was a
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 ...
(now in ruins) located in the city of
Matsusaka
is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 157,235 in 66,018 households and a population density of 250 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is famous for Matsusaka beef.
Geography ...
,
Mie Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...
,
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 ...
. Throughout most of the
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 ...
, Matsusaka Castle was a secondary administrative center for the
Kishu-Tokugawa clan, ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
'' of
Kishū Domain
, or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Prov ...
. It has been protected as a
National Historic Site since 2011.
Background
Matsusaka Castle is located on the west coast of
Ise Bay
is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie and Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels: th ...
, in the center of former
Ise Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .
History
The name of Ise appears ...
. In addition to the nearby seaport, the castle dominated a land communication junction, where five roads leading to
Iga,
Yamato Province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, the ...
Yamato, and
Kii Province
, or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Pro ...
and the road to
Ise Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and .
The Inner ...
converged. The
castle town
A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...
of Matsusaka prospered by trading, and merchants of Matsusaka were known for their activities nationwide. The founder of
Mitsui
is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world.
The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...
, one of modern Japan's largest commercial enterprises was born in Matsuzaka.
The castle itself is built on a wedge-shaped hill facing eastward and consists of three layers of
terraces. The Honmaru (central bailey) at the top of the hill is a square and held a three-story five-floor ''
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 ...
'' tower with gold roof tiles on its western side, and a
''yagura'' watchtower on its eastern side. The middle enclosure also had a large ''yagura'' tower, which overlooked the lowest layer of defenses, which was divided into several smaller ''
kuruwa
is a Japanese term for the walls of a 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 Jap ...
''. The core area of the castle is relatively small, measuring roughly 200 meters square, but unusually for the time, most of the walls on all of the enclosures are faced with stone.
History
During the
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...
, the area of Matsuzawa was denominated by the
Kitabatake clan
The Kitabatake clan was a clan that ruled south Ise Province in Japan and had strong ties to the eastern provinces through Pacific sea routes. Among its leaders included Kitabatake Tomonori.
Clan heads
# Kitabatake Masaie (1215–1274, founder) ...
, who were strong supporters of
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...
and the
Southern Court
The were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively ...
. However, during the
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 ...
, they were defeated by
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 ...
, who installed his son,
Oda Nobukatsu
was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. He survived the decline of the Oda clan from political prominence, becoming a ''daimyō'' in the early Edo period. Though often described as an inco ...
as governor of Ise Province. Oda Nobukatsu initially resided at Tamaru Castle, located ten kilometers south of Matsuzaka, and later relocated to Matsugashima Castle, directly on the Matsuzaka coastline After the assassination of Oda Nobunaga in 1582, Ise was invaded by the army of
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 ...
, who installed his general
Gamō Ujisato
or Gamō Yasuhide was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku and Azuchi–Momoyama periods. He was heir and son of Gamō Katahide, lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi Province, he later held Matsusaka ( Ise Province) and finally Aizuwakamatsu Castle i ...
at Matsugashima as ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
'' of a 123,000 ''
koku
The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...
'' domain. Matsugashima Castle was in a cramped location which did not permit any expansion and was hard to defend, and the existing structures were suffering from salt damage due to their proximity to the coast, so Ujisato relocated his seat further inland, to the current site of Matsusaka Castle. Construction was completed in a very short time, partly through the destruction of local
Buddhist temples
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represent ...
and an ancient ''
kofun
are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』 ...
'' burial mound, to use the stones in the construction of the defensive walls. The inhabitants of Matsugashima were forcibly resettled at the new castle town, and merchants were invited from the Gamō’s former domain in
Omi Province
is a hereditary noble title (''kabane'') of ancient Japan. It was given to the descendants of the Imperial Family before Emperor Kōgen. Along with ''Muraji'', ''Omi'' was reserved for the head of the most powerful clans during the Kofun perio ...
. The completed castle had two concentric moats, and a three-roof/five-story ''
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 ...
'' (
donjon
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
).
In 1590, after the
Battle of Odawara, the Gamō clan was rewarded with a transfer to
Aizu-Wakamatsu (600,000 ''koku''). Matsusaka Castle was given to a Toyotomi retainer,
Hattori Kazutada. In 1595, the Hattori were purged by Hideyoshi, together with
Toyotomi Hidetsugu
was a daimyō during the Sengoku period of Japan. He was the nephew and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier and ruler of Japan from 1590 to 1598. Despite being Hideyoshi's closest adult, male relative, Hidetsugu was accused of atrocities ...
and the domain was given to
Furuta Shigekatsu, with a much-reduced revenue base of 34,000 ''koku''. The castle survived an attack by the forces of
Ishida Mitsunari
Ishida Mitsunari (, 1559 – November 6, 1600) was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the A ...
shortly before the decisive
Battle of Sekigahara
The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...
, and Furuta clan was re-confirmed in itsholdings and its ''
kokudaka
refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 54 ...
'' increased to 54,000 ''koku'' by 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 ...
.
In 1619, the Furuta clan was transferred to
Hamada
A hamada ( ar, حمادة, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation. The majority of the Sahara is in fact hamada. Other examples are Negev dese ...
in
Iwami Province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the western part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Iwami bordered Aki, Bingo, Izumo, Nagato, and Suō provinces.
In the Heian period (794–1192) the capital was at moder ...
, and Matsusaka Domain was abolished, with its territories incorporated into the holdings of the
Kishu-Tokugawa clan of
Kishū Domain
, or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Prov ...
, based in
Wakayama Wakayama may refer to:
*Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan
*Wakayama (city)
Wakayama City Hall
is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...
. Despite the official policy of “one country-one castle”, the existing fortifications at Matsusaka were not destroyed, but were retained as an administrative center for the domain’s 179,000 ''koku'' holdings in southern Ise Province. However, in 1644, the ''tenshu'' tower was destroyed by a
typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
, and was not rebuilt. In 1794, a ''
jin'ya
A was a type of administrative headquarters in the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history.
''Jin'ya'' served as the seat of the administration for a small domain, a province, or additional parcels of land. ''Jin'ya'' hou ...
'' fortified residence was built. The Kishu-Tokugawa clan retained the territory until 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 ...
.
In 1877, a fire destroyed the palace within the second bailey, and in 1881 all of the remaining castle buildings were pulled down, with the exception of a single rice warehouse.
Present situation
Although few structures now remain of the original castle, the site is open to the public as a park and the stone walls are in good preservation. In 1982, a proposal to reconstruct the ''tenshu'' was vetoed due to local opposition. From 1988-2003, the moats and stonework underwent a massive repair and reconstruction process. During this time, it was discovered that much of the stonework was in the same style as
Azuchi Castle
was one of the primary castles of Oda Nobunaga located in the Azuchi neighborhood of the city of Ōmihachiman, Shiga Prefecture. The site of the castle was designated a National Historic Site in 1926, with the designation upgraded to that of ...
.
The castle grounds also hold the modern Matsusaka city hall, city hospital, a local history museum and the
Motoori Norinaga Memorial Hall. The castle site is a 15-minute walk from
Matsusaka Station
The ruins were listed as one of the
100 Fine Castles of Japan by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.
Japan Castle Foundation
/ref>
Gallery
Matsusaka Castle, Tenshudai.jpg, Foundation base for the ''Tenshu''
Matsusaka Castle, Honmaru.jpg, Main Bailey
松坂城4.jpg, Kitai Enclosure
松坂城5.jpg, Memorial Stele
Matsusaka Castle, Uramon.jpg, Rear Gate
松坂城6.jpg, Official's residence
See also
*List of Historic Sites of Japan (Mie)
This list is of the Monuments of Japan, Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefectures of Japan, Prefecture of Mie Prefecture, Mie.
National Historic Sites
As of 1 January 2021, thirty-nine Sites have been Cultural Properties of Japan, d ...
Literature
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Matsusaka Castle Jcastle Profile
Mie Tourist Information
Photos of Japanese castles
Notes
{{100 Fine Castles of Japan
Castles in Mie Prefecture
100 Fine Castles of Japan
Historic Sites of Japan
Ise Province
Ruined castles in Japan