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Tsutsujigasaki Castle
270px, Model of Tsutsujigasaki Castle 270px, Tsutsujigasaki Castle Aerial Photograph was the fortified residence of the final three generations of the Takeda clan, located in the center of the city of Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. It is not a Japanese castle in the proper sense of the word, and is not referred to as a "castle" in Japanese, as it was famously the policy of the Takeda clan to "make men your castle, men your walls, men your moats". Nevertheless, it is listed as one of Japan's Top 100 Castles. The ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1938. The site is open to the public and now contains the Takeda Shrine, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of the Takeda clan. Background The Takeda clan was a cadet branch of the Minamoto clan, and gradually gained control over Kai Province from the late Heian period from their bases at Hakusan Castle and Yato Castle. By the Sengoku period, the clan held the position of ''shugo'' of Kai P ...
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Hakusan Castle
was a Heian period ''yamashiro''-style Japanese castle located in the Kamiyamamachi neighborhood of the city of Nirasaki, Yamanashi prefecture. It was the primary fortress of the warlord Takeda Nobuyoshi, the ancestor of the Takeda clan. The ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2001. The castle is also known as Background Hakusan Castle is located in the northwestern part of the prefecture and is located at the northern end of the Kōfu basin, on a mountain with elevation of 573 meters. The site is on the right bank of the Kamanashi River near its confluence with the Shiokawa River, which can be considered part of its natural defenses. The ruins of Shinpu Castle can be seen almost due north across the river. The castle extended on a ridge extending from north to south, about 150 meters east-to-west by 180 meters north-to-south. The enclosures are protected by vertical dry moats, and two large moats are provided on the ridge behind the west side. Th ...
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Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow Oda subordinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The son of a minor daimyo, Ieyasu once lived as a hostage under daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto on behalf of his father. He later succeeded as daimyo after his father's death, serving as a vassal and general of the Oda clan, and building up his strength under Oda Nobunaga. After Oda Nobunaga's death, Ieyasu was briefly a rival of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, before declaring his allegiance and fighting on his behalf. Under Toyotomi, Ieyasu was relocated to the Kanto plains in eastern Japan, away from the Toyotomi power base in Osaka. He built his castle in the fishing village of Edo (now Tokyo). He became the most powerful daimyo and the most senior officer under the Toyotomi regime. Ieyasu preserved his strength i ...
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Oda Nobunaga
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify Japan in the 1560s. Nobunaga emerged as the most powerful ''daimyō'', overthrowing the nominally ruling shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and dissolving the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573. He conquered most of Honshu island by 1580, and defeated the ''Ikkō-ikki'' rebels in the 1580s. Nobunaga's rule was noted for innovative military tactics, fostering of free trade, reforms of Japan's civil government, and the start of the Momoyama historical art period, but also for the brutal suppression of those who refused to cooperate or yield to his demands. Nobunaga was killed in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582, when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide ambushed him in Kyoto and forced him to commit . Nobunaga was succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who along with Toku ...
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Nirasaki, Yamanashi
is a city in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 29,483 in 12662 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km². The total area is . Geography Nirasaki is located in the northwestern end of the Kofu Basin in Yamanashi Prefecture, bordered to the east by the Minami Alps National Park and the west by the Minami Alps Koma Prefectural Natural Park. Surrounding municipalities Yamanashi Prefecture * Hokuto * Minami-Alps * Kai Climate The city has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Nirasaki is 13/0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1278 mm with September as the wettest month. Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Nirasaki has remained relatively steady in recent decades. History The area around present-day Nirasaki was the ancestral homeland of the Takeda clan, w ...
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Shinpu Castle
was a Sengoku period ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Nirasaki, Yamanashi prefecture. It was the primary fortress of the warlord Takeda Katsuyori. The ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1973. Background Shinpu Castle is located on a mountain with steep sides overlooking the Kamanashi River to the west of Kōfu, where Takeda Shingen's Tsutsujigasaki Castle was located. Following Shingen's death, his son and successor, Takeda Katsuyori initially successfully expanded his territory into eastern Mino Province; however, suffered a major defeat against Oda Nobunaga's matchlock-armed forces at the Battle of Nagashino, losing four of his top generals. Following this defeat, the Takeda found themselves surrounded by increasing aggressive neighbors, including the Oda, the Tokugawa clan, the Uesugi clan and the Odawara Hōjō clan. Katsuyori felt that a castle located near the center of his domains would be easier to de ...
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Takeda Katsuyori
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was son in law of Hojo Ujiyasu. Early life He was the son of Shingen by the daughter of Suwa Yorishige (posthumous name:). Katsuyori's children included Takeda Nobukatsu and Katsuchika.http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/takeda.html Katsuyori, first known as , succeeded to his mother's Suwa clan and gained Takatō Castle as the seat of his domain. After his elder brother Takeda Yoshinobu died, Katsuyori's son Nobukatsu became heir to the Takeda clan, making Katsuyori the true ruler of the Takeda clan. Takeda Katsuyori built Shinpu Castle, a new and larger castle at Nirasaki and transferred his residence there in 1581. Military life In 1569, Katsuyori defeated Hojo Ujinobu at Siege of Kanbara In 1572, Katsuyori successfully took a Tokugawa clan possession in the Siege of Futamata, and participated in the Battle of ...
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Takeda Shingen
, of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great skill and military leadership. Name Shingen was called "Tarō" (a commonly used pet name for the eldest son of a Japanese family) or Katsuchiyo (勝千代) during his childhood. When he celebrated his coming of age, he was given the formal name Harunobu (晴信), which included a character from the name of Ashikaga Yoshiharu (足利義晴), the 12th Ashikaga ''shōgun''. It was a common practice in feudal Japan for a higher-ranked warrior to bestow a character from his own name to his inferiors as a symbol of recognition. From the local lord's perspective, it was an honour to receive a character from the shogunate, although the authority of the latter had greatly degenerated in the mid-16th century. Both the Ashikaga and the Takeda cl ...
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Hello Kitty
, also known by her full name , is a fictional Character (arts), character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. According to her backstory, she lives in a London suburb with her family, and is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is depicted with a yellow bow. Hello Kitty was created in 1974 and the first item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in 1975. Originally Hello Kitty was only marketed towards preadolescent, pre-teenage girls, but beginning in the 1990s, the brand found commercial success among teenage and adult consumers as well. Hello Kitty's popularity also grew with the emergence of ''kawaii'' (cute) culture. The brand went into decline in Japan after the 1990s, but continued to grow in the international market. By 2010 the character was worth a year and ''The New York Times'' called h ...
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Kuruwa
is a Japanese term for the walls of a Japanese castle, and the regions bounded by the arrangement of those walls. The term may also be written as 郭, and the term is also used for castles built after the Edo period. The kuruwa serves as a defensive territory, provides space for additional castle facilities, and contains the living quarters for common soldiers, making it an important fixture of all Japanese castles. Most castles built during the middle ages contain many kuruwa of small area, while those built during or after the early modern period often contain a lesser number of kuruwa of larger area. The western equivalent is the motte-and-bailey. Arrangement The shape and structure of a castle were important factors in determining the victor of castle sieges, and the castle layout, or was arranged with the intention of giving the defender an insurmountable advantage. The kuruwa regions were planned for after the basic layout of the castle grounds was decided. The three ba ...
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Yōgaiyama Castle
was a Sengoku period '' yamajiro'' located in Kai Province (present day Yamanashi Prefecture), constructed in the 1520s by the Takeda clan. Since 1991, the ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1938. The castle is also known as the Background The Takeda clan was a cadet branch of the Minamoto clan, and gradually gained control over Kai Province from the late Heian period from their bases at Hakusan Castle and Yato Castle. From the Kamakura period to the Sengoku period, they were the ''shugo'' of Kai Province, and Takeda Nobutora (1493-1573) selected a location near the center of the province to build his fortified residence and '' jōkamachi'' in 1519. This was the ''Tsutsujigasaki Yakata'' in what is now the city of Kōfu. Although a strongly-fortified manor house, its primary defenses were moats, and it was considered unsuitable to withstanding a siege. Nobutora therefore fortified a nearby mountain, Yōgaiyama, as a supporting castle and final re ...
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Jōkamachi
The term refers to a type of urban structures in Japan in which the city surrounds a feudal lord's castle. These cities did not necessarily form around castles after the Edo period; some are known as Jin'yamachi, cities that have evolved around Jin'ya or government offices that are not intended to provide military services. Defined broadly, Jokamachi includes Jin'yamachi. It is also referred to as Jōka as was common before the early modern period. History The advent of Jōkamachi dates back to the Sengoku period (period of warring states). Jokamachi functions both as a military base represented by the castle and an administrative and commercial city. Oda Nobunaga was the biggest contributor to the development of early-modern Jōkamachi. He aimed at promoting Heinobunri (distinguishing the samurai class from the rest by giving privileged status to samurai and disarming farmers and the rest) by forcing the samurai class to live in Jōkamachi, while establishing Rakuichi-rak ...
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