更新日：2023年11月1日

The Main Bailey of Hamamatsu Castle and the Ruins of its Stone Walls and Moats

The cornerstone of defense for the central castle

From the Edo Period illustrations, we can see that the Main Bailey of Hamamatsu Castle was once depicted surrounded by stone walls and moats with large-scale gates and towers. Thus, the Main Bailey is long thought to have been the most magnificent part of the castle.

As the east-side of the Main Bailey had been largely remodeled since the Meiji era, the original size and the structure of the Main Bailey remained unclear until recently.

However, excavations of the Motoshiro Elementary School dig site between 2019 – 2021FY have identified a moat to the east, and corner stone walls to the north-east of the Main Bailey. From this, the size of the Main Bailey is estimated to have been 130 meters long, north to south, and 90 meters long, east to west; found by measuring the length of each stone wall and from the moats’ edges at the bottom part of the slope.

Stone walls and moats surrounding the Main Bailey are believed to have been built prior to the Azuchi-Momoyama era and maintained throughout the Edo period.

Newly excavated stone walls at the north-east corner of the Main Bailey
Photos of the excavations	The remaining stone walls, the tallest six tiers (1.7 meters) in height