You can also visit other attractions regarding Shiroishi Castle in the former castle town. First of all, there is a remaining Samurai Residence in the former third enclosure, in the north of the castle. The residence was confirmed to be built in 1730.
Features
My Impression
Interior of Main Tower
You can enter the Main Tower from the inside of the enclosure by climbing the roofed stone steps. In fact, the steps were used only for the lord of the domain, the Date Clan, like their private rooms in the Main Hall of the enclosure. The others used the side entrance in the connecting tower next to the Main Tower.
The Main Tower seen from the inside of the main enclosureThe miniature model of the tower also has the roofed stepsThe stone steps to the entrance
The tower has three floors, which were all wooden in a traditional manner. Its columns are made of Japanese Yoshino cypress which would be usable for about 250 years. The design of the first floor was discovered by the excavations, so the floor has the storage space in the center and the surrounding defense passage. Defense systems like machicolations, loopholes, and lattice windows, are built along the passage or on the walls.
The first floor of the towerArmors are exhibited in the centerA lattice window on the left and a machicolation on the rightA loophole
The steps to the upstairs are very steep, but more gentle than the original and you can use modern handrails for support. The second and top floors are designed by the builder’s assumption because there was no evidence of them, but are orthodox. The top floor was built as a lookout position, which is probably a fact and a good viewing spot for the current visitors.
The steps at the second floorThe top floorA view from the topA view of the main enclosure and the city area from the top
Attractions of Castle Town
You can also visit other attractions regarding Shiroishi Castle in the former castle town. First of all, there is a remaining Samurai Residence in the former third enclosure, in the north of the castle. The residence was confirmed to be built in 1730. The Koseki Clan, one of the middle-class warriors under the Katakura Clan, lived in it for a long time. Their descendants also lived in it until 1991 before they donated it to the city. The city restored it to its original conditions and opened it to the public the following year.
The former Koseki’s residence
The aerial photo around the city area
The residence is small and simple with a thatched roof and four rooms ( 2 wooden floors, 1 earthen floor, amd 1 Tatami matted floor). This was probably because the warriors in Shiroishi had lower incomes than those who directly served the Date Clan. However, the Sawabata River flows along two sides of the residence, which is a very good location.
The living room (one of the wooden floors)The Tatami room (probably for the master)The Japanese garden beside the residenceThe Sawabata River flows around the residence
Other than that, you can walk along the waterways and find the two moved castle gates in Toshinji and Enmeji Temples.
A gate moved from the castle to the Toshinji TempleAnother gate moved from the castle to the Enmeiji Temple (under repairing)
My Impression
Overall, Shiroishi Castle survived thanks to the two exemptions. One is that of the Law of One Castle per Province (or the lord’s territory) by the shogunate during the Edo Period. The other is that of Japan’s Building Standard Act in the present time. In addition, I think we would not be able to see the Main Tower of the castle without the great contributions of the Katakura CLan and the current Shiroishi people.
The restored Main Tower
How to get There
If you want to visit there by car, it is about a 10-minute drive away from Shiroishi IC on the Tohoku Expressway. There is a parking lot at the eastern foot of the hill called “Joka-hiroba”. By public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot from JR Shiroishi Station or it takes about 5 minutes by taxi from Tohoku Shinkansan Shiroishi-Zao Station. From Tokyo to Shiroishi Station: take the Tohoku Shinkansen super express and transfer to the Tohoku Line at Fukushima Station.
The restored three-level Main Tower is on the corner of the stone walls of the main enclosure, which looks really great! Not only is it a symbol of the castle but also of the city. It could also had been seen as the authority of the lord as well as a threat to enemies when the original tower was there.
Later History
After the Meiji Restoration, Kuniori Katakura, the last lord of the castle moved to Hokkaido with his some retainers. All the castle buildings and stone walls were demolished and sold to earn their expenses. The vacant castle ruins were turned into Masuoka Park which has became famous for cherry blossoms for some time. In 1987, a NHK drama called “Dokuganryu (one-eyed hero) Masamune” aired and became very popular. The drama featured not only Masamune Date but also the Katakura Clan, so many visitors visited the Shiroishi Castle Ruins but were disappointed at the ruins with few historical items. The mayor of the city saw the situation and decided to restore the castle in 1988.
One of the most important topics about it was that the castle would be restored using the traditional wooden construction. However, there was a big problem with the law. The original Main Tower was 16.7m high. Meanwhile, Japan’s Building Standard Act basically doesn’t allow builders to build wooden buildings which are over 13m tall. According to this law, the tower would not be able to be built. After that, The city negotiated with the central government, and finally got an exemption by the competent minster to build the tower at its original height. The restoration was completed in 1997.
The restored Main Tower of Shiroishi Castle
Features
Many Historical Items in Main Enclosure
Today, the Shiroishi city area still has a traditional atmosphere of Shiroishi Castle and its castle town. This is probably because the Main Tower was restored on the hill and the old waterways are still intact in the city area. There were several enclosures on the hill in the past, but they were turned into shrines, parks, and playgrounds, excluding the main enclosure with the restored items.
A waterway in the city areaShinmeisha Shrine in the second enclosureThe Masuoka Park in the second enclosureA playground in Numa-no-maru Enclosure
That’s why most visitors go to the main enclosure by walking on the eastern or northern slopes on the hill. If you take the eastern one, you will see the few remaining original stone walls at the base of the enclosure. The other stones above were all demolished and sold during the early Meiji Era. You will next see the restored stone walls which were piled up using natural large stones in Nozura-zumi method. They look mild rather than wild as most of the stones were round-shaped.
The map around the main enclosure
The northern slopeThe eastern slopeThe few remaining original stone wallsThe restored stone wallsThe walls were piled up using natural stones
Well restored Main Tower and Main Gate
The restored three-level Main Tower is on the corner of the stone walls, which looks really great! Not only is it a symbol of the castle but also of the city. It could also had been seen as the authority of the lord as well as a threat to enemies when the original tower was there. In fact, there were three-generation towers on the walls during the Edo Period, which meant it had been rebuilt twice, according to the excavations. The current tower was restored on the second stone foundations because they remain in the best conditions. In addition, the appearance of the tower came from the third generation which was drawn in some pictures. The second and third ones are probably almost the same or similar since the third one was restored in 1823 after the second one burned in 1819.
The restored Main TowerPart of the Illustration of Shiroishi Castle, attributed to Unyo Koseki, owned by Shiroishi City, exhibited in the Main Tower
The main gate of the enclosure was also restored at the same time as the Main Tower. The gate consists of two gates and stone walls, which form a defensive space called Masugata. The Masugata systems in other castles are usually a square and closed space but that of Shiroishi Castle is very unique. The first gate is always open with no doors (according to the excavations so far) and the space inside is half occupied by a corner of the stone walls of the enclosure. Visitors can’t clearly see the inside, because it is blocked by the walls. That may be the reason for the first gate having no doors.
The first gateThe second gate is half blocked by the stone wallsThe Masugata system seen from the Main Tower
Other Ruins in Main Enclosure
The inside of the main enclosure is empty with the signboard of the Main Hall which was built there. The other sides of the enclosure look like earthen walls which remained after the covering stone walls had been removed. There are the Back Gate Ruins on the opposite side of the Main Gate. There are also the ruins of Tatumi (southeastern) Turret and Hitsujisaru (southwestern) Turret at other corners of the enclosure.
The ruins of the Back GateThe ruins of the Southeastern TurretThe ruins of the Southwestern TurretThe Back Gate is marked by the red circle, the Southeastern Turret is marked by the blue circle and the Southwestern Turret is marked by the green circle, in the miniature model exhibited by the Shiroishi Castle History Museum
Each independent lord was not allowed to have castles, excluding the only one the lord lived in, by the shogunate. However, Shiroishi Castle, where the Katakura Clan as a retainer lived in, remained as an exemption. This was probably due to Date’s strong influence as well as Katakura’s contributions.
Location and History
Castle owned by Katakura Clan, Senior Vassal of Date Clan
Shiroishi Castle is located in modern day Shiroishi City at the southern edge of Miyagi Prefecture. It was also located in the southern edge of the Date Clan’s territory during the Edo Period. The lords of the clan had the area around the castle being governed by their trusted senior vassal family, the Katakura Clan all through the period. The castle had a three level turret called the Large Turret which was actually equivalent to the Main Tower. That’s why the castle looked like a symbol of an independent lord.
The range of MIyagi Prefecture, the range of the Sendai Domain was larger than the prefecture
The restored Main Tower of Matsumoto Castle
The founder of the Katakura Clan, Kagetsuna Katakura served his master, Masamune Date from his childhood because Kagetsuna’s older sister, Kita became Masamune’s foster mother. Since then, Kagetsuna contributed to Masamune becoming the greatest warlord in the Tohoku Region during the late 16th Century by joining many battles and being a diplomatic agent with other warlords. When the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi invaded the Kanto Region to complete his unification of Japan in 1590, Masamune was wondering if he should follow Hideyoshi or not. Kagetsuna advised Masamune to do so, and as a result, they were able to survive. Masamune eventually gave Kagetsuna the important Shiroishi area in 1602 after the Date Clan’s territory was fixed as the Sendai Domain by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
The portrait of Kagetsuna Katakura, owned by Sendai City Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The portrait of Masamune Date, owned by Sendai City Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Kagetsuna’s son, Shigenaga was very active in the summer campaign of the Siege of Osaka in 1615 where the shogunate defeated the Toyotomi Clan. There is a heroic story about him and his rival, Nobushige Sanada. They once fought each other in the battle, but Nobushige sent a letter (affixed to an arrow) to Shigenaga, which asked him to accommodate Nobushige’s children before his death. Kagetsuna accepted it, and then, Oume, Nobushige’s daughter would be Shigenaga’s second wife and another son, Daihachi would be a retainer of the Sendai Domain. One theory seems to be that Shigenaga took Oume away from Osaka Castle when it was falling and accommodated the other children when they later visited her in Shiroishi Castle. In either case, Shigenaga must have been a man of great capacity.
The portrait of Shigenaga Katakura, drawn in a Ukiyoe-painting, attributed to Yoshiiku Ochiai (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The summer campaign of the siege of Osaka folding screens, owned by Osaka Castle Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The portrait of Nobushige Sanada, owned by Ueda City Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Castle survives as exemption of One Castle per Province
Shigenaga’s successor, Kagenaga was also important for the domain. When an internal trouble of the Date Clan, called Date-sodo (feud), happened in 1671, the government of the domain got out of control due to a bloody affair at the shogunate court in Edo. Kagenaga stayed local to keep other retainers calm and kept the government. These events were decisive for the position of the Katakura Clan. In addition, each independent lord was not allowed to have castles, excluding the only one the lord lived in, by the shogunate. However, Shiroishi Castle, where the Katakura Clan as a retainer lived in, remained as an exemption. This was probably due to Date’s strong influence as well as Katakura’s contributions.
The ruins of Sendai Castle, the home of the Date Clan
Castle is completed by Gamo and Katakura Clans
As for Shiroishi Castle itself, it is uncertain when it was first built, but it was considered an important strategic location for transportation. After the unification of Japan by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Satonari Gamo, a senior vassal of the clan owned and modernized the castle by building stone walls and the Main Tower. He would later improve several other castles like Kasama Castle, which can be seen as a hidden master of castle constructions. The Katakura Clan lived and improved the castle more based on the essential structures Satonari built.
The ruins of Kasama Castle
The castle had several enclosures on a hill. The Main Enclosure on the top had the main buildings of the castle, such as the three-level Main Tower, Main Gate, Back Gate, Main Hall, and two two-level turrets. They were exactly the same items as what other independent lords had. However, the Main Hall also had an interesting feature. The hall had two front entrances, one for locals and the other only for the lord of the Date Clan, the master of the Katakura Clan. The hall also had the rooms, called Onari-goten, where only the lord could stay.
The miniature model of Kasama Castle, exhibited by Shiroishi Castle History MuseumThe miniature model of the main enclosure of Shiroishi CastleThe part of the Main Hall in the miniature model above, the entrance for the locals is marked by the blue circle and that only for the lord of the domain is marked by the red circle
The Katakura Clan also developed the castle town below the hill, where the retainers and other citizens lived in. Waterways were also developed in the town for defensive purposes and living. For example, there were Samurai residences in the Third Enclosure, part of the town, which was surrounded by the Sawabata River and the waterways. The residences were relatively smaller than other residences of independent domains. This was because the retainers under the Katakura Clan had lower incomes than those who served independent lords.
Part of the Illustration of Shiroishi Castle in the Sendai Domain, Oshu Region, the third enclosure along the Sawabata River is in the front, exhibited by the National Archives of JapanThe remaining Samurai residence along the Sawabata River
One of stages of Meiji Restoration
In 1868 during the Meiji Restoration, an important event happened to the castle again. Many domains against the New Government in the Tohoku Region held the Shiroishi Meeting in the castle. This was because the Sendai Domain was their leader and the castle could also be a hub for them. This event would be the trigger for the Boshin War between the government and the domains. However, the castle was eventually opened as its real master, the Sendai Domain had surrendered to the government.
