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

14.Mito Castle Part1

Mito Castle was located in the modern day Mito City which is the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture. The castle became the home base of the Mito-Tokugawa Clan, one of the three branches of the Tokugawa Shogun family. However, the castle looked very different from those of the other branches the shogun.

Location and History

Castle is built using Natural Hazzard

The range of Mito City and the location of the castle

It was said that the castle was first built by a local lord, the Baba Clan sometime in the early Middle Ages. It was built on a diluvium plateau sandwiched between Nakagawa River in the north and Senba Lake in the south. Its original location was defensive due to the natural hazard, so it could be easy for the lord to build the castle on it. However, it was thought that the early stage of the castle was still small probably with only the lord’s residence on the eastern edge of the plateau.

The relief map around the castle

As time passed by, the castle was followed by greater lords, the Edo and Satake Clans, and was developed larger and larger. The Satake Clan was one of the greatest warlords in the Kanto Region during the 16th Century in the Sengoku Period. The clan completed the basic structures of the castle, establishing the Main, Second and Third Enclosures in a straight line from the east to the west on the plateau. These enclosures were made of soil and divided by deep dry moats, which were typical methods for building castles at that time in eastern Japan. However, the clan was transferred to the Tohoku Region (they would build Kubota Castle there) in 1602 by Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, since they didn’t support Ieyasu in the decisive battle in 1600.

Home Base of one of Three Tokugawa Branches

Ieyasu sent his sons to Mito Castle as it would be an important northern strongpoint to defend Edo Castle, the home base of the shogun. His youngest son, Yorifusa finally became the lord of the castle as the founder of the Mito Domain in 1609. Since then, the domain governed the castle and the area around it until the end of the Edo Period as one of the three branches of the Tokugawa Shogun family. The castle was also developed further, for example, the Main and the Second Enclosures were combined to make a new Main Enclosure, the Third Enclosure was renamed the new Second Enclosure, and the new Third Enclosure was built outside the others in the west.

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

*The Portrait of Yorifusa Tokugawa, owned by The Tokugawa Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The relief map around the castle

However, unlike Nagoya, Wakayama and Edo Castles other Tokugawa relatives built using advanced items, such as Main Towers and high stone walls, Mito Castle was still made of soil using conventional technologies from eastern Japan. The reason for it could be that the lords of the Mito Domain usually lived in the Main Hall near the shogun in Edo, or there was no need to improve it more after the government of the shogunate became more stable. However, the most likely reason is that Mito Castle was strong enough without stone walls.

Mito Domain creates Imperialism and Exclusionism

The second lord, Mitsukuni Tokugawa, known as Mito-Komon in several historical plays, promoted arts and started to edit Dainihonshi or the History of Great Japan at the Shokokan institute in Edo, which would later be moved to the Second Enclosure of Mito Castle. This activity uniquely resulted in the idea of Imperialism although the domain was a relative of the shogunate which had taken the power from the Imperial Court.

*The Portrait of Mitsukuni Tokugawa, attributed to Tsunenobu Kano, owned by The Tokugawa Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The ruins of the Shokokan institute in the Second Enclosure of Mito Castle

Some copies of the History of Great Japan, exhibited by the Second Enclosure Museum

The ninth lord, Nariaki Tokugawa, during the end of the Edo Period, established the domain school called Kodokan in the Third Enclosure of the castle in order to educate the retainers and open Kairakuen Garden to all the people. While the Western foreign ships were often seen around Japan, he opposed the policy of the shogunate to open the country to foreigners. As a result, the Imperialism of the Mito Domain led many other domains’ retainers to the movement for Imperialism and Exclusionism over the country, which finally caused overthrowing the shogunate, which was later called the Meiji Restoration. However, in the domain, the retainers were divided into Tengu Party (believing the movement) and Shosei Party (supporting the shogunate), which would bring into a serious tragedy.

*The Portrait of Nariaki Tokugawa, owned by Kyoto University Library (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Sad Killing each other by Mito Domain at Mito Castle

The final version of Mito Castle was like that the largest Second Enclosure became the center of the castle. It had the Main Gate, the Main Hall (also used as the government office), the Shokokan institute, the Corner Turret, and the Three-level Turret. In particular, the Three-level Turret was built as a substitute for a Main Tower. It was about 22m tall, which was too high for a three-story building, in fact, it had five floors inside.

The miniature model of Mito Castle, exhibited by the Second Enclosure Museum (the Third Enclosure Museum on the left, the Second Enclosure in the center, and the Main Enclosure on the right)

The old photo of the Three-level Turret *(licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)*

The Tengu Party started a rebellion to ask the shogunate to stop trading with foreigners and to exclude them in 1864. In this war, the Tengu Party attacked Mito Castle the Shosei Party resided in, but failed. They eventually went west to ask Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi in Kyoto, who was a son of Nariaki and would become the last shogun, for what they wanted. However, they were arrested by Yoshinobu’s instructions and many of them were executed. The Shosei party also killed or persecuted the families in Mito of the Tengu Party. After that, the situation dramatically changed that the New Government was established and the shogunate was defeated in 1868. The survivors of the Tengu Party returned to Mito Castle and avenged against the Shosei Party. Some of the Shosei Party, who were on the run, attacked the castle the Tengu Party were resided in this time, but failed again. The strength of the castle was ironically proven by the tragedy between the retainers of the owner domain. Records say the number of the retainers was reduced from 3,449 to 892 during the internal conflict, which meant competent personnel from the domain ran out to modernize Japan.

The rebellion of the Tengu Party drawn on an Ukiyoe painting, attributed to Kuniteru Utagawa *(licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)*

*The photo of Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi, by 1867 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Mito Castle Part2”

57.Sasayama Castle Part1

One of the castles which were built to surround Osaka Castle

Location and History

Tanba, Important Province for Rulers

Sasayama Castle was located in modern day Tanba-Sasayama City, in Hyogo Prefecture. Hyogo is a large prefecture which covers the western part of the Kansai Region. However, the castle was located at that time in Tanba Province which is much smaller than Hyogo Prefecture but was located in mountain areas just behind the northwest of Kyoto, the previous capital of Japan. That meant governing Tanba Province was very important to protect Kyoto and monitor if the lords in western Japan would do something effective to the central political circles.

The range of Tanba Province and the location of the castle

Castle construction is ordered by Shogunate

Ieyasu Tokugawa defeated Mitsunari Ishida supporting the Toyotomi Clan in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and established the Tokugawa Shogunate by becoming the shogun in 1603. However, the situation was still unstable because the Toyotomi Clan was still living in Osaka Castle, which was uncontrollable by the shogunate. In addition, there were many lords in western Japan, who were in favor of the Toyotomi Clan and might have been against the shogunate in the future. The response of Ieyasu to the situation was to build several strong castles around Osaka Castle to contain the Toyotomi Clan and divide the Toyotomi Clan and its favors. They are known as Nagoya, Iga-Ueno, Hikone, Zeze, Nijo in Kyoto, Kameyama and Sasayama Castles. These castles were built as the construction orders by the shogunate, which made lords including the Toyotomi Clan favors join at their own expenses. The side effects of the constructions were to reduce the lords’ money and force them to give up their rebellious split to be against the shogunate by showing the strong network of the castles.

The network of the castles around Osaka Castle, which Ieyasu built

The construction of Sasayama Castle launched in 1603, which was instructed by Terumasa Ikeda who was the lord of Himeji Castle, with the help of 20 lords from 15 provinces and was designed by Takatora Todo who was considered as a master of castle constructions. The castle was built on a hill called Sasayama, in the Sasayama Basin. The main portion of the castle was on the hill, using the natural terrain and building high stone walls over the hill. Other than that, the castle had simple flat square enclosures and double water moats surrounding it. That designs made it easier to build the castle, but it would made it weaker to protect the castle instead.

The Portrait of Terumasa Ikeda, owned by Tottori prefectural art museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

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

The main portion of Sasayama Castle, from the miniature model of the castle, exhibited by the historical museum in the Large Study Hall of Sasayama Castle

The castle was surrounded by the double water moats, from the miniature model of the castle, same as above

Castle is designed by Takatora Todo

To prevent enemies from attacking it easily, Takatora designed the castle’s entrances to be strictly protected using the Masugata system. The Masugata refers to a defensive square space which was surrounded by gates and stone walls where enemies would be locked out. Another defensive system that Takatora designed was the Umadashi. It refers to a square enclosure sticking out from the entrance connected by a narrow path among the moat. The enclosure had another moat in front of it, so its entrances were at both sides where the defenders could counterattack from them. Takatora established these structures in his own Imabari Castle which was completed in 1604.

The Umadashi and Masugata systems at the Main Gate of Sasayama Castle, from the miniature model of the castle, same as above

The Masugata system of Imabari Castle, from the signboard at the site

Main Tower is not built

On the other hand, Sasayama Castle didn’t have its Main Tower in the Main Enclosure on the top. In fact, the stone wall base for the tower was built, however, the tower was not built. This was because the shogunate determined the castle would not need it as it would be enough to protect the castle without it. Another reason was that the lords working for the construction also needed to move to the another site for Nagoya Castle. That’s why Sasayama Castle was completed after only a half year of construction. Instead, several turrets were built in the Main Enclosure and the Main Hall for the lord was built in the Second Enclosure, which constituted the main portion of the castle.

The stone wall base for the Main Tower of Sasayama Castle

The Main Enclosure of Sasayama Castle, where its Main Tower was not built, from the miniature model of the castle, same as above

The Large Study Hall, the restored building of the Main Hall in the Second Enclosure of Sasayama Castle

The castle was first owned by Yasushige Matsudaira, a relative of Ieyasu Tokugawa. After the shogunate defeated the Toyotomi Clan in 1615, several hereditary feudal lords followed the castle to monitor non-hereditary feudal lords in western Japan as the Sasayama Domain, such as the Aoyama Clan which governed the area until the end of the Edo Period.

The portrait of Yasushige Matsudaira (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

A general view of Sasayama Castle, from the signboard at the site

To be continued in “Sasayama Castle Part2”

79.Imabari Castle Part1

The monumental castle-building techniques of Takatoro Todo

Location and History

Takatora Todo builds Castle as his ideal Home Base

Imabari Castle is located in Imabari City in the northern part of Ehime Prefecture which was called Iyo Province in the past. The castle was built in 1604 by Takatora Todo who was a well-known master of castle construction. So far, he built several castles, for example, Wakayama and Akagi Castles when he was a retainer, Uwajima and Ozu Castles after he became a feudal lord of some parts of Iyo Province. However, Imabari Castle was his first home base which was built form the ground up independently. That means he was able to throw all his ideas and experiences in building the castle. That resulted in the castle becoming the monumental work of his castle construction.

The range of Iyo Province and the location of the castle

Before the construction, Takatora joined the invasion of Korea in 1597 as the leader of the Japanese Navy. From the experience, he thought his new castle would need a good location for naval support and water transportation. That’s why the castle was built facing the Seto Inland Sea, as a sea and plain castle. Such a location could had been difficult and dangerous because the seaside ground was too soft to build a castle and enemies could attack the plain land easily. To prevent them from happening, berms called Inubasiri were first built for the base of the stone walls. The berms would also be used for standing fences when enemies would attack the castle. The castle was also surrounded by water moats tripled, to which the sea supplied water.

The stone walls of Imabari Castle were built on the berms

Simple but Defensive Layout

Other than the specific conditions for Imabari area, Takatora introduced new common and easy ways of building castles to Imabari Castle but it was strongly protected from sudden attacks. The main portion of the castle, which combined the Main and Second Enclosures, was simply square shaped, which was easy to construct and accommodate large troops. While it may be weak for defense, the portion was surrounded by the wide Inner Moat, high stone walls, and many turrets on the walls. The gates of the portion were strongly guarded with a square defensive space called Masugata. Moreover, to enter the Main Gate, visitors had to pass other small enclosure called Demaru or the Barbican in front of the Inner Moat, which had another Masugata, and go across the earthen bridge over the moat. Such structures can be seen in other castles which Takatora would later be involved in, such as Nagoya, Nijo, and Sasayama.

The illustration of Imabari Castle in Iyo Province, exhibited by Cultural Heritage Online

The miniature model of Sasayama Castle, exhibited by the Large Study Hall of Sasayama Castle

Takatora creates Multi-storied type Main Towers?

Another Takatora’s invention of building castles is a new type of Main Towers, called multi-storied type or “Soto-shiki”. The Main Towers had usually been built in a method, called look-tower type or “Boro shiki”, which had many decorations such as gables or “Hafu” and bell-shaped windows or “Kato-mado”. The new method had simply square floors diminished towards the top with minimal roofing. That made the Main Towers more efficient and also made the tower easier to protect. The Main Tower of Imabari Castle is said to be the first multi-storied type with five levels, which was built in the Main Enclosure.

The Main Tower of Shimabara Castle, a typical multi-storied type one

The Main Tower of Inuyama Castle, a typical look-tower type one

In fact, it is not scientifically proven by excavation whether or not the Main Tower was really built in Imabari Castle. This is because the tower was demolished to be moved to another place when Takatora was transferred to Iga-Ueno Castle in 1608 after his short stay in Imabari Castle. Takatora once thought the tower should be used for his Iga-Ueno Castle, but he finally presented it to the Tokugawa Shogunate for the construction of Kameyama Castle which was ordered by the shogunate. According to the old photo of the castle’s Main Tower, it is certainly a five-level multi-storied type tower. This story was recorded only in Takatora’s biography or his clan’s annuals. There has been no evidence for the tower found in Imabari Castle such as the trace of its stone wall base. Some historians speculate that the Main Tower of Imabari Castle might have been built directly on the ground, not using any stone wall base.

The old photo of the Main Tower of Kamayama Castle *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The castle itself was followed by Takatora’s relative, Takayoshi Todo until 1635 and finally the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira Clan. The clan had been originally called just Hisamatsu, then it was allowed to use the family name Matsudaira which meant the shogun’s relatives after its lord accepted Ieyasu Tokugawa’s mother as the later wife. The clan governed the castle and the area, called the Imabari Domain, until the end of the Edo Period.

To be continued in “Imabari Castle Part2”