161.Kishiwada Castle Part1

The reconstructed Main Tower of the castle can be seen among the city area. However, the scenery of the castle was different from the current one before its long history.

Location and History

City is known for Kishiwada Danjiri Festival

Kishiwada City is known for Kishiwada Danjiri Festival which is held in the city every September. Danjiri means traditional Japanese floats which are pulled around the city area in the festival. The city originates from the castle town of Kishiwada Castle. It is said that the festival also came from a celebration event which a lord of the castle, Nagayasu Okabe held for building a new Inari Shrine in the castle in 1703. The reconstructed Main Tower of the castle can be seen among the city area, for instance, from a train you ride on the Nankai Line between Osaka and Kansai Airport or Wakayama City. However, the scenery of the castle was different from the current one before its long history.

A scenery of Kishiwada Danjiri Festival (licensed by Kounosu via Wikimedia Commons)
The portrait of Nagayasu Okabe, owned by Senkoji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The current Kishiwada Castle

Rulers take over Castle from Local Lords

Osaka Prefecture was roughly divided into three provinces in the past; Settsu, Kawachi and Izumi. The Kishiwada area belonged to Izumi Province which was the southern part of the prefecture and had the border with Kii Province in the south. It is still unknown when and how the castle was first built, but historians speculate that a local clan, the Kishiwada Clan had the old Kishiwada Castle sometime during the Middle Ages and moved to the current Kishiwada Castle in the first 15th Century during the Sengoku Period. The castle was followed by other local clans, the Matsura and the Terada Clans. They were able to maintain their castle and territory by serving the persons of power of the time such as the Hosokawa and the Miyoshi Clans.

The range of Izumi Province and the location of the castle

However, the situation didn’t allow them to do so when the rulers as Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi Toyotomi processed their unification of Japan in the late 16th Century. They used Kishiwada Castle as the front line against a group of local lords called Saika-shu which owned Kii Province. They also sent their retainers to the castle to govern it directly. For example, Kazuuji Nakamura who worked under Hideyoshi became the lord of the castle and repelled the attacks from the Saika Goup in 1584. Kishiwada Castle was originally a simple soil-made castle on a hill beside Osaka Bay. It is thought that Kazuuji improved it by building the Main Tower and high stone walls. That’s also why the castle managed to survive until today while the other castles in Izumi Province were all abandoned by the rulers.

The portrait of Kazuuji Nakamura, owned by Tokyo University (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Development of Castle and Town

Hideyoshi replaced Kazuuji with Hidemasa Koide, a relative of Hideyoshi in 1585. Hidemasa developed the castle town and the Kishu Road through the town below the Second Enclosure in the west. The tide had actually reached there until then. The Main Gate was also moved from the eastern side to the northern side near the town. It is also thought that he improved or replaced the Main Tower in the Main Enclosure, which had five levels according to the drawing submitted to the Tokugawa Shogunate later on. The shogunate replaced the Koide Clan with Yasushige (Matsui) Matsudaira in 1619, who completed the castle and town. He built new stone walls outside the town in the west to expand it. The castle had probably been small with only the Main Enclosure in the east and the Second Enclosure in the west, but it became larger by adding several enclosures and moats around.

The miniature model of Kishiwada Castle, viewed from the south, the Main Gate (called the Northern Main Gate) is in the red circle, exhibited by Kishiwada Castle
The Main Tower in the drawing, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan
The remaining stone walls of the castle town (licensed by Hironoyama via Wikimedia Commons)
The portrait of Yasushige Matsudaira (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The castle was finally followed by Nobukatsu Okabe in 1640 and his clan governed the castle and the area around as the Kishiwada Domain until the end of the Edo Period. The clan originally came from Suruga Province which is the modern day central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. They served the Imagawa, the Takeda and finally Ieyasu Tokugawa who was the founder of the shogunate. Their government was basically stable in the peaceful Edo Period like the launch of Kishiwada Danjiri Festival. However, the Main Tower was unfortunately burned down by an lightning fire in 1827. After that, the domain planned to restore the tower with the permission from the shogunate, but the periods of warriors and castles ended by the Meiji Restoration before it was done.

The portrait of Nobukatsu Okabe, owned by Senkoji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The illustration of Kishiwada Cassle in Iaumi Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

To be continued in “Kishiwada Castle Part2”

41.駿府城(Sunpu Castle)

駿府城は、徳川家康ゆかりの城としてその姿を取り戻しつつあります。
Sunpu Castle is returning to a castle associated with Ieyasu Tokugawa.

復元された駿府城東御門、背景は静岡県庁舎別館(The restored Higashi-Gomon of Sunpu Castle, the background is the Shizuoka Prefectural Government Office)

Location and History

徳川幕府の創始者である徳川家康は、昔は駿府といった現在の静岡市に3回住んでいました。最初は少年期に、今川氏の人質として過ごしました。2回目は壮年期に東海地方の戦国大名として、最後は熟年期に日本の支配者としてでした。今川氏の館が同じ場所にあったと言われており、そのため家康が人質としてそこに送られたのです。
Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate lived three times in Sunpu which is the old name of Shiuoka City. The first time was in his childhood when he lived there as a hostage under the Imagawa clan. The second one was in his middle age as a warlord in the Tokai region, and the last one was in his old age as the ruler of Japan. It is said that the hall of the Imagawa clan was there, that’s why Tokugawa was sent to the castle as a hostage.

駿府城公園の徳川家康像(The statue of Ieyasu Tokugawa in Sunpu Castle Park)taken by 松波庄九郎 from photo AC

家康は、駿府が首府であった駿河国を手に入れた後、1589年に最初の天守とともに新しく駿府城を建設しました。しかし、ほどなく豊臣氏の命により関東地方に移されてしまいました。代わりに豊臣配下の中村一氏が駿府城に入り、家康の天守を別のものに置き替え、家康への対抗姿勢を示しました。
Tokugawa built a new Sunpu Castle with the first “Tenshu” keep in 1589 after he took over Suruga Province where Sunpu was the capital. But he was soon transferred to the Kanto region by the Toyotomi clan. Instead, the Kazuuji Nakamura under Toyoyomi came to the castle and replaced Tokugawa’s Tenshu with another one against Tokugawa.

中村一氏像、東京大学史料編纂所蔵(The portrait of Kazuuji Nakamura, owned by Tokyo University)licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

最終的には家康は再び駿府に戻り、1607年に城の大改修を行います。最盛期には、駿府城は三重の堀に囲まれていました。三代目の天守は、日本で最大の天守台の上にありました。そして数多くの櫓や門が、西の豊臣氏との戦いに備えて築かれました。家康は、1615年に豊臣氏を滅ぼし、1616年にこの城で亡くなります。その後、幕府は長年にわたって駿府とこの城を支配しました。
Finally, Tokugawa returned to Sunpu again, and renovated the castle in 1607. At its peak, it was surrounded by triple moats. The third Tenshu keep had the largest stone base in Japan, and many turrets and gates prepared for fighting with Toyotomi clan in the west direction. Tokugawa died at this castle in 1616 after he had beaten Toyotomi clan in 1615. After that, the Shogunate directly governed Sunpu and the castle for many years.

駿州府中之城図家康公縄張、岡崎市立図書館蔵(The layout of Sunpu Castle by Ieyasu Tokugawa, owned by Okazaki City Library)licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

不幸にして1635年に大火が起こり、城を焼いてしまいました。火事の後、「東御門」「巽櫓」「坤櫓」といった施設は再建されましたが、天守は再建されず、天守台だけが残りました。
Unfortunately there was a big fire in 1635 which burned the castle down. After the fire, facilities such as the East Gate “Higashi Gomon”, the South-East turret “Tatusmi Yagura” and the South-West turret “Hitsuji-Saru Yagura” were rebuilt, but Tenshu was not rebuilt, only its base remained.

現在復元された巽櫓(左)と東御門(右)、大火の後再建された建物を元にしている(The current restored Tatsumi-Yagura(left) and Higashi-Gomon(right), based on the buildings rebuilt after the fire)

江戸時代末期になって、駿府城は東西対立の中で再度重要な存在となりました。この城は新政府軍の本陣となり、ここから幕府との間で江戸城と将軍の扱いについて交渉が行われました。
At the end of the Edo Period, Sunpu Castle regained its importance in the East-West confrontation. The castle became the stronghold of the New Government Military which negotiated the treatment of Edo Castle and the Shogun with the Shogunate.

駿府城近くにある西郷隆盛・山岡鉄舟会見の地跡(The site of the meeting between Takamori Saigo and Tesshu Yamaoka near Sunpu Castle)licensed by Halowand via Wikimedeia Commons

Features

現在、静岡市当局はこの城跡を史跡として再生することに取り組んでいます。最近になって城跡の名前が、元の駿府公園から駿府城公園に変更されました。更には東御門、巽櫓、そして坤櫓が残っている詳細図面や発掘の成果から、オリジナルの木造建築により復元されました。
Now, Shizuoka City officials are trying to recreate the castle ruins as a historic site. They have renamed the ruins from the former name Sunpu Park to the Sunpu-Castle Park recently. They have also restored Higashi Gomon, Tatsumi Yagura and Hitsuji-Saru Yagura in the original wooden style based on their remaining detailed drawing and excavation.

復元された東御門と巽櫓(The restored Higashi-Gomon and Tatsumi-Yagura)
復元された坤櫓(The restored Hitsujisaru-Yagura)taken by アド・ミラー from photo AC

市は、どのように公園を再構成し、また天守を再建すべきか、歴史家や専門家に諮問しています。現時点の答申は、まず最初に天守台を復元すること、そしてしばらく様子を見るというものでした。それは、天守の詳細が不明であり、再建には莫大な予算が必要だからです。現在、天守台の再建に向けて行われている発掘現場を見ることができます。そこでは二代目の中村氏の天守と、三代目の徳川氏の天守の遺跡が混在しています。大変興味深いものです。
They are consulting with historians and specialists about how they should reorganize the park and rebuild the Tenshu keep. Their answer right now is that they should restore the base of Tenshu first, and wait for a while. That’s because the details of it are unclear, and rebuilding it requires a huge budget. You can now see the excavation site of Tenshu prepared for the rebuilding of the base. There are mixed stone ruins both from the second Nakamura and the third Tokugawa periods.
That’s fascinating.

天守の発掘現場(The excavation saite of Tehchu)
こちら側が徳川の石、向こう側が中村の石(The near side is Tokugawa’s stones, the other is Nakamura’s)

Later Life

明治維新後、城の全ての建物が撤去され、静岡市は城跡を公園として使いました。しかし、市は明治中期に至り、公園を軍用地として提供する決断をしました。そして陸軍歩兵第34連隊が1897年から1945年の間、基地として使用しました。結果として、残っていた天守台は完全に破壊され、多くの堀がその残土により埋められました。この一帯は、二重、三重目を囲む堀と石垣を除き、平地になってしまいました。
After the Meiji Restoration, all the buildings of the castle were demolished, and Shizuoka City used the ruins as a park. But the city decided to offer the park for the ground for a military base in mid Meiji. The 34th infantry regiment used the base between 1897 and 1945. As a result, the remaining Tenshu base was completely destroyed and many moats were filled with waste. The area became plain-looking without part of the second and third concentric moats and their stone walls

現在の駿府城の航空写真(An aerial photo of the present Sunpu Castle)


内堀もわずかですが復元されています。(A few inner moats are restored)

第二次世界大戦後、城跡は再び公園となり「駿府公園」と名付けられました。現在静岡市は市民との絆を深めるため、家康を新たなシンボルとして模索しているようです。
After the World War II, the ruins of the castle became a park again called “Sunpu Park”. The city seems to be looking for a new symbol of Tokugawa to strengthen ties with its citizens.

堀から発見された家康時代の鯱(The grampus in Ieyasu’s era which was discovered from a moat)

My Impression

市民や観光客のために歴史公園を増やしたい気持ちはわかります。当方としても元通りの城の建物を本当に見てみたいです。しかし、一体どこまでやればよいのでしょう。市のシンボルとして天守を再建することが本当に必要でしょうか。過ぎたるは及ばざるがごとし。答えは一つではないのですが、過去に起こった軍用地の一件の中に潜んでいるような気もします。
I can see why they want to increase the number of historical parks for citizens and tourists. I am really pleased to see the buildings of castles restored like the original ones. But, how far will they go with that? Is it really necessary to rebuild the Tenshu as the city symbol? More than enough is too much. Though there is not one answer, it might be an answer in the case of the military base in the past.

再建された巽櫓の内部(The inside of the restored Tatsumi-Yagura)

How to get There

JR静岡駅から歩いて約15分です。
東京から静岡駅まで:東海道新幹線に乗って、直接静岡駅に到着します。
It takes about 15 minutes on foot from the JR Shizuoka station.
From Tokyo to the station: Take the Tokaido Shinkansen super express direct to Shizuoka st.

Links and References

駿府城公園(Sunpu Castle Park)
・大御所徳川家康と駿府城公園、田中省三著(Japanese Book)