立地と歴史～Location and History – ページ 31 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

190.Yatsushiro Castle Part1

There were three Yatsushiro Castles.

Location and History

First Yatsushiro Castle is targeted by several Lords

Yatsushiso City in Kumamoto Prefecture is known for an agricultural and industrial area in the western part of Kyushu Region. These industries have been developed on the reclaimed land since the Edo Period. People in Yatsushiro tripled the size of Yatsushiro Plain by draining water from the Yatsushiro Sea. Before the land reclamation, Yatsushiro prospered as a junction for land and water transportation. Yatsushiro Castle was originally located near the sea, which could control the transportation.

The range of Yatsushiro City and the location of the castle

In fact, there were three Yatsushiro Castles in history, which were originally named Furufumoto, Mugishima, and Matsue Castles. They also didn’t exist at the same time, so people called the most representative castle in the area, Yatsushiro Castle. If you look into the histories of the three castles, you will see that many of Yatsushiro City. Furufumoto Castle, as the first Yatsushiro Castle, was a typical mountain castle which was located on a hilly area between the 14th and 16th centuries. A local lord, the Nawa Clan governed the castle, while the Sagara Clan, which lived in Hitoyoshi Castle inland, wanted to invade Yatsusiro which is located in a good area. The Sagara Clan attacked Furufumoto Castle several times, and managed to finally capture it in 1504. However, during the process of the unification of Japan in the late 16th Century, the castle was followed by the Shimazu Clan and Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1587.

The relief map around the castle

The ruins of Furufumoto Castle, quoted *from the website of Yatsushiro City*

Second Yatsushiro Castle becomes important place for Water Transportation

Hideyoshi sent his retainer, Yukinaga Konishi as the lord of southern Higo Proveince (Higo is almost the same as Kumamoto Pref.). He abandoned Furufumoto Castle and built Mugishima Castle instead, as the second Yatsushiro Castle. The castle was built at the estuary of Kumagawa River, facing the Yatsushiro Sea, to be used for water transportation. One of the reasons for its location was the preparation for the invasion of Korea that Hideyoshi had planned. Yukinaga actually became a vanguard of the invasion in 1592. In addition to its location, the castle was all made using stone walls. This castle was said to be the prototype of the last Yatsushiro Castle that we can see now. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 where Yukinaga lost, Higo Province was followed by the Kato Clan. Their home base was Kumamoto Castle, while Mugishima Castle was owned by their senior vassal, Masakata Kato as a branch castle.

The excavation site of Mugishima Castle (*licensed by Emeraldgreen at Japanese Wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons)*

The portrait of Masakata Kato, owned by Joshinji Temple (*licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

In 1615, the Tokugawa Shogunate issued the Law of One Castle per Province. All the branch castles in Higo Province were destroyed except for Mugishima Castle which was spared for some reasons. The reason for this exemption has been discussed a lot, but not finalized. One theory says that the lord of the clan, Tadahiro Kato was still very young, so the shogunate thought he would be supported by the senior vassal with Mugishima Castle as a guardian. The castle unfortunately collapsed in 1619 due to an earthquake. However, the castle was allowed to be rebuilt to another place as the next exemption. Or, it was said to be officially just move to another location. Anyway, Masakata was practically able to build a new castle nearby, once called Matsue Castle, now called (the third) Yatsushiro Castle.

The portrait of Tadahiro Kato, owned by Honmyoji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Part of the illustration of the enclosures of Yatsushiro Castle in Higo Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan, This castle was also built near the estuary the sea

Third Yatsushiro Castle is built and survives as Exemption

The new castle was built partially using Mugishima Castle’s design and materials. For example, the four-level Main Tower was build at the corner of the Main Enclosure, which is an old style of castles built in Toyotomi’s period. On the other hand, the castle used an advanced defensive system called Masugata. Masgata refers to a square shaped space which is surrounded by stone walls at a castle’s entrance. The Masugata system of the castle was set slightly overhanging from the outer line of the Main Entrance, which could counterattack the enemies’ sides. This could be considered as the final version of the system. The castle was eventually completed in 1622.

The picture of the miniature model of Yatsushiro Castle’s main portion, from the signboard at the site

The Main Tower was built at the corner, form the signboard at the site

A Masugata system of Yatsushiro Castle, hanging out from its Main Enclosure

The Kato Clan was unfortunately fired by the shogunate in 1632 before the Hosokawa Clan followed Higo Province. The clan still used Kumamoto Castle as their home base, then Yatsushiro Castle was used as the retreat for the lord’s father, Sansai Hosokawa. He was a survivor of the Sengoku Period and had a self-willed character. That seemed to be another reason that the shogunate couldn’t force to abandon the castle. Sansai even planned to be an independent lord with the castle before his death. As a result, the castle managed to survive all through the Edo Period. The castle was finally owned by the Matsui Clan, a senior vassal of the Kumamoto Domain by the Hosokawa Clan.

The portrait of Sansai Hosokawa, owned by Eisei Bunko Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Yatsushiro Castle Part2”

190.八代城　その１

３つの八代城がありました。

立地と歴史

奪い合いの対象となった初代八代城

八代市は、九州地方の西部にあって、農業と工業が盛んなことで知られています。これらの産業は江戸時代以来、耕地及び工場の敷地を拡大させることで発展してきました。八代の人たちは八代海を干拓し、八代平野の面積を３倍にしたのです。干拓を行う前、八代は水陸交通の結節点として栄えていました。八代城は元来、海の近くにあり交通をコントロールできる位置にあったのです。

八代市の範囲と城の位置

実は、歴史的には八代城は３つあったのです。それらの元々の名前はそれぞれ、古麓（ふるふもと）、麦島（むぎしま）、松江（まつえ）といいました。これらの城は同時には存在しておらず、それぞれの時代で地域を代表する城を「八代城」と呼んだのです。その３つの城の歴史を調べてみると、八代市の多くを学んだということになるでしょう。最初の八代城である古麓城は、１４世紀から１６世紀に丘の上に築かれた典型的な山城でした。地方領主の名和氏が居城としていましたが、内陸の人吉城にいた相良氏が八代城の立地の良さに目を付け、侵攻しようとしました。相良氏は何度も八代城を攻め、ついには1504年に占領しました。しかし天下統一事業が進んだ１６世紀後半には、八代城は島津氏、そして豊臣秀吉の手に渡りました。

城周辺の起伏地図

水上交通の要となった２番目の八代城

秀吉は配下の小西行長を、南肥後の国主として送り込みました（肥後はほぼ現在の熊本県に相当します）。行長は古麓城を廃城とし、代わりに麦島城を築きます。これが２番目の八代城となります。この城は球磨川の河口に築かれ、八代海に面しており、水上交通の要衝となりました。この場所に城が築かれた理由の一つは、秀吉がかねてから計画していた朝鮮侵攻の準備のためでもありました。行長は実際、1592年に侵攻が行われたとき、その先鋒を務めたのです。その立地に加え、この城は総石垣造りで築かれました。それが私たちが現在目にする、最後の八代城の雛形になったと言われています。1600年の関ヶ原の戦いで行長は敗軍の将となり、肥後国は加藤氏に引き継がれます。加藤氏の本拠地は熊本城でしたので、麦島城は支城として、その重臣の加藤正方（まさかた）が入りました。

麦島城跡の発掘現場 *(licensed by Emeraldgreen at Japanese Wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons)*

加藤正方肖像画、浄信寺蔵 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

1615年、徳川幕府は一国一城令を発しました。肥後国にあった支城群は破壊されましたが、麦島城はなぜか例外とされました。その理由はこれまでいろいろと議論されていますが、結論は定まっていません。一説には、加藤家の当主、加藤忠広がまだ幼少だったので、幕府はその後見として麦島城にいる重臣の正方が支えるべきと考えたからとされています。その後1619年に麦島城は地震により倒壊してしまいます。ところがまたも例外として別の場所での城の再建が認められたのです。または公式には、別の場所に城を移しただけだとも言われます。いずれにせよ、正方は実際には近くに新しい城を築いたわけで、松江城と呼ばれ、現在では（３代目の）八代城ということになっています。

加藤忠広肖像画、本妙寺蔵 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

肥後国八代城廻絵図（部分）、出典：国立公文書館、この城も河口・海の近くにありました

例外として築かれ生き延びた３代目八代城

この新しい城は部分的に麦島城の設計を、またその一部の部材をも使って築城されました。例えば、４層の天守が本丸の角部分に築かれましたが、これは豊臣時代の古いスタイルでした。一方で、この城は「桝形」とよばれる先進的な防御システムも使われていました。桝形とは、城の入口において石垣によって囲まれた四角い空間のことを指します。この城の桝形は、本丸の外郭のラインから少しはみ出して作られていて、敵の側面を攻撃できるようになっていました。この形態は、桝形の最終形とも言われています。城は1622年に完成しました。

加藤氏は1632年に残念ながら幕府によって改易になってしまいますが、その後の肥後国は細川氏が治めました。細川氏も本拠地を熊本城とし、八代城は当主の父親である細川三斎（さんさい）の隠居所として使われました。彼は、戦国時代の生き残りであり、かなり気ままな性格だったようです。それが、幕府が八代城を廃城とすることを強制できなかった理由の一つのようです。三斎は亡くなる前、八代城をもって独立した藩にしようと考えたほどでした。結果的に八代城は江戸時代を通して存続しました。最終的には細川氏の熊本藩の重臣、松井氏が城主となっていました。

細川三斎（忠興）肖像画、永青文庫蔵 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

「八代城その２」に続きます。

101.Shinori-Tate Part1

The center of the trading between Japanese and Ainu people

Location and History

One of Dounan Twelve Halls

Shinori-Tate was a hall which Japanese warriors built in the Middle Ages in what is now Hakodate City of Hokkaido Island. At that time, the island was called Ezo, where the native Ainu people lived. They spoke a different language and had a different way of life from people living in the mainland of Japan (called “Japanese people” later in this article). They earned a living by hunting, fishing, and trading, not by farming like “Japanese people” usually did. The first “Japanese people”, who moved from the mainland to Ezo, were said to be exiles, surviving warriors and merchants. Some historians speculate these moving people became a group, called Watari-To or the Migrating Party, who traded with the people of the mainland. The Ando Clan, which governed the northern edge of the mainland, monitored and controlled the party as the Shogunal Deputy for Ezo since the 13th Century.

The painting of Ainu men, attributed to Isabella Lucy Bird, in the 19th Century (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

In the late 14th Century, the Migrating Party and other “Japanese people” were very active in Oshima Peninsula at the southern edge of Hokkaido. The leaders of them started to build several halls for living and trading alongside the peninsula. Shinori-Tate was one of the Dounan (southern part of Hokkaido) Twelve Halls, the easternmost and probably earliest one of the halls. Historians think the Kobayashi Clan which worked under the Ando Clan built the hall.

The location of the castle

Hall prospers with Shinori Town

Shinori town beside the hall also prospered in commerce and industry between the “Japanese” and Ainu people. Records say there was a blacksmith town with hundreds of houses because Ainu people could not produce iron items. In 1968, about 370 thousand buried old coins in three big jars were found at the seaside of Shinori, 100m away from the hall ruins. The jars are partially broken, so if they were intact, the number of coins would reach 500 thousand. Upon checking the kinds of the coins, it was found out that they were buried in the same period as the hall. That would prove that a rich merchant or lord was there. Some historians even speculate the Kobayashi Clan might have buried the coins for the Ground-breaking ceremony of Shinori Tate.

The buried old coins which were designated as an Important Cultural Property, quoted from the website of Hakodate City

The hall was built on an over 20m high hill beside the seaside in the south. The ground for the hall was a square space which was 70m from the east to the west and 50m from the south to the north. It was surrounded by earthen walls and dry moats outside. The western side of it has its entrance and double dry moats. It is thought that the hall was usually used for a living or trading but also used for a base like a castle when an emergency situation or battle happened.

The relief map around the castle

The location map of Shinori-Tate Ruins at the site

Hall is captured twice by Ainu Rebellions

The situation dramatically changed after the Ando Clan was defeated and evicted from the mainland by the Nanbu Clan in 1432. The Ando Clan had to move their home base to Hokkaido. Since then, tension increased between the “Japanese” and Ainu people because the clan tried to rule the island directly. In 1456, an incident happened at a blacksmith in Shinori. An Ainu boy complained about the short sword that he ordered to a craftsman who made it. However, the craftsman killed the boy. This made the Ainu people very angry and resulted in an uprising led by their leader, Koshamain.

The Ainu style short swords called Makiri *(licensed by Haa900 via Wikimedia Commons)*

Shinori Tate, which was owned by Yoshikage Kobayashi, was attacked and captured by the uprising people. Yoshikage was also killed. Then, ten out of the Dounan Twelve Halls fell. In the following year, a “Japanese” general, Nobuhiro Takeda defeated Koshamain and crushed the rebellion. After that, Shinori Tate was restored by Yoshisada Kobayashi, the son of Yoshikage. However, the Ainu people raised a rebellion and captured Shinori Tate again in 1512. During this encounter, Yoshisada was killed. As a result, the “Japanese” people decided to get together in the western part of Oshima Peninsula, which led to the launching of the Matsumae Domain and Matsumae Castle in the Edo Period. Shinori Tate, which was located in the eastern part of the peninsula, was eventually abandoned.

The portrait of Nobuhiro Takeda (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Shinori-Tate Part2”