Karamete-mon Gate (搦手門)
Karamete-mon Gate is one of the castle gates located at the karameteguchi (back gateway), as opposed to Ote-mon Gate (main gate) being at the front of the castle.
In times of emergency, the Karamete-mon Gate allowed people, including the feudal lord, to escape from a castle or escape to outside the walls surrounding a castle.
The Karamete-mon Gate building itself was often inconspicuous, being small and narrow and in some instances, the Karamete-mon Gate was built according to the specification of a compact Kabuki-mon gate and not a Yagura-mon gate, but it was very securely designed to be adequately guarded by a small number of people, in contrast to a large koguchi (castle entrance), such as the Ote-mon Gate. The bridge at this gate was often made of wood.
Main Examples of Karamete-mon Gate
Tonoichi-mon Gate through Tonoshi-mon Gate of Himeji-jo Castle
Sawaguchi-mon Gate of Hikone-jo Castle
Kurogane-mon Gate of Kochi-jo Castle
Noboritachi-mon Gate of Uwajima-jo Castle
Ishikawa-mon Gate of Kanazawa-jo Castle