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

110.Miharu Castle Part1

A castle that struggled to survive

Location and History

Tamura Clan first governed Castle which became branch of Wakamatsu Castle later

Miharu Castle was located in the Tamura District of Mutsu Province (what is now the modern day Miharu Town in Fukushima Prefecture). The area connected the inland and seaside areas, so it was regarded as being important. In the first 16th Century, the Tamura Clan governed the area and built Miharu Castle on the highest hill around the area. In the middle 16th Centrury, the lord of the clan, Kiyoaki Tamura was threatened by other larger warlords such as the Ashina Clan in the west, the Soma Clan in the east and the Satake Clan in the south. Therfore, he decided to form an allegiance with Masamune Date, a great warlord in the north, by marrying his daughter with Masamune. Masamune stayed in Miharu Castle for a while in 1588 before conquering the Tohoku Region and beating the Ashina Clan in 1589. The Tamura Clan succeeded to survive under Masamune. Miharu Castle was developed and it spread to other hills by the clan.

The location of the castle

However, the Tamura Clan was disbanded by the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1590. This is because the lord of the clan, Muneaki Tamura didn’t respond to the call from Hideyoshi who considered the Tamura Clan as an indipendent lord. However the Tamura Clan didn’t feel this way. It may have been the clan’s mistake, but some historians say it might have been a conspiracy of Masamune who should have madiated Hideyoshi and the Tamura Clan because of the clan’s territory including Miharu Castle finally belonging to Masamune.

The family crest of the Tamura Clan called the Tamura Japanese Ginger *(licensed by Fraxinus2 via Wikimedia Commons)*

The portrait of Masamune Date owned by Sendai City Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Miharu Castle became a branch castle of Wakamatsu Castle which became Masamune’s home base. After that, the lords of Wakamatsu Castle were changed to other clans – the Gamo, Uesugi and Kato Clans. Miharu Castle was made stronger by them. They built stone walls and developed a castle town. However, sometimes it was not used and would eventually be abandoned. Finally in 1627, the Matsushita Clan was transferred by the Tokugawa Shogunate to Miaharu Castle. This meant it had been a while since they had been independent . Miharu Castle remained a mountain castle until the end.

Akita Clan maintained Castle as home base of Miharu Domain in Edo Period

After the Matsushita Clan was unfortunately disbanded in 1645, the Akita Clan governed Miharu Castle and the Miharu Domain until the end of the Edo Period. They modernized Miharu Castle. The lord built the Main Hall for him at the foot of the mountain and he usually lived there. There were also the former Main Hall and the Three Story Turret in the Main Enclosure at the top of the mountain. These older buildings were used for ceremonies and became the symbols of the castle. When the great fire burned most of the castle buildings in 1785, the buildings at the foot were restored. Everything on the top was burned by the fire, and only the Three Story Turret was restored in the end.

The place where the main hall for the lord was (what is now Miharu Primary School)

The layout of Miharu Castle ( from the signboard at the site)

Castle survived in Meiji Restoration

In 1868 during the Meiji Restoration, the Boshin War between the New Government and the domains supporting Tokugawa Shogunate finally happened. The Miharu Domain first belonged to the domains, but it secretly surrendered to the New Government which opened Miharu Castle. The domains eventually left. However, the domains who were abandoned felt very angry. The people in Miharu survived and aviided a serious tragedy. Otherwise, they would have been defeated by the New Government such as those in Shirakawa-Komine Castle, Nihonmatsu Castle and Wakamatsu Castle.

Akisue Akita, the last lord of the Miharu Domain (*licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons*)

To be continued in “Miharu Castle Part2”

132.Takada Castle Part2

The good contrast of the remaining moats and earthen walls, and the rebuilt turret

Features

Wide and Long Water Moats remain

Now, the ruins of Takada Castle have been developed as the Takada Castle Site Park. The park is also very famous for the illuminated cherry blossoms and the lotus in the Outer Moat credited as “the largest in the East”. As for the castle ruins, the earthen walls of the Main Enclosure, the Inner Moat, and the western part of the Outer Moat mostly remained intact. If you visit the ruins from the west such as Takada Station, you will first see the remaining Outer Moat with a huge amount of lotus plants.

The aerial photo around the castle

Center of Park – Third and Second Enclosures

The Outer Moat is still very large, which was at maximum 130m wide in the past. Even now it remains at about 100m wide. You can now go across the moat on the road to the Third Enclosure and the Second Enclosure inside. The Third Enclosure is used for the modern facilities such as a baseball stadium and an athletic field.

The Second Enclosure is the center of the park with a lot of cherry trees. You can walk along the promenade beside the Outer Moat. In fact, the high earthen walls were built along the moat, but they were removed when a Japanese Army started to use the castle ruins.

There is also the Joetsu City History Museum in the enclosure where you can learn more about the castle and the area around.

Main Enclosure and Rebuilt Three-Story Turret

The Main Enclosure surrounded by the Inner Moat and the earthen walls have three entrances for visitors. The first one is the former front gate from the restored wooden bridge called Gokuraku-bashi outside on the south.

The second one is the ruins of the Higashi-akazu-mon Gate on the east.

The last one is on the west and was built by the Japanese Army in the modern times.

The entrance of the Main Enclosure in the west

The Three-story Turret was also rebuilt in 1993 on the earthen walls at the southwest corner of the Main Enclosure, based on the successful excavations and studies. The turret is in fact a steel building, but it looks traditional because of the many wooden materials used.

The rebuilt Three-Story Turret on the earthen walls

Its interior is used as a museum and as a sightseeing tower. You can also see a good contrast of the Inner Moat, the earthen walls and the turret from the outside.

The inside of the enclosure was used as the Main Hall for the lord of the castle, and is now used as a school.

The miniature model of the Main Enclosure of Takada Castle (*the Joetsu City History Museum*)

The inside of the Main Enclosure in the present

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

132.Takada Castle Part1

A castle protected by earthen walls and water moats

Location and History

Tadateru Matsudaira built it shortly

Takada Castle was located in Echigo Province (what is now Nigata Province). The Uesgi Clan at Ksugayama Castle owned the province in the late 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. After the clan was transferred to another province, the province was divided by several lords at the beginning of the 17th Century. One of them was the Hori Clan which owned the western part of the province and lived in Fukushima Cstle. However, Hori Clan was fired by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1610. Instead, Tadateru Matsudaira, a son of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Shogunate was sent to the castle. He and the Shogunate felt they required a stronger castle, because the tension between the Shogunate and the Toyoyomi Clan got higher. They needed to monitor non-hereditary feudal lords who possibly supported the Toyotomi Clan. The new castle would be called Takada Castle.

The location of the castle

The portrait of Tadateru Matsudaira, owned by the Joetsu City History Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The construction for the castle began in March 1614, and was almost completed in just four months, before the battle between the Shogunate and the Toyotomi Clan happened in October. The Shogunate mobilized thirteen lords including Tadateru’s father-in-law, Masamune Date for the construction. Maybe for the short construction period, Takada Castle had several features. The foundation of the castle was completely made of soil, not using stone walls which were common for building castles at that time. A Main Tower, which was also popular for castles, was not built, the Three-story Turret was built instead.

The remaining earthen walls at the Main Enclosure

Protected by Wide Water Moats and High Earthen Walls

However, there was no shortcuts in the construction. The wide and long water moats were built using the flow of several rivers. As a result, the castle was surrounded by the Inner Moat, the Outer Moat, and the opposite flowing rivers. The Third Enclosure was in the Outer Moat, the Second Enclosure was inside the Outer Moat, and The Main Enclosure was inside the Inner Moat. Visitors from the Main Gate outside the Third Enclosure had to go across three bridges to reach the Main Enclosure. Even the clay walls were as high as10m, so the castle had sufficient defense.

The miniature model of Takada Castle (*the Joetsu City History Museum*)

The earthen walls are still surrounding the Main Enclosure

Lords of Castle were changed several times

Tadateru was one of the 10 lords who had the largest territories in Japan at that
time, however, he was fired by the Shogunate in 1616 for unknown reasons, after the Shogunate eliminated the Toyotomi Clan in 1615. Though it is said that he was rude to his father, it may be due to an internal trouble in the Shogunate. He was exiled at Takashima Castle until he died at the age of 92 in 1683.

After some years, Mitsunaga Matsudaira governed the castle for 57 years. He improved farming and business while developing the castle town and transportation. The castle town had become the city area of Joetsu City. However, he was fired by the Shogunate as well in 1681 due to the internal trouble for his successor.

The draft map of Takada Castle, drawn in 1737 (*Joetsu City Buried Cultural Property Center*)

The aerial photo around the castle and the city area

After that, several clans governed the castle and the area around the Takada Domain. This area has been known for a city having heavy snow, so some people from other areas seemed to have trouble living and communicating. The last lord of the castle was the Sakakibara Clan which owned it from the mid 18th Century to the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th Century.

The present city area covered with snow *(taken by v-pro from photoAC)*

The Sakaki Shrine which worships Yasumasa Sakakibara, the founder of the Sakakibara Clan

To be continued in “Takada Castle Part2”