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Pilgrims, merchants, peasants, and samurai didn’t have much in common hundreds of years ago, but one place brought them all together – the mountain city of Kawachinagano. Kawachinagano City is located in the southern part of Osaka Prefecture and shares a border with Nara and Wakayama prefectures. It is the third largest city in the prefecture, although approximately 70% of its area is covered by forest. Kawachinagano developed around two major temples: Hinozan Kanshinji, established in 701, and Amanosan Kongoji, built during the Nara Period (710 – 794). As a result, there are many shrines, temples, statues of Buddha, and other sites and objects that are reminders of the city’s medieval heritage. The landscape of sprawling terraced rice fields dotted with ancient temples and shrines remains today much as it was hundreds of years ago. The city was an important hub where major roads crossed, and several yamajiro mountain castles were built around this strategically important point. One such yamajiro was Eboshigata Castle, built in the center of the city. The castle no longer stands, but the Eboshigata Hachiman Shrine and the people of the area protected the forest it was in over the centuries. As a result, the earthen walls and moat remain in good condition, as reminders of the glory of the ancient castle.
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