Hachisuka clan – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

176.Ichinomiya Castle Part2

Unexpected stone walls on the mountain

Features

Well-developed Trail to Castle Ruins

If you drive to the ruins of Ichinomiya Castle, you will go through the route on the narrow area sandwiched by Akui-gawa River and mountains. You can see that it is a good location for defending the castle. The entrance of the trail to the ruins is opposite of the Ichinomiya Shrine. You will need to climb to the top of the 144m high mountain, but the trail is well developed with stone steps.

The location map at the site, adding English names

The map around the castle

The well-developed trail with stone steps

After climbing for a while, you will see a Vertical Moat or Tate-bori on the slope along the trail to prevent enemies from attacking. If you go to the branch nearby, you can see the ruins of the Warehouses.

The ruins of the Warehouses (licensed by ブレイズマン via Wikimedia Commons)

Defense System using Natural Terrain

Going back to the main trail, you will reach an artificial steep cliff called Kiri-gishi under several enclosures. You can also see a fountain at the foot of the cliff. You will need to climb a zigzagged trail on the cliff to go further.

Even after climbing, you will still be under the bottom of an artificial valley called Hori-kiri. Enemies could have been counterattacked from the enclosures above. The valley divides the main portion of the castle and the Saizo-maru Enclosure. If you turn left at the valley, you will reach the Saizo-maru Enclosure. This enclosure is also called the Third Enclosure. “Saizo” originates from the name of the retainer who was responsible for the enclosure.

*Being under the bottom of the valley* even after climbing

Going to Center of Castle

If you turn right at the valley, you will reach the ruins of the gate for the main portion which have two main enclosures – the Myojin-maru Enclosure and the Main Enclosure. These enclosures are connected by a long and narrow enclosure called the Belt Enclosure or Koshi-guruwa

If you turn right again at the gate ruins, you will be in the Myojin-maru Enclosure. This enclosure is also called the Second Enclosure and the spot where the ruins of the building with veranda, maybe for sightseeing, was found. You can even now see a good view of the center of Tokushima Prefecture to the east.

Great Stone Walls of Main Enclosure

If you go back to the gate ruins and go left from the front of it, you will finally reach the Main Enclosure on the top of the mountain. You may be surprised to suddenly see the great stone walls which were built by the Hachisuka Clan. 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. The same pattern of stone walls can also be seen at Tokushima Castle that the Hachisuka Clan built after they used Ichinomiya Castle.

There is only the small building of Wakamiya Shrine. The stone foundations of the Main Hall for the lord were found recently, which were also built by the Hachisuka Clan. You can also see a good view of the area around, including Akui-gawa River.

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

76.Tokushima Castle Part3

The Castle that cultivated a new culture

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, all the buildings of Tokushima Castle excluding the Washi-no-mon Gate were eventually demolished. The gate building unfortunately burned down due to the Great Tokushima Air Raid in 1945, but was eventually restored in 1989. The Terashima-gawa River beside the castle was mostly reclaimed and converted into the railway. On the other hand, the ruins of the castle has been opened to the public since 1910. They were also designated as a National Historic Site back in 2006.

The railway of Tokushima Station (licensed by Kounosu via Wikimedia Commons)

Tokushima Castle Museum like a main hall

My Impression

Even if you are planning to only see the stone walls, it is worth it. I have also learned that the castle had been changing although only the Hachisuka Clan built and maintained the castle for a long time. In addition, it was said that the famous Awa Dancing Festival in Tokushima City originated from Tokushima Castle. The founder of the castle, Iemasa Hachisuka motivated people to dance as they like to celebrate the completion of the castle. Today, The dance team continues to use the mountain to practice to this day.

The Gejo Bridge the ruins of Kuro-mon Gate

The statue of Iemasa Hachisuka at the site

Awa Dancing Festival (taken by tamuzbac from photoAC)

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 20 minutes away from Tokushima IC on the Tokushima Expressway.
The park offers a parking lot.
By train, it is about 15 minutes away from JR Tokushima Station on foot.
If you go there from Tokyo or Osaka, I recommend using a plane or an express bus.

Links and References

・The Tokushima Castle Museum, Tokushima City

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Tokushima Castle Part1”
Back to “Tokushima Castle Part2”

76.Tokushima Castle Part1

Many evolution of Tokushima Castle

Location and History

Iemasa Hachisuka built Castle

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)

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

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)

To be continued in “Tokushima Castle Part2”