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132.Takada Castle Part2

The good contrast of the remaining moats and earthen walls, and the rebuilt turret

Features

Wide and Long Water Moats remain

Now, the ruins of Takada Castle have been developed as the Takada Castle Site Park. The park is also very famous for the illuminated cherry blossoms and the lotus in the Outer Moat credited as “the largest in the East”. As for the castle ruins, the earthen walls of the Main Enclosure, the Inner Moat, and the western part of the Outer Moat mostly remained intact. If you visit the ruins from the west such as Takada Station, you will first see the remaining Outer Moat with a huge amount of lotus plants.

The aerial photo around the castle

Center of Park – Third and Second Enclosures

The Outer Moat is still very large, which was at maximum 130m wide in the past. Even now it remains at about 100m wide. You can now go across the moat on the road to the Third Enclosure and the Second Enclosure inside. The Third Enclosure is used for the modern facilities such as a baseball stadium and an athletic field.

The Second Enclosure is the center of the park with a lot of cherry trees. You can walk along the promenade beside the Outer Moat. In fact, the high earthen walls were built along the moat, but they were removed when a Japanese Army started to use the castle ruins.

There is also the Joetsu City History Museum in the enclosure where you can learn more about the castle and the area around.

Main Enclosure and Rebuilt Three-Story Turret

The Main Enclosure surrounded by the Inner Moat and the earthen walls have three entrances for visitors. The first one is the former front gate from the restored wooden bridge called Gokuraku-bashi outside on the south.

The second one is the ruins of the Higashi-akazu-mon Gate on the east.

The last one is on the west and was built by the Japanese Army in the modern times.

The entrance of the Main Enclosure in the west

The Three-story Turret was also rebuilt in 1993 on the earthen walls at the southwest corner of the Main Enclosure, based on the successful excavations and studies. The turret is in fact a steel building, but it looks traditional because of the many wooden materials used.

The rebuilt Three-Story Turret on the earthen walls

Its interior is used as a museum and as a sightseeing tower. You can also see a good contrast of the Inner Moat, the earthen walls and the turret from the outside.

The inside of the enclosure was used as the Main Hall for the lord of the castle, and is now used as a school.

The miniature model of the Main Enclosure of Takada Castle (*the Joetsu City History Museum*)

The inside of the Main Enclosure in the present

To be continued in “Takada Castle Part3”
Back to “Takada Castle Part1”

132.高田城　その２

残っている水堀、土塁と再建された三階櫓のコラボレーション

特徴

広大な水堀が健在

現在、高田城跡は高田城址公園として整備されています。この公園はまた、夜桜と「東洋一」と称される外堀を埋める蓮によりとても有名です。城跡に関して言えば、本丸の土塁、内堀、そして外堀の一部がほぼそのまま残っています。もし、西の方、例えば高田駅から城跡に向かった場合には、最初に大量の蓮が茂っている現存する外堀が見えてくるでしょう。

城周辺の航空写真

公園の中心地、三の丸と二の丸

外堀は今もその大きさを維持しています。過去には最大で１３０ｍの幅があり、現在もなお約１００ｍの幅で残っています。今は堀を渡る道路を通って、内側にある三の丸と二の丸に入っていきます。三の丸は、球場や陸上競技場のような近代施設の用途で使われています。

二の丸は、公園の中心であり、多くの桜の木が植えられています。外堀に沿った遊歩道を歩いてみることもできます。実は、堀沿いには高い土塁が築かれていたのですが、日本陸軍がこの城跡を使い始めたときに撤去しました。

二の丸には上越市立歴史博物館もあり、この城や周辺地域のことをより深く学ぶことができます。

本丸と再建された三階櫓

内堀と土塁に囲まれた本丸には観光客向けに３つの入口があります。一つはもと正門だったところで、南側にある復元された極楽橋を渡って入っていきます。

もう一つは東側にある東不開門（ひがしあかずもん）跡です。

最後の一つは西側にあって近代になってから日本陸軍により作られたものです。

三階櫓が1993年に本丸の南西隅の土塁上に復興再建されました。発掘と研究の成果に基づくものです。この櫓は実は鉄骨造りなのですが、木材を多く使っているため、復元された建物のように見えます。

その内部は博物館と展望台になっています。城の外側から見ると、この櫓と内堀・土塁との組み合わせはなかなか壮観です。

本丸の内側は城主の御殿として使われていましたが、現在は学校の敷地となっています。

「高田城その３」に続きます。
「高田城その１」に戻ります。

132.Takada Castle Part1

A castle protected by earthen walls and water moats

Location and History

Tadateru Matsudaira built it shortly

Takada Castle was located in Echigo Province (what is now Nigata Province). The Uesgi Clan at Ksugayama Castle owned the province in the late 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. After the clan was transferred to another province, the province was divided by several lords at the beginning of the 17th Century. One of them was the Hori Clan which owned the western part of the province and lived in Fukushima Cstle. However, Hori Clan was fired by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1610. Instead, Tadateru Matsudaira, a son of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Shogunate was sent to the castle. He and the Shogunate felt they required a stronger castle, because the tension between the Shogunate and the Toyoyomi Clan got higher. They needed to monitor non-hereditary feudal lords who possibly supported the Toyotomi Clan. The new castle would be called Takada Castle.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Tadateru Matsudaira, owned by the Joetsu City History Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The construction for the castle began in March 1614, and was almost completed in just four months, before the battle between the Shogunate and the Toyotomi Clan happened in October. The Shogunate mobilized thirteen lords including Tadateru’s father-in-law, Masamune Date for the construction. Maybe for the short construction period, Takada Castle had several features. The foundation of the castle was completely made of soil, not using stone walls which were common for building castles at that time. A Main Tower, which was also popular for castles, was not built, the Three-story Turret was built instead.

The remaining earthen walls at the Main Enclosure

Protected by Wide Water Moats and High Earthen Walls

However, there was no shortcuts in the construction. The wide and long water moats were built using the flow of several rivers. As a result, the castle was surrounded by the Inner Moat, the Outer Moat, and the opposite flowing rivers. The Third Enclosure was in the Outer Moat, the Second Enclosure was inside the Outer Moat, and The Main Enclosure was inside the Inner Moat. Visitors from the Main Gate outside the Third Enclosure had to go across three bridges to reach the Main Enclosure. Even the clay walls were as high as10m, so the castle had sufficient defense.

The miniature model of Takada Castle (*the Joetsu City History Museum*)

The earthen walls are still surrounding the Main Enclosure

Lords of Castle were changed several times

Tadateru was one of the 10 lords who had the largest territories in Japan at that
time, however, he was fired by the Shogunate in 1616 for unknown reasons, after the Shogunate eliminated the Toyotomi Clan in 1615. Though it is said that he was rude to his father, it may be due to an internal trouble in the Shogunate. He was exiled at Takashima Castle until he died at the age of 92 in 1683.

After some years, Mitsunaga Matsudaira governed the castle for 57 years. He improved farming and business while developing the castle town and transportation. The castle town had become the city area of Joetsu City. However, he was fired by the Shogunate as well in 1681 due to the internal trouble for his successor.

The draft map of Takada Castle, drawn in 1737 (*Joetsu City Buried Cultural Property Center*)

The aerial photo around the castle and the city area

After that, several clans governed the castle and the area around the Takada Domain. This area has been known for a city having heavy snow, so some people from other areas seemed to have trouble living and communicating. The last lord of the castle was the Sakakibara Clan which owned it from the mid 18th Century to the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th Century.

The present city area covered with snow *(taken by v-pro from photoAC)*

The Sakaki Shrine which worships Yasumasa Sakakibara, the founder of the Sakakibara Clan

To be continued in “Takada Castle Part2”