Osaka castle – ページ 3 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

152.Tsu Castle Part1

The final home base of Takatora Todo

Location and History

Field of Anotsu Castle Battle

Tsu Castle is located in what is now Tsu City, the capital of Mie Prefecture which was called Ise Province in the past. Tsu City calls itself the city with the shortest name in the world. Tsu just means port. Originally, the area was called Anotsu, which means the port of Ano. Anotsu was one of the three greatest ports in Japan in the Middle Ages. However, the port declined due to the Meio earthquake followed by a great tsunami in 1498.

The range of Ise Province and the location of the castle

There was also been Anotsu Castle in the plains land around the area, which was the former Tsu Castle. In 1600 before the famous Battle of Sekigahara, a preliminary skirmish happened at the castle, called the Battle of Anotsu Castle. Large troops from the West Squad attacked the castle with few defenders of Nobutaka Tomita belonging to the East Squad. The defenders had to surrender, as a result, the castle went to ruin. The Tokugawa Shogunate, which led the East Squad finally won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, thought they need a stronger lord and castle around the area. This was because they were still against the Toyotomi Clan which lived in Osaka Castle, not so far from Ise Province in the west.

the Ukiyo-e painting of Nobutaka Tomita rescued by his wife, from an episode in the Battle of Anotsu Castle, attributed to Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, published in 1885 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Takatora Todo improves Castle as his home base during peacetime

In 1608, the shogunate replaced Nobutaka Tomita with Takatora Todo as the lord of Anotsu Castle. Takatora was not a hereditary feudal lord, which meant he didn’t work under Ieyasu Tokugawa for a long time, who was the founder of the shogunate. He was a well-known master of castle construction through building Uwajima, Ozu and Imabari Castles. He also helped the shogunate build famous castles such as Edo, Nagoya, and Nijo in Kyoto. That’s why he was trusted by the shogunate. They expected Takatora to build a strong castle to stand against the Toyotomi Clan in Osaka Castle in the west. Takatora accomplished this by renovating Anotsu Castle, which was renamed Tsu Castle sometime around the period.

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

He also owned Iga-Ueno Castle in Iga Province, which was west of Ise Province and closer to Osaka. He said that Tsu Castle would be his home base during peacetime while Iga-Ueno Castle would be the other one for wartime. However, Tsu Castle was adequately defensive even if it was his peacetime home base in the plains. The castle also reflected Takatora’s concepts of building castles.

Takatora’s concepts of building castles

The Main Enclosure was simply square shaped, which was easy to construct and accommodate large troops. While it may be weak for defense, the enclosure was surrounded by the wide Inner Moat, high stone walls, and many turrets on the walls. The gates of the enclosure were strongly guarded with a square defensive space called Masugata. Moreover, to enter the gates, visitors had to pass other small enclosures called Demaru or the Barbicans in the Inner Moat. The Second Enclosure and the Outer Moat were also built concentrically. Such structures can be seen in other castles which Takatora was involved in, such as Imabari, Nagoya, Nijo, and Sasayama.

The stone walls of the Main Enclosure of Tsu Castle

Tsu Castle in the last stage of the Eco Period, from the signboard at the site

The drawing of Nagoya Castle in Owari Province (exhibited by the National Diet Library)

After the shogunate beat the Toyotomi Clan in 1615, Tsu Castle became the home base of the Tsu Domain which the Todo Clan governed, throughout the Edo Period. The castle town of Tsu Castle prospered as well as being on the Ise-Gingu Shrine pilgrimage road.

To be continued in “Tsu Castle Part2”

62.Wakayama Castle Part2

There are so many attractions you should check out in the castle.

Features

From Main Gate to Nakagomon Gate Ruins

Today, Wakayama Castle site has been developed as Wakayama Castle Park by Wakayama City. It still includes the main portion of the original castle. It has five entrances same as the castle had, as the Main, Okaguchi, Oimawashi, former Akazuno, and former Fukiage Gates.

The map around the castle

If you want to see what the castle was like, it may be better to enter the Main Gate at the northeastern part of the park. The gate and the bridge in front it over the Inner Moat were restored in the present time. Once you enter the gate, you will see how large the castle grounds and moats are.

The Drawing of the Main Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the site

The Inner Moat at the eastern side of the castle

You will go to the ruins of Nakagomon, the second gateway, which still have alternating stone walls. This is an interesting spot where you can see two types of the gate stone walls using roughly and precisely processed stones. In addition, you can see the old stone walls surrounding the hill using natural greenschists ahead. These walls were built in different periods.

Looking down the alternated part from the top of the stone walls

The walls using granite porphyry stones on the left and the walls using sand stones on the right

The walls using natural Greenschist stones

Second and Western Enclosures

The Second Enclosure is the west of the Main Gate area. It has only a rock garden built in the present time, but it had the luxury Main Hall with turrets beside the Inner Moat. The Large Hall, part of the Main Hall, was moved to Osaka Castle and remained until 1947 when it was burned. Wakayama City is planning to restore the Large Hall at the original position with some turrets and the O-oku residence in a long term. The distant view of the Main Tower may be the best seen from the enclosure.

The map around the Second Enclosure

The ruins of Monomi-Yagura Turret at the Second Enclosure

The Inner Moat at the northern side of the Second Enclosure

The Large Hall which was moved to Osaka Castle, quoted from the website of Wakayama City

A distant view of the Main Tower from the Second Enclosure

In the next Western Enclosure, the water garden, called Momijidani-teien or the Autumn Leave Valley Garden, was restored in the present time and designated as a National Scenic Beauty. the Passage Bridge between the Second and Western Enclosures was also restored in 2006. You can walk into the roofed and slanted bridge which is quite rare.

The Autumn Leave Valley Garden in the Western Enclosure

Remaining Okaguchi Gate

The area around the Okaguchi Gate at the southeastern part of the park is also great to visit. The gate building with the mud wall beside is one of the few remaining buildings of the castle and designated as an Important Cultural Property. It looks like a simple gate with a gabled roof, but it was sandwiched by turrets on both sides.

The map around the Okaguchi Gate

Part of the Drawing of the Okaguchi Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the site

Inside the gate, there is the second gateway similar to the Main Gate area. You can see a great and high stone wall base for Matsunomaru Turret on the left. Other stone walls form a square space called Masugata to prevent their enemies from attacking them. No buildings remain on them, however, these newer stone walls are also worth seeing.

The second gateway from the Okaguchi Gate

The stone wall base for Matsunomaru Turret

The square space seen from the top of the base

Going Main Enclosure and Main Tower climbing Slope

There are two routes to the Main Enclosure on the hill as the Front Slope and the Back Slope. The Front Slope is a gentler but longer route. The first part of it is wide and zigzagged, with beautiful paved Greenschist stones.

The map around the Main Enclosure

The last part is long, with old stone walls on the right hill side and several turret stone wall bases on the left valley side. Currently, visitors can enjoy a relaxing walk on that route, but at that time, the enemies would have found the route troubling as they could be counter-attacked.

A turret stone wall base on the valley side

The Back Slope is steeper but shorter. This route is also made and surrounded by old stone walls, but has a different taste with the mossy stones.

The top of the hill has two peaks, one was for another Main Hall, and the other is for the Main Tower. The Main Hall coexisted with that of the Second Enclosure, but it was not often used for its small size and inconvenient location. There is a water station now and it is a good view point of the Main Tower.

Going to the Main Enclosure from the Front Slope

The Main Hall Ruins of the Main Enclosure

Most visitors’ destination is the Main Tower. It is actually a modern building, not original, but was apparently restored in 1958. Its stone wall base is original and thought that it is the oldest among the stone walls in the castle. A building like the Main Tower may have been built on it from the first stage.

The style of the tower is called Renritsu-siki or the Tower Grouping, which refers to the Large and Small Main Towers and turrets being connected by Hall Turrets like a corridor. The interior of the tower is used as a historical museum and the top floor is used as the observation platform.

You can see the style of the Tower Grouping from the top floor

A storage box for tea ceremony utensils, one of the exhibitions in the tower

The top floor of the Large Main Tower as the observation platform

An eastern view including the Main Hall Ruins from the platform

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

48.Matsusaka Castle Part1

Ujisato Gamo, a great isolated talent, built this castle.

Location and History

Matsusaka Castle was located in what is now Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture, which was called Ise Province in the past. The castle was first built by Ujisato Gamo in 1588 and maintained by other clans later on. Ujisato was a warlord who is not well known, even to people in Japan, for his abilities and achievements. This is probably because he died young at 40 years old – his descendants also all died young, and the clan has become extinct. As a result, few records and traditions of Ujisato remained. He seemed to be a great isolated talent, like a comet.

The portrait of Ujisato Gamo, owned by Aizu Wakamatsu Library (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Ujisato Gamo came from Omi Province, which is now Shiga Prefecture. The clan originally served the Rokkaku Clan, a warlord at Kannonji Castle in the province during the Sengoku Period. When Nobunaga Oda, who would later be the ruler, invaded the province in 1568, the Gamo Clan surrendered to Nobunaga, sending their successor, Ujisato to him as a hostage. However, Nobunaga found Ujisato was particularly outstanding among the many hostages from other clans, and married Ujisato to his daughter. Ujisato became a relative of Nobunaga. After Nobunaga was killed in the Honnoji Incident in 1582, Ujisato supported Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the next ruler. In 1584, he was promoted by Hideyoshi to a lord with an earning of 120,000 koku (rice) in Ise Province. He first lived in Matsugashima Castle which the previous lord had built, but decided to build his new home base which would be Matsusaka Castle.

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

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

The range of Ise Province and the location of the castle

Ujisato builds Castle and Town emulating Rulers

Ujisato built the main portion of the new castle on a hill near the previous one. Several enclosures were built on the hill, all surrounded by high stone walls. It was done by inviting a guild of craftsmen called Ano-shu from Omi Province, Ujisato’s hometown. This portion was strictly protected by these walls with alternating gates and some turrets along complex routes. The upper tier of the Main Enclosure on the top had the three-level Main Tower. The Third Enclosure was built around the hill, which was used as warriors’ houses. The water moat surrounded them. Ujisato also built the castle town beside the castle by bringing in merchants from his hometown, which was famous for the “Omi Merchant”. Overall, he built the castle and town in the ways his masters, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi developed their towns, with his own ideas and experiences. He finally named the castle Matsusaka, which combined a good word “Matsu” or Pine, and “saka”, part of the name of his current master, Hideyoshi’s Osaka Castle.

The remaining high stone walls of Matsusaka Castle

Part of the map of old Matsusaka Castle in Ise Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

In 1590, just after Hideyoshi’s unification of Japan, Ujisato was promoted and moved again to the Aizu area in the Tohoku Region to control the region. His territory finally reached an earning of 910,000 koku, which meant he became one of the greatest lords in Japan. He renovated a castle by building high stone walls and the Main Tower like Matsusaka Castle. The castle was renamed Wakamatsu Castle by him. It is also said that he advised a local lord, Nobunao Nanbu to build a castle with high stone walls, which was completed after his death, called Morioka Castle. These two castles are very rare ones, all built with high stone walls, in the region. Ujisato was also known as a tea ceremony master, poet, and Christian. However, he unfortunately died of illness in 1595.

*The remaining stone walls of Morioka Castle*

It is difficult for other lords to maintain Castle

After Ujisato left the castle, which was subsequently inherited by the Hattori, Furuta, and Tokugawa Clans, respectively. The first two clans had smaller territories than Ujisato, so they could not afford to maintain the castle. The Tokugawa Clan, one of the three branches of the Tokugawa family, also could not do so, because the clan was based in Wakayama Castle. The stone walls of Matsusaka Castle were somehow repaired, but the buildings of it eventually deteriorated. For example, the Main Tower collapsed due to a windstorm in 1644 but was not restored. The Back Gate had only a thatched roof at the end of the Edo Period. On the other hand, the castle town prospered in the period. The merchants of the town were known as the “Ise Merchant”. For instance, the founder of the kimono shop Echigoya, which is present Mitsukoshi department store, Takatoshi Mitsui came from the town.

The old photo of the Back Gate which had a thatched roof, exhibited by Matsusaka City Museum of History and Folklore

Echigoya in “*Suruga Town” from the series “100 Famous Views of Edo” attributed to Hiroshige Utagawa in the Edo Period (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimeidia Commons*)

To be continued in “Matsusaka Castle Part2”