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

84.Kochi Castle Part1

The Yamanouchi Clan’s unique castle

Location and History

Pre History of Kochi Castle

Kochi City originated from the name Kochi Castle and is the capital of Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island. Kochi Castle is one of the most popular tourist spots of the prefecture. It has many remaining castle buildings including the Main Gate, the Main Hall, and the Main Tower. The castle was built on a low mountain called Mt. Otaka-sakayama, but it is uncertain when it was first built. In 1588, Motochika Chosogabe, the lord of Tosa Province, what is now Kochi Prefecture, moved his home base from Okoh Castle to Kochi Caste, which was called Otaka-sakayama Castle at that time. However, he moved again to Urado Castle after only a three-year stay in Otaka-sakayama Castle. This could be because the area received a lot of rain but had poor drainage.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Motochika Chosogabe, owned by Hada Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Kazutoyo Yamanouchi built Kochi Castle

In 1601, Kazutoyo Yamanouchi was promoted by the Tokugawa Shogunate to a new lord of Tosa Province and became the founder of the Tosa Domain. He tried to rebuild and live in Otaka-sakayama Castle which had enough space to build the castle town. The castle was rebuilt with advanced technology at that time, such as building stone walls and large-scale buildings. After the completion of the castle, it was renamed Kochi Castle. As a result, the Yamanouchi Clan governed the castle and the province all through the Edo Period.

The statue of Kazutoyo Yamanouchi in front of Kochi Castle

Part of the illustration of Kochi Castle in Tosa Province, in the Edo Period, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

The miniature model of Kochi Castle in its Main Tower

Features of Kochi Castle

Kochi Castle had several interesting features. First, the castle had a lot of stone troughs to allow for proper drainage if it rained a lot. Such a system was very rare for castles in Japan and can even now be seen when you visit the castle.

One of the stone troughs on the stone walls

Secondly, the castle had an old-style Main Tower, called the lookout tower type, for the period of its construction. It is said that Kazutoyo wanted to build the Main Tower resembling the Main Tower of Kakegawa Castle, where he lived before he went to Tosa Province. For this reason, when people in Kakegawa restored the Main Tower of Kakegawa Castle in the present time, they used the design plans of the remaining Main Tower of Kochi Castle.

The restored Main Tower of Kakegawa Castle, taken by Oshiro-man from photo AC

The remaining Main Tower of Kochi Castle

Most of the castle buildings including the Main Tower were unfortunately burned down by a great fire in 1727. When the Tosa Domain rebuilt the castle after the fire, they restored the Main Tower in 1749 in a way which was almost the same as the original one, not using a new style. This could be because the shogunate just allowed the domain to use the original style even for rebuilding. It is also said that the warriors in the domain still loved the style of their founder, Kazutoyo. The Main Tower also didn’t stand on a stone wall base and was connected directly to the Main Hall in the Main Enclosure on the top of the mountain. It is thought that this is also one of the styles of old castles.

The Main Tower, connected directly to the Main Hall

The castle also had a feature using both buildings and natural terrain of the mountain for defense. If enemies attacked the castle to reach the Main Tower, they had to pass through the Suginodan Enclosure and the Second Enclosure which were built around the slope of the mountain. In addition, if enemies passed the Iron Gate before the Second Enclosure, they could be near the Main Tower and see the Tsumemon-Gate which looked like the gate to the tower. However, it was just a bridge between the Main Enclosure and the Second Enclosure, which the enemies could never go across from that point. This is a tricky system to prevent enemies from reaching the center of the castle.

The route from the Main Route to the Main Enclosure and Main Tower (The illustration of Kochi Castle adding the red colored letters)

The Main Tower that can be seen close from the front of the Tsumemon Gate

To be continued in “Kochi Castle Part2”

180.Okoh Castle Part1

The castle’s long history and the Chosogabe Clan

Location and History

Feature of Tosa Province

Okoh Castle was located what is now Nankoku City, Kochi Prefecture. The prefecture is one of the four prefectures in Shikoku Island, but separated by Shikoku Mountains from the other three northern prefectures. When the prefecture was called Tosa Province in the past, it was not easy to visit there. That’s why the province was sometimes used for one of the places for exile or escape. However, it has been easy to live for local people with a warm climate and abundant food.

The location of the castle

The relief map of Shikoku Island and the range of Tosa Province

Chosogabe Clan settled in Tosa and built Castle

Okoh Castle had been owned by the Chosogabe Clan during all its life. The clan has a very long history and it was said that their founder was a branch of the Hata Clan that came from Korea to Japan in the Ancient Times with advanced technologies such as civil engineering and silk industry. The Hata Clan spread them and moved from central Japan (now Kinki Region) to many local areas of Japan including what is now Nagano Prefecture where the founder of the Chosogabe Clan lived. The founder called Yoshitoshi Hata fought at Kyoto in the 12th Century, but was defeated, so he escaped from his enemies to Tosa Province. He finally settled near the provincial capital in the fertile Kacho Plain and changed his family name to Chosogabe by combining local land names. Okoh Castle was thought to be built on a mountain beside the plain at the same time.

The whole view of Okoh Castle Ruins (licensed by Saigen Jiro via Wikimedia Commons)

One of Chosogabe’s strengths was to have connections to central Japan such as serving the Hosokawa Clan, a senior vassal of the Ashikaga Shogunate and inviting the Ichijo Clan, a high class noble to Tosa Province as the provincial governor. As a result, the Chosogabe Clan became one of the seven ruling clans in Tosa in the first 16th Century. However, the others of the seven ruling clans including the Motoyama Clan were against the Chosogabe Clan, then they attacked and burned Okoh Castle in 1508. The trace of the fire was found in the ruins of the castle. The Chosogabe Clan was once defeated.

The Second Tier, one of the enclosures which include the trace of the fire

Motochika Chosogabe ruled Shikoku based in this Castle

The next lord of the clan, Kunichika Chosogabe came back to Okoh Castle in 1518 with the support from the Ichijo Clan. He got his power by organizing a soldier group called Ichiryo-Gusoku who were usually farmers, but also soldiers with a Set of Armour in emergency. After that, he took revenge on his enemies by taking them as relatives or battles with the Ichiryo-Gusoku group. Kunichika’s son, Motochika Chosogabe was succeeded in governing the whole Tosa Province in 1575. Okoh Castle had been the home base of the clan. It was a typical mountain castle with many tiers covering the mountain. However, it had some unique features coming from the Chosogabe Clan. It was thought that some turrets were built on stone foundations, using roof tiles made by craftsmen from Izumi Province (now part of Osaka Prefecture). Stones were piled inside the earthen walls of the Third Tier. Such structures were still rare at that time in the whole cuntory and were done by Motochika’s connection to central Japan.

The figure of a Ichiryo-Gusoku soldier, exhibited in Kochi Castle

Abandoned after Unification of Japan by Hideyoshi Toyotomi

Motochika finally achieved the unification of Shikoku Island in 1585. However, the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi was processing his unification of Japan at the same time. Hedeyoshi sent over 100,000 of modernized troops to Shikoku Island in the same year while Motochika had about 40,000 soldiers including farmers. Motochika had no other option but to surrender and was allowed to govern just Tosa Provence by Hideyoshi. He also moved his home base from Okoh Castle to Otaka-sakayama Castle (now Kochi Castle) in 1588 and finally Urado Castle beside Urado Bay in 1591. it was said that this transfer was instructed by Hideyoshi to prepare his Invasion of Korea in 1592. Okoh Castle was abandoned then.

The Portrait of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, attributed to Mitsunobu Kano, owned by Kodaiji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Okoh Castle Part2”

176.Ichinomiya Castle Part1

The largest mountain castle in Awa Province

Location and History

Ichinomiya Clan built it in Period of Northern and Southern Courts

Ichinomiya Caste was the largest mountain castle in Awa Province (what is now Tokushima Prefecture) on Shikoku Island. It is said that The Ichinomiya Clan first built the castle in the 14th Century during the Period of the Northern and Southern Courts. Many battles happened across the county, so warriors started to build mountain castles to protect themselves. After the governance of Awa Province got stable, The Ichinomiya Clan seemed to live in a hall at the foot of the mountain and used the castle in an emergency like other clans used to do.

The location of the castle

Motochika Chosogabe captured it in Sengoku Period

In the late 16th Century during the Sengoku Period, many battles happened again in Awa Province. Narisuke Ichinomiya, the lord of the Ichinomiya Clan, managed to survive under the Miyoshi Clan, the governor of the province, and partly thanks to Ichinomiya Castle. After that, he changed his mind to support Motochuka Chosogabe. Motochuka who was from Tosa Province in the south, invaded Awa Province in 1582. However, Narisuke was killed by Motochika probably because Motochika doubted Narisuke’s change of mind. Ichhoinomiya Castle was captured by Motochika.

Ichinomiya Castle was not only a large mountain castle but also Akui-gawa River flowed in front of the gate as a natural hazard. It also had a fountain and warehouses inside, so it could be besieged for a long time. It was also near the center of the province. For a warlord who aimed to govern Awa Province by power, it was necessary to get such a strong and good-located castle as soon as possible. Motochika sent one of his senior vassals, Tadazumi Tani, to Ichinomiya Castle to maintain it.

The aerial view of Ichinomiya Castle Ruins (from the location map of the park at the site)

Castle once became Capital of Awa Province

In 1585, the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi sent over 100,000 soldiers to Shikoku Island to capture it. Ichinomiya Castle with about 10,000 defenders was besieged by about 40,000 attackers. The siege lasted for nearly one month and the castle was open as Motochika surrendered to Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi also sent one of his retainers, Iemasa Hachisuka as the lord of Awa Province. Iemasa chose Ichinomiya Castle as his home base, that meant the castle finally became the capital of the province. He built stone walls in the Main Enclosure on the top of the mountain though the castle had been all made of soil. He also built his Main Hall in the Main Enclosure and a building with a veranda in another enclosure, which might have been used for sightseeing.

The statue of Iemasa Hachisuka at the ruins of Tokushima Castle

The stone walls at the Main Enclosure of Ichinomiya Castle

However, Iemasa moved his home base from Ichinomiya Castle to new Tokushima Castle facing the sea the next year in 1586. It is said this was due to Hideyoshi’s instruction to build the network of sea transportation. The situation rapidly changed after Hideyoshi’s unification of Japan. The peak of Ichinomiya Castle lasted for just one year. After that, the castle was considered one of the branch castles called the Awa Nine Castles while the governance of Awa Province was not stable. The castle was finally abandoned soon after the Law of One Castle per Province by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1615.

To be continued in “Ichinomiya Castle Part2”