Jō Palisade Site

Jō Palisade site (城生柵跡) is the site of a Nara period jōsaku-style Japanese castle located in what is now part of the town of Kami in Kami District, Miyagi prefecture in the Tōhoku region of far northern Honshu, Japan. The site was proclaimed a National National Historic Site on May 18, 1976. The actual name of this fortification remains unknown, and it has been postulated that it was possibly the “Shikima-saku” or “Takazukuri-saku” mentioned in historical records, although evidence is scant. It is roughly contemporary with the larger Taga Castle to the southeast.

Background
In the late Nara period, after the establishment of a centralized government under the Ritsuryō system, the Yamato court sent a number of military expeditions to what is now the Tōhoku region of northern Japan to bring the local Emishi tribes under its control. The site was discovered and partially excavated in 1955, with more extensive investigations in 1976.

Description
The ruins are located on a plateau at the southeast end of a group of hills extending from the Ou Mountains towards the Osaki plains of northern Miyagi Prefecture. The site has always been “known”, as Edo period maps indicate that fragments of its ramparts existed on three side.

The fortification was a square enclosure, approximately 350 meters east-west by 370 meters north-south, consisting of a 2.4 meter thick earthen rampart surmounted by a wooden palisade, and protected by a 3-4 meter wide dry moat. There was a large gate at the center of the northern wall, and the post holes, foundation stones and fragments of roof tiles from structures which once stood in the middle of the structure have been found.

There is nothing to be seen at the site today except for a commemorative stone marker.