NEWS: Hiji Castle’s Samurai Sacrifice
Hitobashira - Human Sacrifices Within Samurai Castle Walls!
According to the Mainichi Newspaper, Hiji Castle in Oita Prefecture has announced the re-discovery of details regarding what is now believed by authorities to be a samurai human sacrifice within the walls of the fortress. The burial site and remains of a gray-haired samurai found interred beneath his rusted helmet within the castle’s main stone walls, was discarded and disposed of in 1960 without being properly researched or documented. The find was mostly forgotten until the recent re-discovery of detailed notes compiled by amateur historian high school students.
Hitobashira
There have long been stories of people being buried within the walls of samurai castles as sacrifices, becoming hitobashira, human pillars who’s sacrifice and spirit were believed to strengthen the walls and castle. These include workers who had died while maneuvering the large stones of castles such as Edo Castle into place, and had been left, crushed and buried in the walls in the belief that their sacrifice would strengthen the structure.
During repairs to Edo Castle's walls nearly 100 years ago, human remains were discovered within the rocks. During the construction of Maruoka Castle, a few accidents had occurred, and walls had sunk, and so a blind peasant woman volunteered to be buried as a human sacrifice to appease the gods, providing her sons be made samurai and taken into the Lord’s employ. Her spirit was supposed to have protected the castle, and so the woman was entombed in the stonework. Matsue Castle too has a story of Hitobashira, being that of a young girl who loved dancing, and is now the guardian spirit of the castle.
Most people who became hitobashira human pillars were said to be beautiful girls from within the castle towns or traveling monks, and there are various reasons why they are chosen, including volunteering, nomination, and the drawing of lots. Some were apparently chosen for being the first person unwittingly and unlucky enough to enter a particular street or intersection. There are many cases where construction difficulties are cited as the reason for becoming a sacrifice, but there are also castles that havesuch legends even if there were no particular difficulties associated with construction.
Hiji Castle’s Sacrifice
In 1960 during repairs to the walls of Hiji Castle, human bones believed to be those of an old samurai were discovered in a wooden coffin. Investigations by Oita University and other institutions have since determined that it was a hitobashira, a human pillar sacrifice from the time the castle was built. Local volunteers later erected a shrine at the site, but unfortunately, the remains were disposed of during construction. There were no official reports compiled, no investigation was staged and no documentswere recorded or remain.
However, a detailed report from that time, together with a sketch of the excavated wooden coffin compiled by students of the Hiji High School Aoyagi Shidan Social Studies Club, was discovered among historical materials deposited at the museum in 2022. Mr. Hirai Yoshito, director of the town history museum, re-discovered the materials last year and after examining the contents, found what he believes to bea case of a hitobashira. Director Hirai recently presented his theory based on the new materials at a lecture held at the town's central community center. Records left behind by students from Hiji Prefectural Hiji High School (currently Hiji Sogo High School) who accompanied the excavation in 1960 suggest that the man was buried alive.
According to the report, the wooden coffin was a cylindrical wooden tub, 98 centimeters high and 86 centimeters in diameter. This is the average size and shape for a coffin in those days. The corpse was placed in the tub in a seated position. The corpse's hair was gray and shaped in a queue, but it disintegrated when exposed to the air. Beside the body was a ceramic statue of an old man, several centimeters in size. The wooden coffin was placed in a circular stone chamber, covered with large stones weighing over a ton, and above that were the rusted remains of a kabuto samurai helmet, presumed to have belonged to the warrior interred within. Of interest, by comparison, the graves of the Tokugawa Shogun were also round stone chambers, and the various Shogun too were buried seated upright in a cross-legged position.
Although there had been no legend of human pillars at Hiji Castle, Director Hirai said that from this report, it is clear that the man was placed in the tub and buried alive. He said that: “If a samurai were to be placed in a tub after death, the coffin would have been buried upside down.” Hiji Castle Director Hirai said that since there are no official documents that support the human pillar legends of various places, and there are no excavated examples to confirm them, the Hiji Castle example, for which the detailed situation was known, is ``remarkable.'' On the other hand, he said, ``The purpose of turning an old samurai into a human pillar becomes a new mystery.''
Some 15 castles across Japan have human pillar legends, however, as there is no proof, the stories remain legends, and the only place where human pillar remains have actually been found is at Iwaki Heijo Castle in Fukushima Prefecture. Human bones and old coins were discovered by chance during maintenance work in 1921. The legend involved that of a 95-year-old man who was ordered to dance as “clay” was poured over him making him into a human pillar.
Although there were no Hitobashira human pillar legends associated with Edo Castle, approximately 20 human skeletons and old coins were unearthed from the stone walls supporting Edo Castle's Fushimi Yagura in 1925 during restoration work following the Great Kanto Earthquake. This led to a huge debate among historians and folklorists over its actual implications, but as such, no conclusion has been reached. Workers had died while maneuvering the large stones of into place, and had been left, crushed and buried in the walls, in the belief that their sacrifice would strengthen the wall. Human remains have been found in a number of castle wall repair sites.
Matsue Castle’s Hitobashira
One of the legends tell that it is against the old feudal laws for women to dance in the streets of Matsue, and that if they do, the base of the city’s symbol, National Treasure designated Matsue Castle, will begin to shake, endangering the tower structure.
The story goes that National Treasure designated Matsue Castle’s ishigaki stone walls contains a hitobashira, entombed in the keeps’ base stonework to act as a guardian spirit of the castle. In this case, the Hitobashira was a young girl who loved to dance, and so to appease her spirit and prevent the castle from shaking, a law was passed preventing girls from dancing in the streets of Matsue.
Maruoka Castle’s Hitobashira
Maruoka Castle in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, was built by Shibata Katsutoyo, a nephew of Shibata Katsuie, under order by Oda Nobunaga in 1576. The castle served to watch over the Hokuriku Do, an important highway between Echizen (Fukui Prefecture) and Mino (Gifu Prefecture). Shibata was killed following the Battle of Shizugatake, and the Toyotomi victors installed the Aoyama clan as commanders. Following The Battle Of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu had his second son, Yuki Hideyasu, made castellan.
There is also the legend of Hitobashira -- human sacrifice --within the walls! Apparently, during the construction of Maruoka Castle, a few accidents had occurred, and walls had sunk, and so a blind peasant woman named Oshizu (or a young girl, or a princess, depending on the version you’re told) volunteered to be buried as a human sacrifice to appease the gods, providing her two sons be made samurai and taken into the Lord’s employ. As Hitobashira, her spirit was supposed to have protected and strengthened the castle. The woman was crushed in the stonework, but apparently the lord didn’t keep his promise and make the woman’s sons samurai.
The castle escaped destruction at the end of the Edo period, and survived WW2, but was mostly destroyed by the Fukui Earthquake of 1948. In 1955, the keep was once again rebuilt, using about 80% of the original materials. No human remains being discovered in the rubble of Maruoka were reported, and the story remains a legend. For now.
Widespread Custom?
Hitobashira legends remain throughout the country, but experts have long held differing opinions on whether or not the practice actually took place. The re-discovery of the details at Hiji Castle and further research will no doubt add to the belief that the custom was more widespread than previously thought.
See original Hiji Castle article here: https://mainichi.jp/articles/20231003/k00/00m/040/315000c
Once again an excellent article mate 👍