Kamaha Castle
was a Sengoku period yamashiro-style Japanese castle located in the Banba neighborhood of the city of Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, in the Kansai region of Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2005. Overview Kamaha Castle is located on a sharp ridge extending westward from the Ryōzen mountains at an elevation of about 200 meters. The castle controls a narrow valley between Lake Biwa and the Sawayama Mountains, which is connected by the Surihari Pass with Sekigahara, Gifu. The Nakasendō highway runs through this gap, connecting Kyoto with eastern Japan, and Banba-juku, which served as the jōkamachi of this castle, was one of the post stations on the route. The castle extends for about 400 meters east-to-west by 500 meters north-to-south, making it the second largest in this region after Odani Castle. The inner bailey is a trapezoid-shaped terrace 40 meters long by 30 meter wide, with a yagura watchtower. Most of the walls of this central keep were faced with stone. The main gate of the castle faced the town of Banba-juku. The central keep was protected by a series of seven enclosures with earthen ramparts and dry moats on the north ridge, two on