Attractions > Other Cities and Areas > Japanese Castles > Chiba

About | Access | Hotels & Lodging | Hours & Fees

Tateyama Castle sits up on a hill overlooking Tokyo Bay

 

About

Construction of Tateyama Castle was started by the Daimyo Satomi Yoshiyasu of the Satomi Clan in the the late 1580's and was completed in 1590. The castle was constructed for the warlord as his residence, to gaurd entry into Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) and to serve as a base from where he planned to take and control the Chiba Peninsula. Although the Satomi Clan managed to unite and control the southern tip of Chiba, after the Tokugawa Shogunate defeated the Hojo Clan at the Siege of Odawara (1590) and the clan was implicated in the Okubo Nagayasu Incident, Ieyasu Tokugawa confiscated all Satomi lands, the clan leader was banished to Tottori and Tateyama castle was destroyed, dismantled and left to fall into ruin. In 1781 the domain was reinstated and the Inaba clan ruled the lands (but did not rebuild a castle.) until the Meiji Restoration.

The current castle is a Mockup, actually modelled after Inuyama Castle, and acts as a museum for the original castle and history surrounding the area. The area is popular when cherry blossoms are in season and from the top floors of the castle you get a very nice view of the surrounding lands and Tokyo Bay.  The grounds around the "Mock Up" castle are also very pretty and green but if you visit in the summer... expect to sweat, a LOT!  Overall the castle is quite pretty (if you can get over the fact that its just a Mockup) and offers some nice photographic opportunities.  There is quite a lot to do around the area of Tateyama so making the castle just one of the stops is probably your best bet. One of our users sent us a nice Travel Log about his trip to Tateyama Castle, you can read about his trip here.

Please visit our Japanese Castles page to find more castles that are close to Tokyo.

Satomi Clan Interesting History

The Satomi Clan was a relatively short lived, moderate sized clan that might have been completely forgotten were it not for a writer by the name of Kyokutei Bakin (1767-1848). In 1814 Kyokutei Bakin started to write "The Eight Dog Chronicles" (in Japanese; Nanso Satomi Hakkenden 南總里見八犬傳), which is an epic Japanese Novel in 106 volumes in which the Satomi Clan is it's center of attention. The epic Novel took 28 years to complete, was hugely popular at the time and well into the early twentieth century. In the mid 1900's to story once again gained popularity and can be seen in Japanese TV, movies and Anime.

 

Access

Closest Train Station: Tateyama

351-2
Tateyama City, Chiba 294-8601 Japan

Tel: 0470-22-3163

From Tateyama Station (Uchibo Line) you can either catch a bus (10 min.) or walk (30 - 40 min.). There is a great information booth just down the stairs from the exit gate of the train. Please stop in there to ask what time the next bus will leave and plan your return trip times (bus and train), they are very helpful.

Google Map

 

Hotels & Lodging

Recommended

View a full list of Hotels and Lodging in or nearby Tateyama Castle.

 

Hours & Fees

Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. (Can enter until 4:30 p.m.)

Closed: Closed on Mondays and New Years (December 29th to January 3rd)

Cost: Adults: 300 yen, Students (Elementary to High School): 150 yen

Information presented is based on the time it was created. There may be changes since publication. Please confirm information by visiting the Official Website before visiting.

 

Resources

Website: Tateyama Castle Homepage