Deep in the mountains west of Jurinji Temple, near the border between Ashiya and Nishinomiya, we discovered a mysterious castle called “Gabeno Castle”!
According to Google Maps, it’s listed as a “tourist attraction.”
But even when we asked the “Nishi2 members,” who should know Nishinomiya pretty well, nobody knew about it!!
The truly mysterious “Gabeno Castle.”
We went to investigate it on a running trip.
(↑©OpenStreetMap contributors)
Here’s the location. It’s almost right near the border between Ashiya and Nishinomiya.
But… what exactly does “Gabeno” mean??
To reach the trailhead in Kengai-cho, we just kept running uphill.
This is “Haruhi-zaka”, the slope between Hyogo Prefectural Nishinomiya Kita High School and Kurakuen Elementary School.
It’s also known as a setting from a certain anime!
A “trail entrance” appears between the houses in the residential area.
There’s a sign for the “Kengai Trailhead.”
This is the entrance to “Gabeno Castle.”
There are many spots with terrain that brings to mind the Rock Garden on Mt. Rokko.
Some paths even feel like you’ve wandered into a jungle! It’s exciting!!
It’s quite a climb.
You’ll need shoes with good grip!
Partway up, the view suddenly opens up!
A panoramic view of Nishinomiya!!
Ah!
After about 30 minutes from the trailhead, we found a suspicious-looking handwritten sign!
Just before the summit, there was something artificially placed that looked like castle ruins.
We reached the summit! (483m)
This is a photo of the summit↑
There’s only an oval-shaped space about 5 meters across.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel like a castle at all!!!!
From Gabeno Castle, you can look out over the Osaka Plain!
Vegetable juice tastes especially good at the summit♪
Here’s the video↓
What Gabeno Castle (the summit) looks like!
Final Thoughts
It seems there are no surviving historical records showing that “Gabeno Castle was a castle,” nor any records explaining why it is called Gabeno Castle.
The Kinki Chugoku Forest Management Bureau, which manages the national forest in the area, also says, “There are no documents, so we don’t know.”
Archaeology experts say it does not appear on old maps from the early Edo period, and they found no traces such as moats or earthworks that would allow it to be identified as a mountain castle. Because of that, they consider “the possibility that it was a mountain castle to be low.” As for the “castle-ruin-like structure,” they believe it may have been an earth-retaining feature for erosion control.
A mystery has its own romance. Once the coronavirus situation settles down, why not pay “Gabeno Castle” a visit?
