast that I checked. I ended up leaving Sekigahara earlier than I planned because it was snowing so hard already and the mountains around the valley are all covered with a thick fog. Read my adventures in Sekigahara here. 

Ogaki is only 12 minutes away by train from Sekigahara so I was so surprised to find the city very sunny when I arrived. When I exited the station, my shoes were wet and my hair looked like a nest of tiny snowflakes. I was so thrilled to see the sun shining so brightly in Ogaki. To reach the castle, I took a bus from Ogaki Station to Sunomata Bus stop. I thought that the bus stop is not very far from the castle as the map I have shows. However, when I got off the bus, the castle was nowhere in sight. I ended up walking  for 30 minutes just to get to the castle. One reason is because I encountered major road blocks because there were construction activities going on on the river banks around the castle.

After making several detours and going the other way around to get to the castle, I almost reached it. I could finally see it! However, some people facilitating the traffic around the construction area told me that I couldn't pass that way because the road was blocked. I could not accept that because I was already so near the castle, I won't accept defeat! So they called their head (who was so good looking he looked like an actor) who came to me and asked my problem. I tried to explain my side in my broken Japanese, telling him all the travails I had to endure to get to this point. I didn't know if he understood what I said or out of his good heart for a foreigner woman and the only tourist in the area that time, he just smiled at me and said "dozo," pointing to a narrow way behind the orange construction lines. I asked him if it was okay to pass by that way and he said it's totally fine. So I thanked him and walked quickly towards the castle before he changed his mind.

As I walked along the bridge towards the castle, I felt so relieved (and victorious). I felt like I have achieved a great victory that day, I was finally entering Sunomata Castle as if I was a general who besieged it.

View from the castle

This side of the castle is lined by Sakura trees in Spring. It would have been a great sight to see. But when I went there, I only saw a line of dry, leafless trees and a construction site in the distance. What is interesting about this castle is that it is surrounded by two parallel rivers. The man in the castle told me the names of the rivers but the names escaped me as of writing.

When I went to the top of the castle, he pointed to the mountains and told  me that I could see Gifu Castle on top of Mt. Kinka from there. True enough, it was there, a tiny shiny dot in the distance. This made my heart jump. See my detailed post about Gifu Castle here. The man even made a joke saying that this castle only took three days to build but all those constructions on the river bend would take three years. I also told him that I went to Sekigahara that morning but it was snowing there but surprisingly it was very sunny in Ogaki. He said that because Sekigahara is surrounded by the mountains, it has a different weather from Ogaki and it's usually colder.

Another unique thing about this castle is that you have to remove your shoes and change into "house slippers." The castle is so homey indeed. 

Access: 20 minute bus ride from Ogaki Station in the JR Tokaido line.