立地と歴史～Location and History – ページ 88 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

145.Kokokuji Castle Part1

Is this castle a symbol of peace or of battles?

Location and History

Kokokuji Castle was located in what is now Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area of the city was in Suruga Province (now central part of Shizuoka Pref.) which many warlords tried to take over in the 16 Century during the Sengoku Period.

The location of the castle and the range of Suruga Province

The castle was on the southern edge of the hilly terrain of Ashitaka-yama Mountain. There was a marshland to the south, east and west of the castle which was as natural hazard that helped to protect the castle. The castle was built using the natural terrain of the mountain and marshland. The castle was also an important point for transportation. A road at the foot of the mountain called the Nekata Road passed beside the castle. In addition, the Takeda Road close to the castle ran from the Nekata Road to the Tokaido Road at the seaside.

A relief map around the castle

The two roads are still connected to the castle ruins

The castle mainly consisted of three enclosures on the hill in a terraced manner. The Main Enclosure was at the highest, and there was a large deep dry moat behind the enclosure to prevent enemies’ attacks from the north. The castle even had ports on both sides for ships on the marsh.

Part of the illustration of Shinkokuji Castle in Suruga Province, exhibited by the National Diet Library (It is supposed to be Kokokuji Castle)

The castle itself might have been simple but is well known for its history. This is because some history books say that Kokokuji Castle was the first castle for a famous warlord, Soun Hojo to govern. He was one of the earliest warlords in the late 15 Century who supported the Imagawa Clan in Suruga Province. He was given the castle by the clan in 1487. His success story starts at this castle, and he went on to capture a part of the Kanto Region. His descendants followed in his footsteps to capture the other parts of the Kanto Region.

*The replica of the portrait of Soun Hojo, owned by Odawara Castle (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

However, there is no other evidence of the castle existing at the same time as Soun. The first appearance of the castle in a public document can only be traced back to 1549. At that time, Yoshimoto Imagawa ordered that the Kokoku-ji Temple be moved to another location to make space for building a new castle there. What is the truth about the matter? A historian gives us an interesting hypothesis that the castle was a temple called Kokoku-ji when Soun owned it. Kokoku-ji is originally a name of temple (“ji” means temple in Japanese). Kokokuji Castle is thought to be named after the Kokoku-ji Temple.

The statue of Yoshimoto Imagawa at Okehazama Battlefield Park (*taken by HiC from photoAC)*

The historian suggests another speculation about why the castle was built. A period of peace once came to the area around Suruga Province with Imgawa, Hojo, and Takeda Clans when the castle was built. Castles were basically built for battles, but Kokokuji Castle might have been built for the meeting with the three clans or as a symbol of peace. It is said that the three clans had a conference for their alliance at the Zentokuji-Temple. The temple may have been Kokokuji Caste.

*The portrait of Shingen Takeda, the lord of the Takeda Clan at that time, owned by Jimyo-in Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons*)

Unfortunately, the alliance broke in 1568, while Kokokuji Castle was involved in war. The lords of the castle were rapidly changed several times from the Imagawa Clan to the Hojo, Takeda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa Clans. As the number of the lords increased, the range of the castle seemed to become larger. In 1601, Yasukage Amano under Tokugawa became the last lord of the castle and the founder of the Kokokuji Domain. He governed the area well, but he ran away from the castle because of trouble between his citizens and others. The castle was finally abandoned when the domain was abolished in 1607.

Yasukage Amano from the *Battle of Komaki-Nagakute folding screens (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Kokokuji Castle Part2”

145.興国寺城　その１

この城は、平和のシンボルか、戦いのシンボルか？

立地と歴史

興国寺城は、現在の静岡県沼津市にありました。沼津市域はかつては駿河国（現在の静岡県中心部）に属していました。戦国時代の１６世紀には多くの戦国大名がこの国を手に入れようしていました。

城の位置と駿河国の範囲

この城は、愛鷹山の丘陵地の南端に位置していました。南側には沼地があり、東側と西側は自然の障壁となっていて、城を守っていました。城はこのような山や沼地の自然の地形を生かして築かれたのです。この城はまた、交通の要所でもありました。山の裾野を走る根方街道が城のすぐ脇を通っていました。更に、城のすぐ近くから竹田街道が海沿いの東海道に通じていました。

城周辺の起伏地図

この城には、主には三つの曲輪が階段状に配置されていました。本丸は最も高い所にあり、北からの敵の攻撃を防ぐために背後に大きな空堀がありました。城にの両側には沼地に船を乗り出すための船着き場さえありました。

この城自体は地味なのかもしれませんが、その歴史はよく知られています。これは歴史書に、興国寺城は有名な戦国大名、北条早雲が最初に城主になった城だと書かれているからです。早雲は１５世紀後半に活躍した初期の戦国大名で、駿河国の今川氏を支援しました。そのため1487年に今川氏からこの城を与えられたのです。彼の出世物語はこの城から始まり、関東地方の一部を手に入れたのです。彼の子孫は、その足跡を継ぎ、関東地方の残りの地をも獲得しました。

北条早雲肖像画の複製、小田原城天守閣蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

ところが、この城が早雲と同じ時期に存在したこと示す他の証拠は見つかっていません。公的文書にこの城のことが最初に現れるのは1549年になってからです。そのとき、今川義元が興国寺に対して、新しい城をそこに作るので他の地に移るよう命じたのです。真相はどこにあるのでしょうか。ある歴史家が面白い仮説を述べていて、早雲が主となった城というのは、興国寺という名の寺であったというものです。興国寺はそもそも寺の名前であるわけですから、興国寺城は、興国寺に由来してつけられた名前と考えられるのです。

今川義元銅像（桶狭間古戦場公園、taken by HiC from photoAC)

その歴史家はまた、なぜこの城が作られたのか、もう一つの推測を行っています。この城が作られたとき、駿河国周辺の地域では、今川氏、北条氏、武田氏の間で和平の機運が高まっていました。城は基本的には戦いのために築かれますが、興国寺城は平和のシンボルとして、３氏の会談の場として作られたのではないかというのです。３氏は善得寺で同盟のための会談を行ったとされていますが、その寺は実は興国寺のことかもしれないということです。

当時の武田氏当主、*武田信玄肖像画、高野山持明院蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

残念ながらこの同盟は1568年に破られてしまい、興国寺城は戦に巻き込まれていきます。城主は、今川氏から北条、武田、豊臣、そして徳川氏というように頻繁に入れ替わりました。城主の数が増えるに従い、城の範囲は拡大していったようです。1601年、徳川配下の天野康景が最後の城主になり、興国寺藩を設立しました。彼は善政を行いましたが、彼の領民と他の領民との諍いが起きたことをきっかけに、城から出奔してしまいました。1607年に藩は取り潰しとなり、城もついには廃城になりました。

天野康景、小牧長久手合戦図屏風より *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

「興国寺城その２」に続きます。

24.Takeda Clan Hall Part1

Were the people the castle, the stone walls, or the moats?

Location and History

Nobutora Takeda built Castle as Governor’s Residence

Takeda Clan Hall, which is also called Tsutsujigasaki Hall, was located in what is now Kofu City, the Prefectural Capital of Yamanashi Prefecture. I would say the hall is the origin of Kofu City. The Governor of Kai Province (now Yamanashi Pref), Nobutora Takeda first built the hall in 1519. The hall was not only for the official residence of the governor, but also for the home base of the Takeda Clan, so it is classified as one of the castles in Japan.

The portrait of Nobutora Takeda, attributed to Nobukado Takeda, owned by Daisen-ji Temple *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Its location had mountains behind on the north, and an alluvial fan spread down on the south from around there. This meant Nobutora was able to overlook the castle town and the area around. He built his hall on a square enclosure which was nearly 200m on one side, surrounded by earthen walls and water moats. This was a typical style of the residences for governors in Japan at that time, emulating the style of Shogun’s palace in Kyoto. In addition, he built another castle on a mountain about 2km away from the hall on the north, called Yogaisan Castle, for emergency. For example, he and his family could escape from the hall to the mountain castle when a battle happened. Indeed, his son, Shingen Takeda was born at Yogaisan Castle during the battle between Nobutora and the Imagawa Clan in 1521. The network of these castle was defensive enough to maintain their safety during that time.

The location of the castle

Shingen Takeda’s saying related to Castle

Shingen, who was one of the greatest warlords in Japan, developed the hall as well, adding the West Enclosure for residences of his family and relatives on the west of the center enclosure in 1551. Apart from that, the Umadashi system, which refers to a round shaped sticking out defensive position, was built in front of the Main Gate on the east. It is also said that the hall for Shingen’s mother was built on the north. Each enclosure was surrounded by nearly 10m high earthen walls and over 5m deep water moats.

The imaginary drawing of Takeda Clan Hall (from the signboard at the site)

However, the hall seems to be misunderstood by many people. This comes from Shingen’s saying “The people are the castle, the stone walls, and the moats…” recorded in the military science book called Koyogunkan in the 17th Century of the Edo Period. The sentence means it is more important to win the people’s hearts than to build a strong castle, but many people later have been thinking it shows the reason why Shingen only had such a small castle in comparison to other castles for other warlords such as Nobunaga Oda and Kenshin Uesugi.

*The portrait of Shingen Takeda, owned by Jimyo-in Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons*)

Takeda Clan Hall itself is much smaller than Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle or Kenshin’s Kasugayama Castle, but it is because their periods or situations were different. In the case of Shingen, his hall started from the governor’s residence. It was common for governors to live in such a hall at that time. The Takeda Clan added defense systems like the network of the castles and Umadashi to deal with their situation. It was enough for them.

Katsuyori Takeda moved to another

In 1582, Shingen’s son, Katsuyori Takeda decided to move his home base to a large new castle called Shinpu Castle, because the situation changed. Katsuyori was threatened by Nobunaga, so Katsuyori needed a stronger and larger castle than the Takeda Clan Hall which was once abandoned. Katsuyori was unfortunately beaten by Nobunaga before the hall was used by the Oda Clan and the Tokugawa Clan again. It was finally abandoned in 1590, when the Tokugawa Clan built Kofu Castle near the hall.

The Portrait of Katsuyori Takeda, owned by Koyasan Jimyoin *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Takeda Clan Hall Part2”