Funage had developed as the base of maritime traffic in Akashi area since the Nara period. After the Battle of Miki, Toyotomi Mideyoshi regarded the function of its port as important, so he sent Takayama Ukon there in 1587 to build the castle town with the port. Takayama Ukon built the castle with waterways and landform like the way he had done in Takatsuki, Osaka, his former appointed place of work.
The stone monument to the old castle stands on the empty lot of the Keep. The Kojo River was used as the inner moat and the Otohi River and the Takahama River were used as the outer moat. The port was built around the mouth of the Funage River and the harborage was to the north of Mitsuzoin temple. The samurai residential area is thought to have been placed mainly on the north and the east of the castle.
The temples of Mitsuzoin, Hozo-ji, Jinno-ji and Joren-ji alongside the Hama Highway were included the castle town. After two years, Takayama Ukon was exiled becanse of the Deportation Regulation on Foreigner Missionaries, Funage castle town grew under the direct control of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After the Act of One Castle a Domain in the Edo period, Akashi Castle was built on Mt. Akamatsu and the port of Akashi was built, so Funage missed the maritime base of Akashi.
Akashi heritage-map “Funage･Hayashi” 2019
