立地と歴史～Location and History – ページ 63 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

185.Karatsu Castle Part1

The castle the Terasawa Clan built

Location and History

Area prospered with sea transportation

Karatsu Castle is located in the northwestern part of Kyushu Island, which is now Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. The area of the city faces Genkai-nada Sea between Japan and Korea. Because of this reason, the area prospered with sea transportation including overseas trade. For example, there was Matsura Province with the port accepting the envoys from overseas nearly 2000 years ago. A warriors’ group, known as the Matsura Group, was very active using navy forces and sometimes pirates in the Middle Ages. In 1588, the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi issued the Act to Ban the Piracy to control sea transportation. After that, Hideyoshi’s retainer, Hirotaka Terasawa was sent to this area to govern it. He was an excellent practical person who supported the military logistics when Hideyoshi sent large troops from Nagoya Castle near his area to Korea.

The location of the castle

Hirotaka Terasawa built Castle

Hirotaka eventually supported the Tokugawa Shogunate and became the founder of the Karatsu Domain. He also built his new home base, Karatsu Castle between 1602 and 1608. The center of the castle was built on Mitsushima-yama Mountain beside the estuary of Matsuura-gawa River. Hirotaka changed the route of the river to place the mountain and other enclosures in a line on the ground like a peninsula. The mountain was the top of the ground towards the sea. That meant enemies were not able to attack the center from the ground easily. The center was also surrounded by stone walls along the sea. Some turrets were built on the stone walls, which were probably used for monitoring the sea. Some sea ports such as Funairi-mon Gate were also built beside the estuary. On the top of the mountain, the stone wall base for the Main Tower was built. However, it is thought that the Main Tower was not built because there has been no evidence of this.

part of the illustration of around Karatsu Castle in Hizen Province, in the Edo Period , exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

The remaining stone walls of Karatsu Castle

Terasawa Clan fired after Shimabara Rebellion

Hirotaka was also given a new detached territory in the area called Amakusa, in the western part of Kyushu Island by the shogunate due to his contribution. However, this caused the Terasawa Clan’s misfortune. There were a lot of masterless warriors called Ronin who were former retainers of the Konishi Clan who were fired by the shogunate. There were also many Christians which the shogunate banned people from becoming. Hirotaka oppressed both of them in accordance with the shogunate’s instructions. As a result, Shimabara Rebellion, including the people in Amakusa, happened in 1637 in the period of Hirotaka’s son, Katataka. The shogunate took Amakusa away from the Terasawa Clan after the rebellion. Katataka felt anxious and killed himself in 1647 in the end. The Terasawa Clan was fired by the shogunate because of no successor to him.

Part of the folding screens of Shimabara Rebellion, owned by Asakura City Akizuki Museum, from the exhibition of Arima Christian Heritage Museum

Karatsu Domain followed by Mizuno and Ogasawara Clans

After that, five clans governed Karatsu Castle and the Karatsu Domain until the end of the Edo Period. Some of the lords became famous in Japanese history. One of them was Tadakuni Mizuno who performed the Tenpo Reforms in the central government as the head of the shogun’s council of elders. Another was Nagamichi Ogasawara who was a member of the shogun’s council of elders, and devoted to the Tokugawa Shogunate till the very last moment before it fell down.

The portrait of Tadakuni Mizuno, owned by Tokyo Metropolitan University *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The portrait of Nagamichi Ogasawara, from the digital collections of National Diet Library (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Karatsu Castle Part2”

185.唐津城　その１

寺沢氏が築いた城

立地と歴史

海上交通で栄えた地域

唐津城は、現在の佐賀県唐津市にあたる、九州の北西部にあります。唐津市の市域は、日本と朝鮮の間にある玄界灘に面しています。このため、この地域は海外貿易を含む海上交通により栄えていました。例えば、２千年近く前には末盧（まつら）國があり、その国の港には海外からの使節が到着していました（「魏志倭人伝」の記述で魏の使者が上陸した地とされます）。中世には、松浦（まつら）党と呼ばれる武士団が、水軍ときには海賊を駆使して活躍しました（その中でも「上松浦党」と呼ばれる武士団がこの地域を支配していました）。1588年、天下統一を進める豊臣秀吉が海上交通を統制するために海賊禁止令を出しました。その後、秀吉の部下、寺沢広高がこの地に派遣され統治を行いました。彼は優秀な実務官僚であり、秀吉が近くの名護屋城から大軍を朝鮮に派遣した時には兵站を担当しました（他に長崎奉行を兼務していました）。

城の位置

寺沢広高が築城

広高はやがて徳川幕府を支持するようになり、唐津藩の初代藩主となりました。彼はまた、1602年から1608年の間に、新しい本拠地として唐津城を築きました。この城の中心地は、松浦（まつうら）川河口沿いにある満島（みつしま）山の上に作られました。広高はその川の流路を変え、この山と他の曲輪が半島のような陸地に一直線に並ぶようにしました。これにより、この山が海に向かって一番向こう側に配置されることで、敵が簡単に陸地を伝って城の中心部に攻められないようにしたのです。中心部はまた、海に沿った石垣に囲まれ、その石垣の上には櫓がいくつも築かれました。海上を監視するために使われたのでしょう。舟入門などの海港設備も河口の傍らに作られました。山の頂上には天守台石垣が築かれましたが、天守は建てられなかったと考えられています。天守があったことを示す証拠が見つかっていないからです。

寺沢氏は島原の乱後に改易される

広高は（関ヶ原の戦いの）戦功により、九州西部の天草に飛び地の領地を幕府から与えられました。ところが、これが寺沢氏に大きな不運を呼び込んでしまったのです。そこには、幕府により改易となった小西氏の元家臣であった浪人衆がたくさん住んでいました。またそこには、幕府が禁じていたキリシタンの人たちも多くいました。広高は、幕府の方針に従って双方を弾圧しました。その結果、天草の人たちも参加した島原の乱が1637年、広高の息子、堅高（かたたか）の代に発生します。その乱が終息した後、幕府は寺沢氏から天草の地を取り上げました。堅高はそれを恥辱に感じ、1647年にはついに自殺してしまいます。寺沢氏は、跡継ぎがいないという理由で幕府により改易されました。

水野氏、小笠原氏などが引き継ぐ

その後、５つの大名家が唐津城と唐津藩を江戸時代末まで統治しました。そのうちの何人かは日本史の中でも有名です。例えば、水野忠邦は老中首座として、中央政府で天保の改革を進めました（そのときは浜松城に移っていました）。また、小笠原長行（ながみち）は老中の一人でしたが、徳川幕府が倒れるそのときまで忠節を尽くしました（奥羽越列藩同盟にも参画）。

水野忠邦肖像画、東京都立大学図書情報センター蔵 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

小笠原長行肖像画、国立国会図書館デジタルコレクションより (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

「唐津城その２」に続きます。

136.Torigoe Castle Part1

It’s history and role in the Kaga Ikko Uprising

Location and History

Emergence of Ikkoshu Sect

Torigoe Castle was located at the foot of the Hakusan Mountain in Kaga Province, which is now Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is known for the final place where the people of the lkkoshu Sect in the province, fought with the warlords to the last man in a conflict known as the Kaga Ikko uprising. After the Onin War in Kyoto in 1467, almost all the people in Japan had to protect themselves because the authority of the Ashikaga Shogunate had decreased in power. This is called the Sengoku Period, also known as the Warring States Period. Not only the lords and warriors, but also farmers and merchants along those at the temples had the power to maintain their territory and rights.

The location of the castle

A scene of the Onin War, from a picture scroll of the Origin of Shinnyo-do Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The lkkoshu was one of the sects of Buddhism, which spread across the country during that period. Many people believed it because the sect says if you only speak “Hail to Amitabha Buddha”, you would go to heaven. In addition to this simple doctrine, the 8th head of the sect in the 15th Century, Rennyo worked actively to build local organizations especially in what is now the Chubu Region, including Kaga Province. The organizations were primarily religious, but they eventually had political, economic, and military power with the situation of the period. Even a warlord asked the sect for help when fighting another warlord. When the sect fought for something, it was called Ikko-Ikki, or the Ikko uprising, having a big impact on the entire country. As a result, the sect acted like a warlord and his warriors, with its headquarters, called Ishiyama-Honganji Temple, at the former Osaka Castle.

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

The miniature model of the Ishiyama-Honganji Temple, owned by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed by ブレイズマン via Wikimedia Commons)

Castle in Province owned by Peasants

Kaga Province had one of the strongest organizations in the sect. The people in the organization, called the Kaga Ikko uprising, first supported the governor of the province, from the Togashi Clan, but soon fought against and defeated the clan. This was due to the high taxes the clan imposed, but the local lords in the sect also wanted to take lands away from the clan. The sect established Oyama-gobo Temple, the former Kanazawa Castle, to govern the province by themselves. Kaga Province was known as “a province owned by peasants”. The temple was the home base of the Kaga Ikko uprising and probably looked like a castle. The Kaga Ikko uprising also had many branch castles, including Torigoe Castle, in the province to protect themselves.

Gokuraku-bashi Bridge in Kanazawa Castle, which derived its name from the period of Oyama-Gobo Temple

The restored Torigoe Castle in the present time

Torigoe Castle was the site of an internal group, called Yamanouchi-shu, in the Kaga Ikko uprising. The castle was built on a mountain above the meeting point of the Tedori-gawa and Dainichi-gawa Rivers. The castle had the Main Enclosure on the top. The other enclosures were around the Main Enclosure and along the ridge of the mountain. All the enclosures were made of soil and divided by the dry moats, using natural terrain. Such a castle could have been seen across Japan at that time as a “mountain castle”. It is thought that the head of the group, Suzuki Dewa-no-kami built the castle to protect them from Nobunaga Oda’s attacks.

The map around the castle

The relief map around the castle

Torigoe Castle was built using natural terrain

End of Kaga Ikko uprising

Nobunaga Oda was a great warlord who processed the unification of Japan in the 1570s-80s. He asked the religious institutions to waive their political and military power. If a temple rejected his request, he would destroy the temple completely, such as the fire attack on Mt. Hiei in 1571. Previously, in 1570, Nobunaga asked the Ikkoshu Sect to withdraw from its home base, Ishiyama-Honganji Temple. The sect refused, and after that, they fought each other for the next 11 years, known as the Battle of Ishiyama. Nobunaga’s retainers also attacked the local organizations of the Ikkoshu Sect, including the Kaga Ikko uprising. The Yamanouchi-shu group battled Nobunaga’s troops at Torigoe Castle even after Ishiyama-Honganji Temple surrendered in 1580. However, they were finally defeated, and with the rest of the survivors being killed in 1582. This could be considered as the final resistance of the Kaga Ikko uprising.

The portrait of Nobunaga Oda, attributed to Soshu Kano, owned by Chokoji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The image of Battle of Ishiyama, owned by Wakayama City Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Torigoe Castle, the final place for the people of the Kaga Ikko uprising

To be continued in “Torigoe Castle Part2”