タグ: Kofu city

127.Shinpu Castle Part1

The mysterious Takeda’s last castle

Location and History

Katsuyori Takeda moved from Kofu to Simpu

Shinpu Castle was located in what is now Nirasaki City, the northwest part of Yamanashi Prefecture which was called Kai Province. The province was owned by the Takeda Clan for a long time until the late 16th Century and their home base had been located in the Takeda Clan Hall in Kofu, the center of the province. Katsuyori Takeda, the last lord of the clan decided to move his home base to Shinpu Castle in 1581. He moved to the castle within the year.

The location of the castle

The Portrait of Katsuyori Takeda, ownd by Koyasan Jimyoin (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The ruins of Takeda Clan Hall

The move was done for several reasons. First, Takeda’s territory expanded to the west such as Shinano Province (now Nagano Pref.), in order to make Shinpu Castle the center of their territory. Secondly, the large territory made Takeda’s vassals so many that the Takeda Clan Hall and Kofu were too narrow and small for them. Lastly, Katsuyori was threatened by Nobunaga Oda and Ieyasu Tokugawa from the west, after several defeated battles with them such as those of Nagashino Castle and Takatenjin Castle. Katsuyori needed to prepare a stronger castle for a possible invasion from them.

The location of Shinpu Castle and the range of Shinano Provence (on the left) and Kai Province (on the right)

The ruins of Nagashino Castle

Final version of Takeda Clan’s Method for building Castles

Shinpu Castle was built on a mountain on a long cliff wall called Shichiri-Iwa, which means about 28km long rock, along the Kamanashigawa River on the westerly direction. The eastern side of the castle was also a steep cliff of the mountain. The southern part of the castle had the Main Gate with the large Umadashi which was Takeda’s characteristic defense system. The northern part had this castle’s unique defense system called Degamae with water moats. The back entrance had doubled gates with a square space inside called Masugata. The Main Enclosure, the Second Enclosure, and the Third Enclosure were placed on several tiers to protect the castle. Katsuyori’s Main Hall was built in the Main Enclosure on the top. Overall, the castle could be very defensive even though it was all made of soil.

The relief map around the castle

The imaginary drawing of Shinpu Castle (from the signboard at the site)

However, Katsuyori burned the castle by himself and escaped from it in Mar 1582 after only his three-month stay, when he had heard of Takato Castle, located in the west of Shinpu Castle, being captured by Nobunaga’s invasion. Moreover, Katsuyori was defeated by his retainer’s betrayal just after eight days from the escape. So, why did Katsuyori withdraw from the castle?

The positional relation between Shinpu Castle and Takato Castle

The ruins of Takato Castle

Why did Katsuyori throw Castle away?

The reason which had been often said was that the castle was still unfinished. For example, the Main Gate was found to have no buildings through excavation. Others point out that Katsyori had only hundreds of his troops including women and children when they escaped because most of his vassals left him. Some remaining senior vassals recommended that he should be accommodated to another castle. For example, Masayuki Sanada offered Sanada’s Iwabitsu Castle in Kozuke Province (now Gunma Pref.). Katsuyori finally took another suggestion from the retainer who would deceive him. Another historian even says Sinpu Castle maybe did not deserve a castle, but a large hall would have been more suitable. This is because it needed more moats for a castle. Only Katsuyori knew the answer.

The portlait of Masayuki Sanada, privately owned licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The ruins of Iwabitsu Castle

After Nobunaga was also killed in the Honnoji Incident in June 1582, Ieyasu used Sinpu Castle again for his stronghold to get Kai Province. He succeeded in getting it, used Takeda Clan Hall to govern it, and built Kofu Castle as its new home base before Shinpu Castle was eventually abandoned.

The Portrait of Ieyasu Tokugawa, attributed to Tanyu Kano, ownd by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The ruins of Kofu Castle

To be continued in “Shinpu Castle Part2”

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.

The ruins of Takeda Clan Hall

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”