was a

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

Japanese castle are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such ...

located in what is now part of the city of Higashikagawa,

Kagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tok ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Its ruins have been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 2020.

History

Hiketa Castle is located north of Hiketa port in eastern entrance of

Sanuki Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, ...

. The area develop from the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

as one of the main ports connecting Shikoku with the

Kinai region is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kinai' ...

of Japan. It is unknown when a fortification was first built at this location, but by the early

, the area was held by the Samukawa clan, vassals of the

Miyoshi clan is a Japanese family descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and the Minamoto clan (Seiwa-Genji). They were a cadet branch of the Ogasawara clan and the Takeda clan. At the beginning of the 14th century AD, Ogasawara Nagafusa settled in Shiko ...

. However, by the 1570s, the Miyoshi were defeated by

Chōsokabe Motochika was a prominent ''daimyō'' in Japanese Sengoku-period. He was the 21st chief of the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), the ruler of Shikoku region. Early life and rise He was the son and heir of Chōsokabe Kuni ...

, a minor warlord from

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syste ...

who succeeded in uniting most of Shikoku under his rule. Concerned with the growing power of the

Chōsokabe clan , also known as , was a Japanese samurai kin group. Over time, they were known for serving the Hosokawa clan, then the Miyoshi clan and then the Ichijo clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographi ...

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

invaded Shikoku in the 1580s. The first step in the invasion was to send Sengoku Hisahide, commander of

Sumoto Castle was a Muromachi to Sengoku period Japanese castle located in the Orodani neighborhood of the city of Sumoto, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1999. It was also referred to as . Over ...

on Awaji Island to Sanuki Province to seize the harbor and Hiketa Castle as a bridgehead in 1583. Chōsakabe Motochika counterattacked the following year, and vastly outnumbering the Sengoku forces, were able to drive them back to Awaji. However, in the spring of 1585, Toyotomi Hideyoshi returned with a much larger invasion force and forced the Chōsokabe into submission. Sanuki Province was then assigned to Hideyoshi's general

Ikoma Chikamasa Ikoma Chikamasa (生駒親正, 1526 – March 25, 1603) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods around the turn of the 17th century. His father was Ikoma Chikashige. Chikamasa was appointed one of the san-''chūrō ...

, who initially made Hiketa Castle his stronghold. As Hiketa is located in far eastern Sanuki, he soon found the location to be inconvenient for governing the whole province, and in 1587 relocated his stronghold to the more central Takamatsu Castle. The Ikoma clan retained Hiketa Castle as a secondary stronghold to guard their eastern flank, whereas the new

Marugame Castle is an Edo Period Japanese castle in the city of Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located in the center of Marugame city, in former Sanuki Province on the island of Shikoku. During the Edo Period, it was the center of Marugame Do ...

served the same purpose for western Sanuki. Following the establishment of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, the government issued a decree in 1615 limiting the number of castles permitted by each domain to only one. As a result, Hiketa Castle was abandoned. The castle once consisted of several

enclosures Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

spread across the ridge of the Shiroyama hill overlooking Hiketa port for a distance of 400 meters. The Nishi-no-kuruwa enclosure was the

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...

and was protected by stone walls and perhaps three wooden ''yagura'' watchtowers. Stone walls also protected the north and west sides of the castle which faced the port and town. No structures remain of the castle, and only small portions of the stone walls have survived. The castle site is a 30 minute walk from Hiketa Station on the

JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

Kōtoku Line The is a railway line in northeastern Shikoku, Japan that connects the prefectural capitals Takamatsu (Kagawa) and Tokushima (Tokushima). Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) owns and operates the line, whose name comes from the characters in th ...

. The castle was listed as one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 Japanese castle, castles, intended as a sequel of 100 Fine Castles of Japan. The castles were chosen for their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2017. Hokkaidō region Tōhoku region Kant ...

in 2017.

Literature

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References

External links

Higashikagawa Tourist Information
{{Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles Castles in Kagawa Prefecture Ruined castles in Japan Higashikagawa, Kagawa Historic Sites of Japan Sanuki Province

History

See also

Literature

References

External links