🗺️ Shinoyama Castle Great Study Hall篠山城大書院

Shinoyama Castle's Great Study was designed and constructed in 1609 by the renowned castle builder Tōdō Takatora, mobilizing various daimyōs from the western regions for its "national construction." The castle was built to be very strong, intended to maintain vigilance against the western territories. However, the fortifications of Shinoyama Castle were so robust that they raised concerns within the shogunate, resulting in the absence of a tenshu (main keep). Instead, the Great Study was built in the Ninomaru (second bailey), and its grandeur was comparable to the largest structure, the "Tōji," in the Ninomaru Palace of Nijō Castle. Although it survived the Meiji Restoration without being dismantled, it was destroyed in a fire in 1944. In 2000, it was reconstructed with funds raised from citizen donations and is now open to the public as a historical museum. Aside from the Great Study, there is insufficient information to restore the other buildings in the Ninomaru Palace. Therefore, the ruins of the palace have been marked to indicate the layout of the past, allowing people to understand its former appearance. The castle site has now become a recreational area for citizens, and the Sannomaru (third bailey) site serves as the venue for the "Dekansho Festival." Additionally, the Honmaru (main bailey) site features the Aoyama Shrine, which worships the ancestors of the Aoyama clan, the feudal lords.

A famous castle designed by the renowned castle builder Tōdō Takatora. The main hall has a scale comparable to the Nijo Castle Ninomaru Palace. The main hall, which was destroyed by fire, was rebuilt in 2000. The interior of the main hall serves as a historical museum. The upper section has also been restored. At the site of the main keep, there is also Aoyama Shrine.