Terumoto Mori – ページ 2 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

74.Iwakuni Castle Part1

The castle is reflected by Hiroie Kikkawa’s life.

Location and History

Hiroie saves Mori Clan

Iwakuni is known for its beautiful scenery from Kintaikyo bridge which has five magnificent wooden arches. The bridge over Nishikigawa River also has a good background of a mountain with the Main Tower of Iwakuni Castle. Visitors may think they all remain as they were, however, the castle has many episodes, in fact, and had a tough life.

Kintaikyo bridge with the background of Iwakuni Castle on the mountain

Hiroie Kikkawa was the founder of the castle, who also was a senior vassal and relative of the Mori Clan. The clan governed most of the Chugoku Region with an earning of 1.2 million koku of rice at the end of the 16th Century. However, after the ruler of Japan, Hideyoshi Toyotomi died in 1598, the situation became unstable. Many lords tried to rely on Ieyasu Tokugawa, the largest one in eastern Japan with 2.5 million koku as the next ruler, while others including Mitsunari Ishida still supported the Toyotomi Clan. Mitsunari tried to make the lord of the Mori Clan, Terumoto Mori as their leader because the clan was the largest lord in western Japan. The opinions inside the clan were divided. One is to support Mitsunari and become the next ruler instead of Ieyasu, mainly insisted by Ekei Ankokuji, the other is to support Ieyasu to maintain their territory, objected by Hiroie.

The portrait of Hiroie Kikkawa, owned by Historiographical Institute the University of Tokyo (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The portrait of Terumoto Mori, owned by the Mori Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

When the Battle of Sekigahara happened in 1600, Terumoto became the head of the West Quad which was actually led by Mitsunari, because being a ruler was attractive to him. Hiroie was a cool-headed commander who knew his master couldn’t take over the East Quad led by Ieyasu. Therefore, he contacted Ieyasu secretly and promised that his troops would not do anything in the battle in exchange for maintaining the Mori’s territory. As a result, Ieyasu defeated Mitsunari. However, after the battle, Ieyasu found out the evidence that Terumoto had wanted to be a ruler. Ieyasu decided to take all the Mori’s territory away from Terumoto and give two provinces (Nagato and Suo) of it to Hiroie. Hiroie urged Ieyasu to give the provinces to Terumoto instead of him. In the end, Mori’s territory was formally reduced from a worth of 1.2 million koku to only 370 thousand koku of the two provinces, known as the Choshu Domain.

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

The portrait of Mitsunari Ishida, owned by Hajime Sugiyama (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Iwakuni Castle is built in Hiroie’s new territory

Hiroie had to stand in a difficult position. He was actually the hero of the Mori Clan, but many members of it thought he was a destroyer. He was finally given by the clan a small territory with 30 thousand koku, which was the eastern edge of the Choshu Domain. Hiroie started to build a new castle as his home base in 1601, which would be called Iwakuni Castle. He first built his residence called Odoi beside Nishikigawa River which could be the natural Outer Moat. The residence was also surrounded by the artificial Inner Moat. After that he developed the mountain part of the castle mainly by building the Northern, Main and Second Enclosures on the ridge from the north to the south. They were all surrounded by stone walls and the Main Enclosure had the four-level Main Tower. The castle was completed in 1608.

The range or the Choshu Domain and the location of the castle

The relief map around the castle

Hiroie’s hard decision to destroy Mountain part

However, another difficulty was coming to Hiroie after the Tokugawa Shogunate defeated the Toyotomi Clan in 1615. The Tokugawa Shogunate ordered all the lords in Japan to destroy all the castles except for one castle where the lord lived by issuing the Law of One Castle per Province in the same year. The shogunate tried to prevent any other lords from rebelling based on many strong castles. According to this law, Iwakuni Castle could survive because the castle could be the only one castle in Suo Province and the shogunate still considered Hiroie’s Kikkawa Clan as an independent lord. However, the Mori Clan didn’t allow it as they thought that the Kikkawa Clan was just a retainer of them, not an independent lord. The controversial relation between Hiroie and the Mori Clan since the Sekigahara Battle remained. Hiroie had to choose to destroy the castle considering the future relationship with the Mori Clan.

Intentionally broken stone walls on the mountain

The mountain part was actually destroyed but the residence beside the river survived for living. It was formally called Iwakuni Encampment, not Castle until the end of the Edo Period. Kintaikyo Bridge was first built in 1673 by the third lord of the clan, Hiroyoshi Kikkawa to connect his residence with the castle town which had been built at the opposite side of the river. This bridge could be seen as a symbol of the peace at that time.

The ruins of the Odoi residence at the foot

”Kintaikyo bridge in Suo Province” from the series “Unusual Views of Celebrated Bridges in the Provinces” attributed to Hokusai Katsushika in the Edo Period (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Iwakuni Castle Part2”

75.Hagi Castle Part1

The home base of the Choshu Domain for 270 years

Location and History

Terumoto Mori builds Castle after Lost of Sekigahara

Hagi City is well known for its old town atmosphere. Tourists often plan to visit the set of both Hagi and Tsuwano Town nearby. The city is also popular among history fans as an area which provided many meritorious retainers during the Meiji Restoration, such as Shoin Yoshida, Shinsaku Takasugi, Takayoshi Kido, and Hirobumi Ito who became the first Prime Minister of Japan. That’s because Hagi had been the homebase of the Choshu Domain for 270 years since Hagi Castle was built in 1604.

The range of Hagi City and the location of the castle

Terumoto Mori, who built the castle, originally lived in Hiroshima Castle, governing most of the Chugoku Rerion with an earning of 1.2 million koku of rice. However, he got defeated by Ieyasu Tokugawa who would be the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. As a result, Ieyasu ordered Terumoto to reduce his territory to only two provinces of Nagato and Suo with 370 thousand koku, which are the current Yamaguchi Prefecture. Terumoto needed to look for his new homebase, which was chosen from the three options.

One was Kuwayama beside Seto Inland Sea, another was Hagi beside the Japan Sea, and the rest was Yamaguchi, the current prefectural capital, between the former ones. The result was Hagi. The reason for it was said that the shogunate designated it because they wanted to contain the Mori Clan in the innermost place so that the clan would not rebel against the shogunate. However, some historians recently speculate that Terumoto actively chose Hagi after the discussion with the shogunate as the place was the most defensive. It was also on a delta like his former homebase, Hiroshima Castle.

The range of the Choshu Domain and the location of the castle

The illustration of Hiroshima Castle in Aki Province, in the Edo Period, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

Castle is located on Delta

The delta was sandwiched by Matsumoto and Hashimoto Rivers, facing the sea in the north. The northern part of it was a sand dune, moreover, its northernmost beside the sea was Shizuki Mountain with its height at 143m. The Main Enclosure of the castle was built in front of the mountain, surrounded by stone walls and the Inner Moat. It had the five level Main Tower and the Main Hall for the lord as the center. The Second Enclosure was the south of the Main Enclosure, surrounded by the Middle Moat. It had two defensive gates and its stone walls covered even the seashore. The Third Enclosure was the south of the former ones, used as the senior vassals’ houses. It was separated by the Outer Moat from the castle town. Shizuki Mountain was also used as a final castle. Terumoto built its own Main and Second Enclosures on the top. There were no buildings inside of them, however, it was surrounded by some turrets and stone walls. It was basically for emergency like a battle while usually used as a lookout as well.

Hagi Castle[/leaflet-marker]

The illustration of Hagi Castle and Town in 1652, from the signboard at the site

An old photo of Hagi Castle, from the signboard at the site

Heros come from Castle Town

As for the castle town, its area was first waterlogged because it was lower than the sand dune in the northern part of the delta. People in Hagi built canals to drain water, which make them possible to build the town. In fact, the heroes of the domain towards the Meiji Restoration came from this town. An interesting thing about them is that the higher class of them like Takasugi and Kido lived near the castle while the lower class like Shoin and Ito lived far from it. That was a common rule for warriors to live at that time.

The relief map around Hagi City, the former castle town is still lower

The birthplaces or ole houses of the four heros

The photo of Shinsaku Takasugi, published in 1933 or 1934 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The photo of Takayoshi Kido when he was named Kogoro Katsura in 1869 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The illustration of Shoin Yoshida, owned by Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

A photo of Hirobumi Ito, by 1909 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Choshu Domain moves its homebase to Yamaguchi

It is said that another interesting ceremony was held in the Main Hall of the castle every new year. In the event, a senior vassal asked the lord “Should we fight the Shogunate this year?”, then he answered “It’s too early”. However, the situation changed and made it possible to defeat the Shogun. The domain was really against the shogunate at the end of the Edo Period. The situation surrounding the castle also changed. Being beside the sea had been defensive when the castle was built but became dangerous because it could be shot by guns from battle ships. In addition, they wanted to communicate with other domains very much, so they thought Yamaguchi would be the best for their homebase. As a result, they eventually left Hagi to Yamaguchi Castle without the shogunate’s permission. The castle was officially abandoned in 1874.

The remaining front gate of the Yamaguchi government office in the Yamaguchi Castle period

To be continued in “Hagi Castle Part2”

73.広島城～Hiroshima Castle

広島は平和都市ですが、城からできた都市でもあるのです。
Hiroshima is a city of peace, but also a city from the castle.

広島城の外観復元天守～The apparently restored Tenshu keep of Hiroshima Castle（licensed by Taisyo via Wikimedeia Commons）

立地と歴史～Location and History

広島は今、平和を希求する都市となっています。この都市は毛利氏により築かれた広島城から始まりました。毛利氏もともと吉田郡山城という広大な山城に住んでいましたが、その城は戦国時代において防御力に優れていました。しかし統治や通商には不向きだったのです。豊臣氏による天下統一の後、毛利輝元は当時の他の事例にならい、本拠地を他の地に移すことにしました。彼は１５８９年に太田川のデルタ地帯にある島の上に新しい城を築きはじめました。この城と城下町は南方の海の方角に向かって広がっていきました。
Hiroshima is now a city for promoting peace. The city comes from Hiroshima Castle built by the Mori clan. The clan originally lived in a large mountain castle called Yoshida-Koriyama which was specialized for defense in the Warring States Period. But it was not convenient for governance and business. After the unification of the whole country by the Toyotomi clan, Terumoto Mori decided to move his home base to another place by emulating other cases at that time. He started to build a new castle on an island on the delta of Otagawa River in 1589. The area of the castle and its town spread towards the sea in the south.

毛利輝元肖像画、毛利博物館蔵～The portrait of Terumoto Mori, owned by the Mori Museum（licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons）

安芸国広島城所絵図、江戸時代～The illustration of Hiroshima Castle in Aki Province, in the Edo Period（出典：国立公文書館）

徳川幕府が設立されてから後に、福島氏が城を完成させたと言われています。城には５層の天守の他、８８もの櫓がありました。主要な曲輪は水堀により区切られて、橋でのみつながっていました。また、他の川や堀によっても囲まれていました。代わりにこのような環境下では、洪水から被害を受けやすくなります。福島は洪水の度に城を補修せざるを得ませんでした。しかながら、頻繁な工事は幕府に福島が反乱を起こすのではないかと疑念を生じさせ、福島は１６１９年に改易となってしまいます。
After the Tokugawa Shogunate was established, it is said that the Fukushima clan completed the castle. It had a five layer Tenshu keep and 88 turrets. Primary enclosures were separated by water moats, connected by only bridges. They were also surrounded by many other rivers and moats. Instead, in such conditions, it could suffer from flooding. Fukushima had to repair the castle constantly after floods. However, frequent constructions made the Shogunate doubt Fukushima might be against the Shogunate. Fukushima was fired in 1619.

広島城の城主だった福島正則肖像画、東京国立博物館蔵～The portrait of Masanori Fukushima, the lord of Hiroshima Castle, owned by the Tokyo National Museum（*licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons）*

その後、浅野氏が広島を２５０年以上統治しました。浅野氏は城をほとんど同じ状態で維持しましたが、市街地や農地を埋め立てにより拡張しました。埋め立て地は、広島市の礎になっています。
After that, the Asano clan governed Hiroshima for 250 years. They had kept the castle almost the same as original. They continued to reclaim land for towns and fields. The reclaimed area is the foundation of Hiroshima City.

広島市周辺の現代の地図～The present map around Hiroshima City

特徴～Features

現在、主に本丸と二の丸の跡地が内堀に囲まれて残っています。そこには現存建物はありません。天守は本丸の北西隅に外観復元されています。その内部は歴史博物館として使われていて、広島市や広島城の歴史を学ぶことができます。二の丸は外部から本丸に向かう途中に、出丸のようになっていて、周りの内堀により独立しています。とても独特なスタイルです。
Now, ruins of mainly Honmaru and Ninomaru enclosures surrounded by the inner moat remain. No remaining buildings are there. The Tenshu has been apparently restored at the north-west corner of Honmaru. Its interior is used as a historical museum where you can learn about the history of the city and castle. Ninomaru is like a barbican on the way from outside to Honmaru, isolated by the inner moat around. It’s a very unique style.

城周辺の航空写真～The aerial photo around the castle

外観復元天守～The apparently restored Tenshu（taken by NR1000 from photoAC）

二の丸では、表御門や太鼓櫓といったいくつかの建物が最近になって元来の工法で復元されています。
Several buildings like the Front Gate and the Drum Turret were recently restored in the original way at Ninomaru.

復元された二の丸の表御門～The restored Front Gate at Ninomaru（taken by NR1000 from photoAC）

*復元された二の丸の太鼓櫓～The restored Drum Turret at Ninomaru（taken by acworks from photoAC）*

その後～Later Life

この城の近代の歴史はより過酷だったかもしれません。明治維新後、城跡は日本陸軍の広島鎮台の用地に転用されました。多くの城の建物は軍施設に置き換わりました。特に、１８９４年の日清戦争時には大本営が移ってきました。明治天皇が東京からここに来て、直接軍隊を指揮したのです。近くの宇品には大きな軍港もあり、広島は第二次世界大戦までは軍都として繁栄したのでした。
The modern history of the castle might be stormier. After the Meiji Restoration, the ruins of the castle were turned into the ground for Hiroshima Chindai of the Japanese Army. Many castle buildings were replaced with military facilities. In particular, the Imperial Headquarters was relocated there during the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Emperor Meiji moved there from Tokyo to order his soldiers. There was a large navy port called Ujina nearby, and Hiroshima had been a military-based city until World War II.

右側が広島大本営の建物～The building of the Imperial Headquaters on the right（licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons）

１９４５年８月、広島の人たちはなぜ大きな空襲がここにはないのか訝しんでいました。それは、広島が原子爆弾の標的の一つだったからでした。８月６日の朝、８時１５分、原爆は非戦闘員、婦女子を含む約１５万人もの人たちを殺し、市街地のすべての建物を破壊しました。現存していた広島城の天守は、原爆の爆風により一瞬のうちに倒壊し、それから燃え出しました。
In August 1945, people in Hiroshima were wondering why they didn’t suffer from large air raids. That was because the city was one of the targets of the atomic bombs. At 8:15 AM on August 6, the bomb killed around 150,000 people including non-combatants, women and children as well as all of the buildings in the city area. The remaining Tenshu keep of Hirosima Castle collapsed in an instant by the bomb blast before burning out.

第二次世界大戦まで現存した天守～The remaining Tenshu until World War II（*licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons）*

戦争直後の城周辺の航空写真～A aerial photo of around the castle just after the World War II

戦後になって、人々は焼土となった城跡をどう扱うべきか議論を行いました。１９５１年の広島国体の間のみ仮の天守が作られました。そのとき人々は広島の平和と復興のシンボルとして天守が必要だと気付いたのです。そのため、現在の天守が１９５８年に外観復元されました。
After the war, people discussed how they should treat the burned ruins of the castle. When the temporary Tenshu was built in 1951 just during a National Sports Festival in Hiroshima, they realized that they need to rebuild the Tenshu as a symbol of peace and restoration for the city. That’s why the present Tenshu was apparently restored in 1958.

私の感想～My Impression

広島城は、城の存在意義が戦争から平和のためにと変わっていった典型例でしょう。日本のプロ野球球団、広島東洋カープの「カープ」という名前は、この城の愛称「鯉城」から来ています。この城が末永く平和と繁栄のシンボルであり続けるよう願ってやみません。
Hiroshima Castle is a typical example of a castle’s role being turned from war into peace. Hiroshima Toyo Carp is a Japanese pro baseball team. The name “Carp” comes from the castle’s nickname, the Carp Castle “Ri-Jo”. I hope that the castle will be a symbol of peace and prosperity now and forever.

広島城の堀にいる鯉～Carps in the water moat of Hiroshima Castle（taken by tomo3368 from photoAC）

ここに行くには～How to get There

広島駅から：徒歩で約２５分かかります。市内電車の場合１・２・６番電車に乗り、紙屋町東停留所で降りてください。バスの場合は広島駅南口バスターミナルで７・８・９番乗り場から乗り、合同庁舎前バス停で降りてください。
車で行く場合：山陽自動車道の広島ＩＣから約１０分かかります。城の周りにいくつか駐車場があります。
From Hiroshima station: It takes about 25 minutes on foot. Or take the tram line 1, 2, or 6, and take off at the Kamiyacho-Higashi stop. Or take the bus line 7, 8, or 9 at Hiroshima Station south exit bus terminal, and take off at the Godochosha-Mae bus stop.
If you want to go there by car: It takes about 20 minutes from the Hiroshima IC on San-yo Expressway. There are several parking lots around the castle.

リンク、参考情報～Links and Rererences

・広島城公式ホームページ～Hiroshima Castle
・広島城４００年、中国新聞社編、第一法規（Japanese Book）
・決戦！広島城、松永弘高著、朝日新聞出版（Japanese Book）
・よみがえる日本の城７、学研（Japanese Book）