is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

located in Matsumae in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, Japan, and is the northernmost castle in Japan. The only traditional style

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

castle in Hokkaidō, it was the chief residence of the ''

han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

'' (estate) of the

Matsumae clan The was a Japanese clan that was confirmed in the possession of the area around Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu "barbarians" ...

History

First built in 1606 by

Matsumae Yoshihiro Kakizaki Yoshihiro, later , was the first ''daimyō'' of Matsumae Domain in Ezo, ( Hokkaidō), Japan. Biography Born on the third day of the ninth month of Tenbun 9 (1548), Yoshihiro was the third son of Kakizaki Suehiro. While the Kakizaki c ...

under orders from 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 ...

, which required his clan to defend the area, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu "barbarians" to the north. It burned down in 1637 but was rebuilt in 1639. It once controlled all passage through Hokkaidō to the rest of Japan. The present castle complex, which dates from 1854, was constructed to deter attacks by foreign naval forces. Only the 30-metre-high ''

tenshu is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the highest tower within the castle. Common translations of ''tenshu'' include keep, main keep, or ''donjon''. ''Tenshu'' are characterized as ty ...

'' (main tower) and a gatehouse survived destruction following the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, which began in 1868. However, the ''tenshu'' burned down in 1949 and a concrete replica was built in 1960. Today, all of the castle site is now a public park.

Festivals

Approximately 8,000 cherry trees are planted in Matsumae Park, which is approximately 150,000 m² around the site of Matsumae Castle. More than 200,000 people visit the Matsumae Sakura Festival every spring to see cherry blossoms. Since 1984, the "Matsumae Castle Age Festival" has been held in August.

References

External links

Official website
Japanese) {{Authority control Castles in Hokkaido Matsumae clan Matsumae, Hokkaido

History

Festivals

See also

References

Further reading

External links