The contrasting red and green stone walls with the quiet background of the mountain
Features
Rare and Beautiful Stone Walls
Now, the ruins of Tokushima Castle is open to the public as Tokushima Central Park which includes both the mountain and plain parts. Visitors typically go to the plain area first which is still surrounded by the stone walls and the Inner Moat. The stone walls of this castle are very rare and beautiful because they were piled up using stones with a dark-green striped pattern called chlorite‐schist. These stones are also known as Green stones of Awa. Moreover, some parts of stone walls included stones called piedmontite schist also known as Red Stones. The contrast of green and red in the stone walls looks more beautiful.
The aerial photo around the castle
The monument of the ruins of Tokushima CastleThe stone walls built using chlorite‐schistThe contrast of green and red in the stone walls
August Entrance of Castle
There are no original buildings of the castle, but only the front gate called Washi-no-mon which was restored in 1989. You can enter the center of the park behind the gate by crossing the Gejo Bridge and passing the ruins of Kuro-mon Gate. The remaining stone walls of the gate and the neighboring Taiko-yagura Turret looks great as they were recognized as the main gate. Inside the stone walls, there are several attractions worth seeing, such as the flower square, Tokushima Castle Museum, and the remaining Japanese Garden of the Main Hall which was designated as a National Scenic Beauty. You can also enjoy walking on the inside route which is surrounded by the stone walls.
The restored Washi-no-mon GateYou can enter the ruins of Koro-mon Gate after crossing the Gejo BridgeLooking down the Gejo Bridge from the stone walls of Koro-mon GateThe stone walls of Kuro-mon GateThe inside route in the park
Mountain with Silent atmosphere
You can visit the mountain part as well. The mountain is now called Shiro-yama or The Castle Mountain. The route to the top of the mountain has been developed with the modern stone stairways so that visitors can climb easily. The enclosures on the mountain became empty where the signposts show the names of the enclosures and what buildings there were such as the Main Tower on the Eastern Second Enclosure. From the Main Enclosure on the top, you will see a view of Tokushima City. The ruins of Yumi-yagura Turret in the enclosure was where the first Main Tower was built. The stone walls on the mountain look much older than on the plain area. This is probably because the mountain part was built earlier than the plain part. It seems that fewer people visit the mountain now, but you can still enjoy a quiet atmosphere there.
The stone stairways to the mountainThe Eastern Second EnclosureThe Main EnclosureA view from the Main EnclosureThe stone walls of Yumi-yagura TurretThe stone walls at the entrance of the Western Second Enclosure
Tokushima Castle was located in what is the modern day Tokushima City. The prefectural capital of Tokushima Prefecture is Tokushima City. The old name for Tokushima Prefecture was called Awa Province, where the Chosokabe Clan and the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi battled in the late 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. Hideyoshi finally won and he gave the province to his senior vassal, Iemasa Hachisuka in 1585. Iemasa first lived in one of the major mountain castles, called Ichinomiya Castle, but he soon moved to another place in 1586, building a new castle named Tokushima Castle.
The location of the castle
The portrait of Iemasa Hachisuka, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The ruins of Ichinomiya Castle
building network of sea transportation
Tokushima Castle was built on Inoyama Mountain which was 62m high on a sandbank called Inotsu. The sandbank was among the delta of Yoshino-gawa River, the largest river in Shikoku Island. The place where the castle was built was not spacious for the lord of the province. It was said that Hideyoshi suggested that the castle should be built at that place. So why did he instruct Iemasa to build the castle at such a place? Historians speculate that Hideyoshi tried to build the network of sea transportation with his home base, Osaka Castle. Tokushima was renamed by Inotsu and had a location which was capable of controling the sea lanes such as Kii Channel. The area was the entrance to Osaka Bay in which Osaka Castle was facing. The network consisted of both navy and merchant fleets. Another possible reason was that The Hachisuka Clan still had to send their retainers to branch castles called the Awa Nine Castles against the resistances of Chosokabe. That meant Hachisuka’s home base didn’t need a large space.
Part of the illustration of Tokushima Castle in Awa Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan, you can see the castle was built among the sandbanks
The relief map around the castle, Inoyama Mountain stands out among the delta
The positional relation between Tokushima Castle and Osaka Castle
Osaka Castle
Center of Castle was once on Mountain
Inoyama was a dogleg mountain which extended from the east to the west. The Main Enclosure was on the highest, the largest and rounded part of the mountain, which was thought to have the first Main Tower and the first Main Hall for the lord. However, the Main Tower was scraped about 30 years after its foundation for some unknown reasons and rebuilt in the Eastern Second Enclosure of the lower eastern part of the mountain. This was a very rare case because most castles had their Main Tower at the highest point of the mountain. There’s only one other castle that had a similar case, which was Mito Castle. However, its reason was more obvious. Its main reason was that it was small and inconvenient. The western part of the mountain also had the Western Second Enclosure and the Western Third Enclosure that protected the Main Enclosure. These enclosures on the mountain got surrounded by stone walls one by one. On the other hand, the plain area on the sandbank in the south of the mountain was not fully developed. Experts speculate that there were probably two main halls instead of one primary hall on the mountain. This secondary hall on the plain area was used as the home of the lord and its warriors. Tokushima Castle was specifically designed for battles that took place during the first generation of its existence.
The enclosures were built on Inoyama Mountain, the Main Tower was built on the lower eastern part. not on the Main Enclosure (Part of the illustration of Tokushima Castle in Awa Province)
The aerial photo around Mito castle
The old photo of the Main Tower of Mito Castle at the Second Enclosure
Center of Castle moves to plain area
After the Tokugawa Shogunate defeated the Toyotomi Clan in 1615, the governance of the shogunate finally became stable. The Hachisuka Clan was also able to spread their territory by adding the Awaji Province through supporting the shogunate. Due to the long period of peace, The nine branch castles were eventually abandoned. As a result, the retainers gathered in Tokushima Castle which needed to be reconstructed. The large scale of the Main Hall for the lord was rebuilt on the plain area and became the center of the castle. It was also surrounded by stone walls with several turrets, and fences called Byobu-bei along with the Inner Moat and the Terashima-gawa River. The southern side of it had the Kuro-mon Gate as its main gate with the three-story turret called Taiko-yagura next to it, which looked like the main tower. In addition, there was also the Miki Enclosure in the south of the Main Hall with the front gate called Washi-no-mon. Many of the rivers around the castle were also reclaimed and turned into the warriors’ residences and the castle town. The Hachisuka Clan lived in the castle until the end of the Edo Period.
The plain area where the Main Hall was built, the hall was not drawn intentionally (Part of the illustration of Tokushima Castle in Awa Province)The Kuro-mon Gate and Taiko-yagura Turret (Part of the illustration of Tokushima Castle in Awa Province)The Miki Enclosure and Washi-no-mon Gate (Part of the illustration of Tokushima Castle in Awa Province)
After Shozui Castle was abandoned, the Kensho-ji Temple was built on the castle part, while the hall part was turned into the city area. As time passed, people thought Shozui Castle had only the castle part. However, the excavation in 1994 found that the castle part is too new for the castle’s long history. The officials did further research around the area and then found the relics of the hall for the lord under the ground of a factory nearby in 1997. Several excavations found that the hall part was much larger than expected and the ruins are very important to understand the history of the local region as well as the whole country. The ruins were lastly designated as a National Historic Site including both the castle and hall parts in 2001. The hall part is now public-owned and still being excavated.
A factory was once built on the hall part (from the signboard at the site)The excavation started at the factory ground (from the signboard at the site)A scene of the excavation
My Impression
I can honestly say that I was disappointed when I visited the ruins of Shozui Castle. This was because the ruins at first looked just like an empty space and small castle ruins. However, as I learned about the history of the castle, I understood that the ruins are being developed after the outstanding discovery. I believe that the ruins will become a good historical park with other new findings after a while. If you plan to visit the ruins, I recommend learning about its history in advance. In addition, it’s best to visit the ruins on the days except for the New Year’s holiday season when the office is open, then you can see some of the relics unearthed from the ruins. I couldn’t see them because I visited on a public holiday when the office was closed at that time.
The hall ruins part of Shozui CastleThe castle ruins part of Shozui Castle
How to get There
If you want to visit there by car: It is about 15 minutes away from Itano IC on Takamatsu Expressway or Aizumi IC on Tokushima Expressway. The ruins offer parking lots in the hall part and beside the castle part. By train, it takes about 15 minutes walking from JR Shozui Station. If you go there from Tokyo or Osaka, I recommend using a plane or an express bus.
