Naomasa Ii – 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”

16.Minowa Castle Part3

If you were a general, which way you would prefer?

Features

Remaining Stone Walls along Main Route

You can also walk on the Main Route up from the western side of the hill or down from the Second Enclosure. The route goes through the Third Enclosure where you can see the remaining stone walls here and there. It is thought that the builder, Naomasa Ii aimed to show his authority to the visitors passing the route. The Ii Clan later built Hikone Castle using much greater stone walls, but they built stone walls of Minowa Castle as much as they can at that time.

The map around the castle

The remaining stone walls of the Kaji Enclosure on the Main Route

Going to the Third Enclosure from the Kaji Enclosure

The remaining stone walls of the Third Enclosure

Later History

The ruins of Minowa Castle was designated as a National Historic Site in 1987. After that, the excavation was done widely between 1998 and 2006 by Takasaki City which owns the ruins. Since then, the city has been developing the ruins as a historical park.

The earthen walls and stone walls over the great artificial trench were also developed

The trail going on the bottom of the trench

My Impression

I was very impressed by Narimasa Nagano and his clan’s way of life to devote themselves to their master and territory. There were also other generals who had different ways of lives such as the Obata and Sanada Clans. If you were a general or warrior in the Sengoku Period, which way you would prefer? In addition, if we apply their lives in present times, the life of the Nagano Clan would be like working for the same company for a long time, the Obata Clan would be changing careers often, and the Sanada Clan would be starting a business. We can think about our own lives from learning about those generals in the Sengoku Period.

The wooden statue of Narimasa Nagano, owned by Chojunji Temple, quoted from the website of Takasaki City

Norizane Obata drawn in the “Battle of Nagashino” folding screens, exhibited by Kanra Town Museum of History and Folklore

The portlait of Masayuki Sanada, the successor of Yukitaka Sanada, who struggled to be independently, privately owned (licensed under Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

How to get There

I recommend using a car when you visit the ruins.
It is about a 30-minute drive away from Takasaki or Maebashi IC on the Kanetsu Expressway. You can park at several parking lots in the ruins.
If you want to use public transportation, you can take the Gunma Bus bound for Ikaho-Onsen from Takasaki Station and get off at the Shiroyama-Iriguchi bus stop. It takes about 5 minutes on foot from the bus stop to get there.
To get to Takasaki Station from Tokyo: Take the Joetsu Shinkansen super express.

The parking lot in front of the Back Route

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Minowa Castle Part1”
Back to “Minowa Castle Part2”

16.Minowa Castle Part2

You can see how the castle was developed at the site.

Features

Older part of Castle

Today, the ruins of Minowa Castle have been well developed for visitors. If you have a car, you can park at some parking lots for the visitors beside the ruins. The main parking lot is the eastern foot of the hill where the castle was located. You can walk up from the parking lot to the ruins on a gentle winding slope which was actually the Back Route. You will first reach the Second Enclosure, part of the main portion of the castle.

The map around the castle

The main portion consists of the Second, Main and Gozen Enclosures from south to north. These enclosures are basically surrounded by thick earthen walls and divided by deep dry moats, which are the oldest part of the castle. If you walk into the Main Enclosure where the hall of the lord was built, you can now see the recently restored wooden bridge connecting to the western part of the castle.

The stone monument of the castle in the Main Enclosure

The wooden bridge connecting to the western part of the castle

The earthen walls of the Main Enclosure and the dry moat beside it

If you go further, you will reach the Gozen Enclosure, the last part of the Nagano Clan. There is the well in the enclosure, which was discovered in 1927, where many memorial tablets of the clan were found from the bottom. That meant the episode when the clan had been defeated may have been confirmed.

The well where many memorial tablets of the clan were found

Vast Dry Moat

You can walk down the steep trail on the northern edge of the Gozen Enclosure to the bottom of the dry moat. If you turn right to the east, you will reach the Inari Enclosure that Naomasa Ii built. This enclosure had a water moat on the side in the past.

Walking down from the Gozen Enclosure to the bottom of the dry moat

The bottom of the dry moat beside the Gozen Enclosure

The Inari Enclosure and the former water moat beside it

If you turn left to the west, you can walk around the bottom and see how large and deep the moat is. You can also see the older stone walls surrounding the Gozen Enclosure, which the Nagano Clan might have built. If you go further to the south, you will arrive at the Second Enclosure.

The remaining stone walls under the Gozen Enclosure

Going back to the Second Enclosure through under the wooden bridge

Umadashi System is developed later

The Second Enclosure was the pivot of offence and defense, where the three main routes to the castle are all together. Other than the Back Route from the east, the Main Route comes from the west and the other route comes from the south. In particular, a great artificial trench called O-Horikiri is dug in the southern side of the enclosure to prevent enemies’ attacks.

The stone walls under the earthen bridge over the trench

Only the narrow earthen bridge is over the trench, connecting to the southern route. Moreover, a square stronghold called Kaku-Umadashi is sticking out of the Second Enclosure through the bridge. The Umadasi system is a unique defense system which the Takeda and Tokugawa Clans often used. This system in Minowa Castle was probably developed by Takeda and completed by Naomasa under Tokugawa. The two-story turret gate called Kaku-umadashi Western Entrance Gate was recently restored based on the achievement of the excavation, which had been the symbol of the castle.

The square stronghold called Kaku-Umadashi

To be continued in “Minowa Castle Part3”
Back to “Minowa Castle Part1”