Main tower – ページ 4 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

50.Hikone Castle Part1

The home base of the Ii Clan, a senior vassal of the shogunate

Location and History

Shogunate sent Ii Clan to Important Military Base

Hikone Castle is located near Biwa Lake in Shiga Prefecture and considered as one of the most popular historical sites in Japan. It has its Main Tower which is one of the twelve remaining and the five national-treasure Main Towers in Japan. It also has five castle buildings which are designated as Important Cultural Properties. The main portion of the castle also remains in a good condition with the buildings above, stone walls, and other structures. Because of it, the castle site has been designated as a National Special Historic Site since 1956.

The remaining Main Tower of Hikone Castle, as a National Traesure

The Western Enclosure Three-level Turret of Hikone Castle, as an Important Cultural Property

After the Battle of Sekigahara between Ieyasu Tokugawa and Mitsunari Ishida in 1600, Ieyasu got the power as the ruler of Japan. Ieyasu promoted his senior vassal, Naomasa Ii to the lord of the territory beside Biwa Lake, which Mitsuanri had owned. Naomasa first lived a mountain castle called Sawayama Castle Mitsunari lived. However, Naomasa thought it was not enough because he needed a stronger and more convenient castle. The Toyotomi Clan was still at Osaka Castle and there were many lords in western Japan, who thought their master was Toyotomi, not Tokugawa. They might have gotten together and attacked the Tokugawa Shogunate which Ieyasu established in eastern Japan. Naomasa’s territory was located in the area which could avoid the attack to eastern Japan.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Naomasa Ii, owned by Hikone Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Castle is built as Construction Order by Shogunate

After Naomasa died in 1602, his young son, Naotsugu conducted the new castle’s location with Ieyasu. They finally decided to build it on a low mountain at 50m high near Biwa Lake, which would be called Hikone Castle. The castle was built as a construction order by the shogunate with help of over 10 other lords. In order to hurry to complete the construction, they used waste materials from other abandoned castles like Sawayama Castle. However, the construction continued long since 1603, as the scale of castle was huge.

Hikone Castle was built from the top to the foot of the mountain

The Main Tower, Main Hall and other turrets were built together, surrounded by stone walls, on the ridge of mountain to make it easy to protect. Deep ditches were dug around both edges of the ridge to avoid enemies’ invasions to the center of the castle. Moreover, five long-line stone walls were built along the slopes of the mountain to prevent the enemies from moving smoothly.

The main portion of the castle on the mountain, from the signboard at the site

The large ditch in front of the Taiko-yagura Turret

The long-line stone walls behind the Main Gate

The mountain was surrounded by tripled water moats and the Main Gate was built behind them. The gate was open to the southwest direction towards Osaka Castle where the Toyotomi Clan lived. Seri-kawa River flowed out of the moats in this direction, so it could have been the forth moat.

The illustration of Hikone Castle and Town, *exhibited by Hikone Castle Museum*

The past Main Gate drawn in the signboard at the site

It becomes Castle for Peaceful Time

The castle was completed in 1622, about twenty years after its launch. However, the situation dramatically changed in 1615 during the construction. The Tokugawa Shogunate defeated the Toyotomi Clan in that year. After that, the construction was done only by the Hikone Domain building houses for living and government. As a result, the new Main Hall for the lord was built at the foot of the mountain on the opposite side of the Main Gate. The gate to the hall was called the Front Gate just like a new Main Gate. The castle town was also developed around the castle. They were either connected to Biwa Lake through waterways or ponds for water transportation.

Fortunately, no battles happened at Hikone Castle throughout the peaceful Edo Period. The lord of the castle, Ii Clan also played an important role in the central government as the head of hereditary feudal lords. Out of ten, five heads of the shogun’s council of elders came from the Ii Clan and it happened once in 265 years during that period. The most famous one is definitely Naosuke Ii at the end of the Edo Period. He decided to open more doors to foreign countries by signing the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the US and Japan in 1858. However, he was unfortunately assassinated by the opposite Ronin outside the Sakurada-mon Gate of Edo Castle in 1860. This incident decreased the power and authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate and would be a trigger of the Meiji Restoration.

The portrait of Naosuke Ii, owned by Hikone Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Hikone Castle Part2”

142.Naegi Castle Part1

A rare castle which was built and maintained on the rocky mountain

Location and History

Castle monitoring Nakasendo Road

The Nakasendo Road is known for being one of the major roads in Japan and was designated as one of the Five Major Roads in the Edo Period. In particular, the road was the most useful one when large amount of troops moved between western and eastern Japan before the period. The area of what is now Nakatsugawa City in the eastern part of Gifu Prefecture had Nakatsugawa Post Town in a basin at the center with the road going to mountain areas in the east. That’s why the warlords in the Sengoku Period wanted to own the area to monitor this important spot on the road. Naegi Castle was built on Takamori Mountain beside Kiso River which was sandwiched by the castle and the town. That meant the castle was the most suitable for monitoring what happened on Nakasendo Road.

The location of the castle

The relief map around the castle

”Nakatsugawa” from the series “Kiso-kaido Road” attributed to Hiroshige Utagawa in the Edo Period (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Toyama Clan builds and somehow maintains Castle till end

In the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period, The Toyama Clan was one of the local warlord families in the area, which was called the eastern Mino Province. It is said that the clan first built the castle in the first part of the16th Century as a branch castle of their home base, Iwamura Castle. However, the clan was affected by other larger warlords such as the Takeda and Oda Clans which also wanted to own the area. For example, both the Takeda and Oda Clans battled each other between 1572 and 1582, gaining and losing this castle.

The Portrait of Katsuyori Takeda, the lord of the clan at that time, owned by Koyasan Jimyoin (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Nobunaga Oda, the lord of the clan at that time, attributed to Soshu Kano, owned by Chokoji Temple, in the late 16th century (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

After the declines of both, the Mori Clan, under the ruler Hideyoshi Toyotomi captured the castle. Tomomasa Toyama, with his father Tomotada, the lord of the castle at that time, had to escape from the castle to Ieyasu Tokugawa at Hamamatsu Castle. In 1600 when the Battle of Sekigawara occurred, Tomomasa succeeded in getting Naegi Castle back with Ieyasu’s approval. After Ieyasu established the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Toyama Clan governed the castle again as the Naegi Domain until the end of the Edo Period.

The portrait of Tomomasa Toyama, the founder of the Naegi Domain, owned by Naegi Toyama Historical Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Castle on Rocky Mountain, Main Tower on Huge Rock

Naegi Castle had a very special location as far as permanent castles in Japan go. The mountain the castle is located on has a rocky terrain and steep cliffs. It was good for the defenders to make very difficult to attack, but if the lord of the castle wanted to develop it, there would be few spaces to do so. Generally, buildings or inter routes of castles were built on stone walls surrounding natural terrain or stone wall bases at that time. However, in the case of Naegi Castle, it was difficult to cut the rocky surface for buildings or routes. As a result, they were built on bases mixed with natural rocks and stone walls or filled valleys. Even if more buildings were needed, they were built on natural rocks directly. For example, the Main Tower of the castle was built on the huge rock on the top of the mountain.

The base of the Large Turret of Naegi Castle, which is mixed with natural rocks and stone walls

The huge rock as the base of the Main Tower of Naegi Castle

Traditionally, when Japanese people wanted to build a building on natural rocks, they used a method called Kake-zukuri. The method is to build the foundation by combining many columns and horizontal beams like lattices on a steep rock or cliff. Buildings using this method have still been seen in some old shrines and temples like Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto. It is said the reason for using this method is that the mountains themselves, which have the rocks or cliffs, are the objects of worship. When many castles were built during the Sengoku and the first part of the Edo Period, the method was applied to castles. Naegi Castle is a good example, and another case in Sendai Castle is known.

The Main Hall of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, built using the Kake-zukuri method

The Naegi Domain earned only 10 thousand koku of rice which was a minimum amount for an independent lord. Because of this, their castle buildings had wood shingle roofing and wood siding or mud walls, not roof tiles and plaster walls which were too expensive for them. However, they built and maintained these buildings under such severe conditions even during the long lasting peace of the Edo Period. This was because staying there to be ready for any emergency was their most important duty.

The imaginary drawing of Naegi Castle, from the signboard at the site

To be continued in “Naegi Castle Part2”

82.Ozu Castle Part1

Many clans developed Ozu Castle and the area around.

Location and History

Utsunomiya Clan first builds Castle

Ozu Castle was located in the southern part of Iyo Province on Shikoku Island, which is now Ozu City in Ehime Prefecture. The castle was first built on a hill called Jizogadake by the Utsunomiya Clan in the 14th Century. This location was near the intersection of Ozu-Uwajima Road and Hijikawa River, an important point for transportation. The Utsunomiya Clan eventually became one of the local warlords in the province during the Sengoku Period in the late 15th to the 16th Century.

The range of Iyo Province and the location of the castle

Takatora Todo modernizes Castle

After Hideyoshi Toyotomi achieved his unification of Japan, Takatora Todo, who worked under Hideyoshi owned Ozu Castle in 1595. He was based in Uwajima Castle, but he modernized both Ozu and Uwajima Castles. The details of improved Ozu Castle by Takatora are uncertain, because the ruins of it are under the current Ozu Castle. However, it is thought that the basic structure of the castle was completed by him. The Main Enclosure was on the hill beside Hijikawa River flowing from the east to the north of the castle. The Second Enclosure was below the hill on the opposite side of the river. Both enclosures were surrounded by the Inner Mort in the south and west. The Third Enclosure and the Outer Moat were also outside of them. The water of the moats was from the river, so the castle is also called a River Castle.

The portrait of Takatora Todo, private owned (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The illustration of Ozu Castle in Iyo Province, exhibited by the National Diet Library of Japan

Yasuharu Wakizaka builds Main Tower?

In 1609, Yasuharu Wakizaka, was transferred from Sumoto Castle to Ozu Castle as the founder of the Ozu Domain. It is said that he built the four leveled Main Tower in the Main Enclosure. Some historians also speculate that he might have moved the Main Tower of Sumoto Castle to Ozu. This is because the sizes of the stone wall bases for both castles are almost the same, according to the recent research. The two two-story turrets called Daidokoro-Yagura and Koran-Yagura were built at both sides of the Main Tower, connected by the Passage Turrets. Many other turrets were also built in the important positions of each enclosure.

The portrait of Yasuharu Wakizaka, owned by Tatsuno Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The stone wall base for the Main Tower and the imitation Tower of Sumoto Castle

The old photo of the Main Tower and the Daidokoro-Yagura Turret of Ozu Castle, from the signboard at the site

Kato Clan maintains Castle

In 1617, the Kato Clan was transferred from Yonago Castle to Ozu Castle, which governed the castle and the Ozu Domain over 13 generations until the end of the Edo Period. The domain didn’t have a large territory (60 thousand rice of koku) which meant they were not rich. However, it promoted industries such as Tobe pottery, Japanese papers and Japan wax. It also founded the domain school called Meirinkan to educate warriors. At the end of the Edo Period, one of the warriors, Ayasaburo Takeda learned the Western military science after graduation. He lastly built the first Western style castle called Goryokaku in Hakodate, Hokkaido Island, he also worked as the instructor of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

The portrait of Sadayasu Kato, the first lord of the clan, owned by Ozu City Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Ayasaburo Takeda (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

As for Ozu Castle, the Second Enclosure became the center of the castle in the peaceful time, having the Main Hall, warehouses surrounded by the Main Gate and some turrets.

The Second Enclosure drawn in the Illustration of Ozu Castle in 1692, exhibited in the castle

To be continued in “Ozu Castle Part2”