Miyama 1st Battery

Built in the 1890s on the hills above Kada to guard the 11-kilometer Kitan Strait and the approach to Osaka Bay and Kobe, the Miyama 1st Battery is divided into three sections with two circular gun mounts each, six in total. Two underground magazines sit between the sections, connected by a narrow tunnel behind the parapets. The guns were 28-centimeter howitzers positioned at elevation so their shells could descend steeply for maximum impact. Constructed to deter threats from China, Russia, and Western powers, the battery was dismantled in 1914 without a single shot fired in combat. The brick parapets and speaking tube in the front wall are still visible.