Château Sampo, on the heights of Mount Sanpo in the city of Konan (part of Kochi prefecture), resembles a medieval Western castle.
The building dates from the 1970s as part of the development of the Ryuga-do Skyline route to promote local tourism. This ambitious freeway project crossing Kochi prefecture was hit by the oil crisis and soon had management problems.
The castle was part of a recreational complex at the top of the mountain, consisting of Sanpo Sky Park, a restaurant, the Sanpo Mountain Sky Rest, and an observatory. The design of the building was inspired by a medieval Spanish castle, and was originally an exhibition venue for foreign antiques. It is sometimes referred to as the “Western-style castle restaurant”「洋城レストラン」.
In the early 1980s, a report on NHK TV promoted the nearby Shimanto River as “the #1 river the Japanese want to visit” and as “a model of symbiosis between nature and man”, “Japan’s last clear stream”. Following this state publicity, the nearby Shimanto River attracted many visitors. Château Sampo was converted into a museum to showcase the river’s flora and fauna, and renamed “Shimanto no Kaze”.
On 1 April 1997 Ryuga-do Skyline was transferred to the prefecture and became a public road. At the same time, Sanpozan Sky Park was closed. Château Sampo and Sanpo Mountain Sky Rest closed later, in the early 2000s. Only the castle, having become a symbol of the city, was spared from demolition..
Since 2017 the city has announced that it is looking for ideas for the management of Mount Sanpo and the use of the castle, but without much success so far. It seems that a local radio station is now based in part of the castle.
An accident is rumoured to have taken place in the roller coaster while it was active, but the case would never have come to public attention because the park sponsor, the Kochi Shimbun newspaper, wouldn’t have covered it. Another rumour concerns the spirit of a middle-aged man with an expressionless face who haunts the castle. If you speak to him, he says “There is a cliff” and disappears as suddenly as he appeared.
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