[Kamiyama City, Yamagata Prefecture] Kamiyama developed as a castle town and post town with hot springs despite being at the mercy of central government officials.

Kaminoyama City is located in the southeastern part of Yamagata Prefecture, to the south of Yamagata City. During the Edo period, it was a castle town of the Kaminoyama clan, and was located along the Ushu Highway, which connects Dewa Province (Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture) to the Oshu Highway. It flourished as a post town on the highway, and also became popular as a post town with hot springs.

During the Sengoku period, territorial disputes intensified in Kaminoyama on the border between Yonezawa and Yamagata.

The land of Kamiyama was called ``Kamiyama'' or ``Upper Yamagata'' in ancient times, and was ruled by Mitsunaga Satomi, a military commander descended from the Mogami clan, who became the feudal lord around the end of 1300. It is said that the name Kaminoyama came from the fact that Mitsunaga Mogami called it ``Kamiyama-dono'' (see: Kaminoyama City Profile, Kaminoyama City Hall). Mancho is known to have built his first castle on Mt. Kokuzo in Kaminoyama around 1400. Kokuzoyama Castle is also known as Takadate Castle or Kamegaoka Castle, and in 1535, Yoshitada Buei built Tsukioka Castle on its current location. It was used until the construction of Kaminoyama Castle.

Kamiyama was the southernmost area controlled by the Mogami clan, and was the stage for battles with the Date clan and the Uesugi clan, who attacked from the south. At times it became Date territory, but Yoshitada Muei recaptured it. It once again became the territory of the Mogami clan. However, Yoshitada's grandson Satomi Yoshikane (Kamiyama Yoshikane) came into conflict with the feudal lord, Yoshiaki Mogami, lost the battle, and was assassinated in 1579. It remained the domain of the Mogami clan until the establishment of the Kamiyama domain in 1622.

Kokuzozan/Takatate Castle <INFORMATON>

• Facility name: Kokuzozan/Takatate Castle
• Location: Matsuyama Takate (Kokuzoyama), Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• access:
• Car: Approximately 15 minutes from Tohoku Chuo Expressway Yamagata Kaminoyama IC
• Approximately 15 minutes walk from Kaminoyama Onsen Station on the Railway/Yamagata Shinkansen/JR Ou Main Line

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Shigetada Matsudaira, the first lord of the Kamiyama domain, contributed to the development and maintenance of hot springs.

The Nomi Matsudaira family (Nomi Town, Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture) of the Kamiyama Domain was founded in 1622 by Shigetada Matsudaira, who became the first lord of the domain with 40,000 koku. However, four years later, he was transferred to the Sanda domain (Sanda City, Hyogo Prefecture), and after that, he frequently moved with the Gamo clan, Toki clan, and Kanamori clan over a short period of time. The feudal lord changes. Finally, in 1697, the Nobumichi Fujii Matsudaira family of the Niwase Domain (Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture) moved to the Ueyama Domain, and from then on, the Fujii Matsudaira family became the lords of the domain until the Meiji Restoration.

Shigetada Matsudaira, the first lord of the domain, was in office for only four years, but he maintained the castle town of Kaminoyama and worked hard to develop hot springs. Hot springs were discovered in Kaminoyama in 1458 during the Satomi clan era, and are said to have been discovered by Tsukihide, a monk from Hizen no Kuni (Saga Prefecture). Later, many hot springs were discovered nearby, and during the reign of Shigetada, the town became known as a post town with hot springs.

Tsuru-no-Kyuishi, a hot spring discovery site that still remains today

Kaminoyama Onsen is said to be "When Tsukihide saw a crane healing its wounds, he discovered that hot springs were gushing out there" (from the Kaminoyama Onsen source information board). Legend has it that there is a ``Tsuru-no-Yasumi-ishi'' (Tsuru-no-Yasumi-ishi) where hot springs gush out from the cracks. This hot spring is also called ``Tsuruhaginoyu'' (Tsuruhagi no Yu) because of this story, and there is a footbath adjacent to it.

Crane resting stone <INFORMATON>

• Facility name: Tsuru-no-Kyuishi
• Location: 4-12 Yumachi, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-672-0839 (Kamiyama City Tourism and Products Association)
• Business hours: 6:00-22:00
• Usage fee: Free
• access:
• Car: Approximately 10 minutes from Tohoku Chuo Expressway Kaminoyama Onsen IC
• Railway: Approximately 20 minutes walk from Kaminoyama Onsen Station on the Yamagata Shinkansen/JR Ou Main Line

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Shimooyu Public Bath, the first public bath opened by Matsudaira Shigetada for his people.

Additionally, Kaminoyama Onsen's Shimooyu Public Bath was the first public bath opened by Matsudaira Shigetada for the people of his territory in 1624, and although the building and hot spring facilities have changed, the hot spring has been in use for 400 years. It is loved.

Shimooyu public bath <INFORMATON>

• Facility name: Shimooyu public bath
• Location: 9-30 Tokamachi, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-672-0839 (Kamiyama City Tourism and Products Association)
• Business hours: 6:00-22:00 (from 6:30 from December to February)
• Bathing fee: Adults (junior high school students and above) 150 yen, elementary school students 100 yen, hair wash fee 100 yen
• Closed: No holidays
• access:
• Car: Approximately 10 minutes from Tohoku Chuo Expressway Kaminoyama Onsen IC
• Approximately 15 minutes walk from Kaminoyama Onsen Station on the Railway/Yamagata Shinkansen/JR Ou Main Line

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Yoriyuki Toki and Yoriyoshi Toki, who greatly contributed to the development of the Kaminoyama domain.

Ueyama was most developed during the time of Toki Yoriyuki, who became the lord two years after Matsudaira's transfer to the Mita domain, and his son Yoritaka.

Yoriyuki Toki was the lord of the Moriya domain (Ibaraki Prefecture) in Soma District, Shimousa Province (Chiba Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture), but in 1628 he moved to Kamiyama with 25,000 koku. Ta. Yoriyuki concentrated his efforts on the maintenance of Kaminoyama Castle, building the Honmaru (three-story castle tower), Ninomaru, Sannomaru, outer moat, etc., and Yoriyoshi even created a luxurious garden. In addition, he has made great achievements in the development of Kamiyama, including the maintenance of the castle town and transportation routes, the development of mining and new rice fields, the construction of shrines and temples, the construction of irrigation canals, and the protection of hot springs.

Yoriyuki also built a splendid building and treated the high priest Takuan respectfully when he came to Kaminoyama as an exile. Three years later, the misunderstanding with the Edo shogunate was resolved and Takuan returned to Edo, but it is said that Yoriyuki received a variety of teachings from Kamiyama during those three years and grew significantly as a feudal lord.

Harusamean, the house that Yoriyuki built for the priest Takuan, has been restored to its original appearance and is preserved as an important cultural property of Yamagata Prefecture, and can be visited.

Haru-an Ruins <INFORMATON>

• Facility name: Haruan Ruins
• Location: 2-10-12 Matsuyama, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-672-0824 (Harusamean ruins)
• Closed: December 28th to January 3rd
• Admission fee: Free
• access:
• Car: Approximately 15 minutes from Tohoku Chuo Expressway Kaminoyama Onsen IC
• Approximately 15 minutes walk from Kaminoyama Onsen Station on the Railway/Yamagata Shinkansen/JR Ou Main Line

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Kaminoyama Castle, whose entire castle was demolished by the Edo Shogunate

During the Toki clan era, the castle was maintained and the Kamiyama clan developed greatly, but this period came to an end after 64 years between the two generations. In 1691, the Edo shogunate moved Yoriyin to Nooka Domain in Echizen Province (Fukui Prefecture) and, perhaps because they did not like it, demolished the entire castle.

The Kamiyama domain continued to exist after the Toki clan until the Meiji period, but the three-story castle tower and the luxurious Ninomaru were not rebuilt, and the castle remained a modest castle with only a residence for the feudal lord built on the site of the Ninomaru.

There is nothing left of the current Kamiyama Castle ruins other than a few remains (the ruins of the moat). The current castle tower is a building called a mock castle tower, which was built in 1982 (Showa 57) in the shape of a typical three-story castle tower, since we had no idea what the castle tower looked like at that time. The castle tower serves as the ``Kamiyama Castle Local Museum,'' where the history and folklore materials of Kaminoyama are displayed.

Kaminoyama Castle (Kamiyama Castle Local Museum) <INFORMATON>

• Facility name: Kaminoyama Castle (Kamiyama Castle Local Museum)
• Location: 3-7 Motojonai, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-673-3660 (Kamiyama Castle Local Museum)
• Business hours: 9:00-17:15 (last entry 16:45)
• Admission fee: 420 yen for adults, 370 yen for high school and university students, 50 yen for elementary and junior high school students (40 yen for groups)
• Closed: Thursdays (or the immediately preceding weekday in the case of holidays), December 29th to 31st
• access:
• Car: Approximately 10 minutes from Tohoku Chuo Expressway Kaminoyama Onsen IC
• Railway: Approximately 12 minutes walk from Kaminoyama Onsen Station on the Yamagata Shinkansen/JR Ou Main Line

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“Samurai Residence Street” where four former samurai residences remain

The castle town of the Kamiyama clan spreads northwest from the castle, and there are still four former samurai residences remaining today. Between the center of Kaminoyama Onsen and the place where hot springs were discovered, Tsuru-no-Kyuishi, there are four such houses, two facing each other, and are called the Samurai Residence Street.

All four houses are estimated to have been built about 200 years ago (late Edo period), and are one of the thatched-roofed magariya houses often seen in the Tohoku region. A song house is an L-shaped building, and the part that protrudes from the front was used mainly as a stable in farmhouses, but in samurai residences it was used as a tatami room and was thought to be a place to intercept invading enemies. It seems that it was

Morimoto family

The Morimoto family were vassals who had served the Fujii Matsudaira family even before they came to Kaminoyama, and held very important positions, teaching at the domain school ``Meishinkan'' (on the site only). Descendants of the Morimoto family still live there, and you can only see the garden.

Morimoto family <INFORMATION>

• Facility name: Morimoto family
• Address: 1-7-48 Tsurushibachi, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-672-1111 (Kamiyama City Board of Education)

Miwa family

The Miwa family was a vassal of Nobufuru Matsudaira, the 11th generation of the Kamiyama domain, and seems to have served as a side servant to the lord. During the Meiji period, it made a fortune as a financial business. The Miwa House is open to the public, and you can get a good idea of ​​what the samurai residence was like at the time.

Miwa family <INFORMATION>

• Facility name: Miwaya
• Address: 1-7-46 Tsurushin-cho, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-673-1078
• Opening hours: 9:00-16:45
• Closed: Mondays, December 28th - January 3rd
• Admission fee: Adults 220 yen, High school and college students 160 yen, Elementary and junior high school students 50 yen

Yamada family

The Yamada family was once a horse-carrying force that took care of the horses that the lord rode, and their descendants still live there today. private.

Yamada family <INFORMATION>

• Facility name: Yamada family
• Address: 1-7-41 Tsurushibachi, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-672-1111 (Kamiyama City Board of Education)

Former Sogabe family

The former Sogabe family was a family of senior samurai who were vassals of Nobutamichi Matsudaira, the 7th lord of the Kamiyama domain, and held positions such as Umawariyaku, Magistrate, and Ometsuke who supervised government officials. Only the exterior and garden can be viewed.

Former Sogabe family＜INFORMATON＞

• Facility name: Former Sogabe family
• Address: 1-7-38 Tsurushin-cho, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-672-1111 (Kamiyama City Board of Education)

Kamiyama domain drum and flute music played to encourage the troops during the Boshin War

The Kamiyama clan has a history of swaying between the new government and the shogunate during the battle between the new government army and the shogunate army (1868-1869) that broke out after the Meiji Restoration, and suffered a great deal of damage. there is.

The Kamiyama clan went to war a total of five times during the Boshin War. He first fought against the Shonai clan in April 1868 as a member of the new government army. After that, they joined an organization of the former shogunate called the Ouetsu Repandomei, and fought with the new government's forces three times. Since the neighboring Yonezawa clan surrendered to the new government army, the Kamiyama clan followed suit and was once again incorporated into the new government army. His fifth and final deployment was to subdue the former Shogunate army, the Shonai Domain, which was stubbornly resisting.

The Kamiyama Clan was at the mercy of the great wave of the Meiji Restoration, but during the Boshin War, they adopted French-style military training, and the Kamiyama Clan Drum and Flute Music was started in order to boost the morale of the army.

Ueyama domain drum and flute music disappeared for a while after the Meiji period, but it was revived in the early Showa period and is still performed at festivals and events. Kaminoyama City Intangible Cultural Property.

Ueyama clan drum and flute music <INFORMATON>

• Name: Kamiyama Domain drum and flute music
• Phone number: 023-630-3344 (Yamagata Prefecture Education Bureau Lifelong Education and Learning Promotion Division)