Hirabayashi Castle

Hirabayashi Castle (平林城, Hirabayashi-jō) was a Sengoku period Japanese castle located in the Kamihayashi neighborhood of the city of Murakami, northern Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The castle ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1978.

Background

Hirabayashi Castle is located on top of Mount Yōgai, a 200-meter hill near the mouth of the Arakawa River, and at the northern edge of the Echigo Plain. The location is more than 200 kilometers from the Jōetsu area, which contained the provincial capital of Echigo Province, and was isolated from Dewa to the north and east by mountains.

History

During the Sengoku period, northern Echigo was controlled by a number of petty lords known as the “Agakitashu”, who were originally the magistrates sent by absentee landlords to administer shōen manors in the area during the Kamakura period. Over the centuries, the position became hereditary, and these magistrates became virtually independent. The Hirabayashi area was originally controlled by the Hirabayashi clan, the original builders of the castle. However, during the Nanboku-chō period, their territory was seized by the Irobe clan. The Irobe were a cadet branch of the Taira clan from the Chichibu region of what is now Saitama Prefecture and were thus related to the Honjō clan of neighbouring Murakami Castle. At the beginning of 16th century, the Nagao clan, a cadet branch of the Uesugi clan grew in power in southern Echigo.