Iwamura Castle, Mountain castle ruins in Ena, Japan
Iwamura Castle is a ruined fortress perched on a steep mountain peak in Gifu Prefecture, with stone walls rising at 721 meters above the Iwamura Basin. The site spreads across several terraced levels and features massive stone blocks fitted together without mortar.
Construction of the fortress began in 1185 as a military outpost and ownership changed hands several times over the centuries among clans including the Tōyama, Mori, Matsudaira and Niwa. The structure was demolished in 1873, leaving only the stone foundations behind.
People refer to the site as the Misty Fortress because fog regularly wraps around the walls near the summit and shapes how visitors experience the ruins. Walking through the stone passages today, you notice the quiet and the way clouds sometimes obscure entire sections of the structure.
The walk from Iwamura Station on the Akechi Railway takes about 50 minutes to reach the ruins, with roughly 20 minutes to the entrance area and another 30 minutes to the central section. The path is steep and requires sturdy footwear, especially after rain when the ground can become slippery.
The fortress ranks among Japan's three major mountain castles, alongside Takatori in Nara and Bitchu-Matsuyama in Okayama. This ranking comes from its strategic location and construction method that uses the terrain itself as part of the defense.
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